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Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken won the 1978 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his astonishing performance in Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter, a role that also earned him the New York Film Critic's Circle Award and a Golden Globe nomination. Walken also received a 2002 Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and won BAFTA and SAG awards for his role opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can.

His film career skyrocketed after his unforgettable role as Duane Hall, brother to Diane Keaton's title character in Woody Allen's Oscar-winning Best Picture Annie Hall. Since then, Walken has appeared in more than 50 feature films, including Herbert Ross' Oscar-nominated Pennies From Heaven; David Cronenberg's adaptation of Stephen King's The Dead Zone; James Foley's At Close Range, opposite Sean Penn; Mike Nichols' Biloxi Blues, based on the Neil Simon play; Abel Ferrara's gritty crime-drama King of New York; Joe Roth's comedy, America's Sweethearts, co-starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, and John Cusack; and Tony Scott's Man on Fire, opposite Denzel Washington. Other recent film credits include the hit comedy Wedding Crashers, opposite Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn; John Turturro's ensemble musical Romance and Cigarettes; and in the heartwarming drama Around the Bend, opposite Michael Caine.

This August, Walken will be seen in the comedy, Balls of Fury, opposite Dan Fogler.

Walken has succeeded in creating some of the most memorable characters in film history, appearing in supporting and cameo roles such as: Vincent Coccotti in Tony Scott's True Romance; Captain Koons in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, Carlo Bartolucci in Suicide Kings; The Headless Horseman in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow; and crooked businessman, Max Shreck, in Burton's Batman Returns.

Walken began acting and dancing as a boy. He trained to be a dancer at the Professional Children's School in Manhattan, and eventually went on to appear in numerous stage plays and musicals. He received the Clarence Derwent Award for his performance in the Broadway production of The Lion in Winter, an Obie Award for his role in The Seagull, a Theatre World Award for The Rose Tattoo, and the 1997 Susan Stein Shiva Award for his work with Joseph Papp's Public Theatre. In the Fall of 1999, he co-starred in the stage adaptation of James Joyce's The Dead. In the summer of 2001, Christopher again appeared in a revival of Chekhov's The Seagull for the New York Shakespeare Festival, directed by Mike Nichols, opposite Meryl Streep.

On television, Walken has hilariously and memorably hosted Saturday Night Live a total of six times since 1990 and contributed a mesmerizing dance performance to the Spike Jonze-directed music video for Fat Boy Slim's Weapon of Choice.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2007.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Christopher Walken Facts

Birth NameRonald Walken
OccupationActor
BirthdayMarch 31, 1943 (80)
SignAries
BirthplaceQueens, New York, USA
Height6' (1m83)  How tall is Christopher Walken compared to you?
Awards2003 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role (for Catch Me If You Can)
2003 BAFTA Awards: Actor in a Supporting Role (for Catch Me If You Can)
1979 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (for The Deer Hunter)

Selected Filmography

Nine Lives
Seven Psychopaths
Catch Me If You Can
Page Eight
Hairspray
Kill the Irishman
The Jungle Book
Blast from the Past
The Deer Hunter
Continue » Find more details on the Christopher Walken Movies page