Celebrating Christopher Walken

Dancing his way from 80 to 81

Christopher Walken was born Ronald Walken on March 31, 1943. Born and raised in Astoria, Queens, New York City.

As a teenager Walken idolized Elvis Presley and worked as a lion tamer in a circus. He met his wife, Georgianne in 1963 and the pair married in 1969. They’ve been together ever since.

Known for his intense, eccentric performances in a wide variety of roles, Walken has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. Throughout his career he’s enjoyed enduring popularity and critical respect.

Walken Through History

And he’s one of my favorites! So today, as he celebrates his 81st birthday, we’re looking at some of his best acting roles in a list that spans sixty years and over 100 films.

The Early Years

His career started on the stage. In 1966, he played the role of King Philip of France in the Broadway premiere of The Lion in Winter. Two years later he played Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at the Stratford Festival in Canada.

He appeared in the made-for-TV movies Barefoot in Athens and The Three Musketeers in the late sixties before making his feature film debut alongside Sam Shepard in 1969’s Me and My Brother.

The Seventies

1972 saw Walken in his first starring role in the science fiction film, The Mind Snatchers.

In Woody Allen’s 1977 film Annie Hall he played the borderline crazy brother of Diane Keaton’s character. Along with Nick Nolte and Burt Reynolds, George Lucas considered Walken for the part of Han Solo in Star Wars.

A year later Walken would win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1978’s The Deer Hunter.

The Eighties & Nineties

In 1981 he starred in the action/adventure film The Dogs of War. Walken then took on the role of schoolteacher-turned-psychic Johnny Smith in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dead Zone.

In 1985, he joined the long list of Bond villains playing the role of the blond-haired Max Zorin in A View to a Kill. Three years later he played the memorable sergeant in Biloxi Blues.

The Nineties was a big decade for Christopher Walken. He starred in King of New York, playing the ruthless New York City drug dealer Frank White. In 1992, he joined the cast of Batman Returns, starring as millionaire industrialist Max Shreck. From there he had roles in Wayne’s World 2, True Romance, Pulp Fiction, The Prophecy, Suicide Kings, as well as voicing the character of Cutter in the animated film, Antz.

He wrapped up the decade by starring in both the romantic comedy, Blast from the Past as well as the film Sleepy Hollow. Directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci, Walken played the Headless Horseman.

Walken into the 21st Century

Walken started out the 2000’s with a memorable performance in the music video for Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice”. The video won six MTV awards in 2001 and is widely considered to be one of the greatest music videos ever. That same year he played a gangster working as a janitor in the witness protection program in Joe Dirt (one of my guilty pleasure and most quoted movies).

2002 saw Walken play the role of Frank Abagnale, Sr. in Catch Me If You Can opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. He then took the role of Paul Rayburn in 2004’s Man on Fire starring Denzel Washington. Films like The Stepford Wives, Wedding Crashers, Click, and Hairspray rounded out the decade.

In 2012 he was named GQ’s Man of the Year and since then, has used his talents in Disney’s The Jungle Book, Eddie the Eagle, and the Netflix film Irreplaceable You.

You can currently catch Mr. Walken on the silver screen in the critically acclaimed, Dune: Part Two. He plays the role of Emperor Shaddam IV.