Ronald Walken was the name given to Walken when he was born on March 31, 1943, in Astoria, Queens, New York. Rosalie Russell, his mother, was born in Glasgow, the daughter of a Scottish immigrant.
Originally from Germany’s Gelsenkirchen region, Paul Walken was a baker in Astoria, New York. He and his two older brothers, Kenneth and Glenn, were raised as Methodists.
His mother encouraged her three kids to pursue acting from an early age due to her own desire for fame and the spotlight. Walking into “Wonderful John Acton” at the tender age of 10, Walken began appearing in other episodes as an extra until landing a recurring part.
Early Life
Ronald Walken was the name given to Walken when he was born on March 31, 1943, in Astoria, Queens, New York. Rosalie Russell, his mother, was born in Glasgow, the daughter of a Scottish immigrant.
Originally from Germany’s Gelsenkirchen region, Paul Walken was a baker in Astoria, New York. He and his two older brothers, Kenneth and Glenn, were raised as Methodists.
His mother encouraged her three kids to pursue acting from an early age due to her own desire for fame and the spotlight.
Walking into “Wonderful John Acton” at the tender age of 10, Walken began appearing in other episodes as an extra until landing a recurring part. As his acting career progressed, he appeared in a number of television shows, as well as a number of theatre productions.
The first time Walken watched Elvis Presley on television, he was 15 years old. Inspired by his look, he changed the way he styled his hair.
After graduating from high school, Walken enrolled in Hofstra University but left after a year to pursue acting gigs in the theatre. He also briefly studied dancing at the Washington Dance Studio but decided to concentrate on acting instead.
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Career
As a young actor, Walken was able to secure regular roles on television and in the theatre. He featured in “Naked City” in 1963 while simultaneously performing as a nightclub dancer. In response to Monique van Vooren’s suggestion, he changed his name to Christopher since he felt it better suited him.
On Broadway’s “The Lion In The Winter” in 1966, he was cast as King Philip of France. A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet both landed him prominent roles at the Stratford Festival, Canada, where he also played Lysander.
In 1970, Walken appeared in “Lemon Sky,” an off-Broadway production with Charles Durning and Bonnie Bartlett. The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance went to him for his performance in the play.
In 1972, Walken appeared in a tiny role with Sean Connery in “The Anderson Tapes.” His first leading role came in the science fiction film “The Happiness Cage,” in which he played a sociopath American soldier, in the same year.
After that, he appeared in the 1976 film “Next Stop, Greenwich Village” and the 1977 feature “Annie Hall,” both directed by Woody Allen. For his portrayal in “The Deer Hunter,” he earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1978.
Christopher Walken Quotes:
1. “And anything I play, my reference is completely from the planet Show Business. I don’t know anything about anybody else.”
2. “I put aside an hour every day to go over that monologue again and again for months, and every time I got to the end of it, I would crack up.”
3. “I worked for 15 years as a kind of janitor at the Actors Studio. I would do manual things. I did lots of plays, theater workshops, for nothing.”
4. “I grew up in the ’50s, in New York City, where television was born.”
5. “An actor really is a kind of intermediary between an audience and the piece, whether it’s a play or movie.”
6. “Back home, I do the same things every day. Exactly the same. I eat at the same time, I get up at the same time.”