Christopher Walken (born Ronald Paul Walken; March 31, 1943 in Astoria, New York) is an Academy Award-winning American actor of stage and screen, in a career spanning more than 60 years. A prolific actor, he has appeared in over 100 movie and television roles, notably including A View to a Kill, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, David Cronenberg's The Dead Zone, King of New York, Batman Returns, True Romance, Catch Me If You Can and Pulp Fiction, as well as music videos by recording artists such as Madonna and Fatboy Slim.
Walken appeared as the Archangel Gabriel in the first three Prophecy movies, as well as his frequent guest-host appearances on Saturday Night Livenote , his most notable being The Bruce Dickinson (not that Bruce Dickinson) in the "More Cowbell" sketch and The Continental (based on an actual TV character from an obscure 1950s show, but most people wouldn't know that). In the United States, films featuring Walken have grossed over $1.8 billion. He has also played the main role in the Shakespeare plays Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and even Coriolanus. Famous film roles were Nikanor "Nick" Chevotarevich in The Deer Hunter (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor) and in Pulp Fiction, as Captain Koons, a Vietnam War veteran, which has since become a pop culture icon. In fact, his prolific film appearances relate to his own policy of never turning down film roles unless he's too busy, finding that each and every role is a learning experience.
His distinctive style of speaking, including random pauses, wild enunciation and a tendency to change voice pitch at random, have made clips from his movies subject to a great deal of Memetic Mutation, and he's one of the most imitated living actors out there along with the likes of Jack Nicholson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeff Goldblum, and William Shatner. He doesn't actually sound much like most of his impersonators. You're still... imagining!... this article...in his...illustrious voice!
Christopher Walken doesn't cherrypick with the roles he takes. He just plain loves making movies.
A former professional dancer, which he got to show off in the 1981 film version of Pennies from Heaven (where he played a dancing pimp), his opening monologue from one of his hosting stints on Saturday Night Live, the 2007 rendition of Hairspray, as well as the aforementioned Fatboy Slim video
, which consists solely of him dancing in an empty hotel.
Notable for:
- The Anderson Tapes (1971): The Kid (his film debut)
- Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976) - Robert Fulmer
- Annie Hall (1977) - Duane Hall
- The Deer Hunter (1978) - Nick Chevotarevich (this is where he won the Oscar)
- Heaven's Gate (1980) - Nathan D. (Nate) Champion
- The Dogs of War (1980) - Cat Shannon
- Pennies from Heaven (1981) - Tom the Dancing Pimp
- The Dead Zone (1983) - Johnny Smith
- Brainstorm (1983) - Michael Brace
- A View to a Kill (1985) - Max Zorin
- Biloxi Blues (1988) - Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey
- The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) - Kyril Montana
- Communion (1989) - Whitley Strieber
- King of New York (1990) - Frank White
- Batman Returns (1992) - Max Shreck
- True Romance (1993) - Vincenzo Coccotti
- Pulp Fiction (1994) - Captain Koons
- The Prophecy (1995) - Archangel Gabriel
- The Addiction (1995) - Peina
- Nick of Time (1995) - Mr. Smith
- Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995) - The Man with the Plan
- Last Man Standing (1996) - Hickey
- Ripper (1996) - Detective Vincent Magnotta
- Basquiat (1996) - The Interviewer
- MouseHunt (1997) - Caesar the Exterminator
- Excess Baggage (1997) - Ray Perkins
- Suicide Kings (1997) - Charlie Barrett
- The Prophecy II (1998) - Archangel Gabriel
- Antz (1998) - Colonel Cutter
- Blast from the Past (1999) - Calvin Webber
- Sleepy Hollow (1999) - The Hessian/The Headless Horseman
- The Prophecy 3: The Ascent (2000) - Archangel Gabriel
- Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice" video (2001)
- Joe Dirt (2001) - Clem Doyle
- Scotland, PA (2001) - Lt. Ernie McDuff
- The Country Bears (2002) - Reed Thimple
- Catch Me If You Can (2002) - Frank William Abagnale, Sr.
- Gigli (2003) - Detective Stanley Jacobellis
- Kangaroo Jack (2003) - Salvatore Maggio
- The Rundown (2003) - Cornelius Bernard Hatcher
- Man on Fire (2004) - Paul Rayburn
- Around the Bend (2004) - Turner Lair
- Romance & Cigarettes (2004) - Cousin Bo A brief cameo.
- The Stepford Wives (2004) - Mike Wellington
- Wedding Crashers (2005) - William Cleary, Secretary of the Treasury
- Click (2006) - Morty
- Hairspray (2007) - Wilbur Turnblad
- Balls of Fury (2007) - Feng
- Disaster! (2008 - 2015, theme park attraction) - Frank Kincaid
- Seven Psychopaths (2012) - Hans
- Jersey Boys (2014) - Gyp De Carlo
- Peter Pan Live! (2014) - Captain Hook
- Eddie the Eagle (2015) - Warren Sharp
- The Jungle Book (2016) - King Louie
- Nine Lives (2016) - Felix Perkins
- Severance (2022) - Burt
- Dune: Part Two (2024) - Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV
Cowbell solo!
Tropes associated with his roles include:
- '50s Hair: His distinctive pompadour.
- Adam Westing: His many, many, many eccentricities are a goldmine of parody, which he himself regularly takes part in, notably on SNL.
- Ascended Meme: A variety of strange quotes and character tics have turned him into something of an icon.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's definitely an eccentric fellow but there's a reason he's been acting for more than six decades and has an Academy Award.
- The Cast Showoff: He just loves showing off his dancing skills in any role he can.
- Cloudcuckoolander: A lot of roles and media love to play this up.
- The Comically Serious: Special mention goes to Captain Koons in Pulp Fiction and Ed Glossier from SNL.
- Cold Ham: Both his conviction and his numerous quirks are all expressive enough.
- Large Ham: That said, he will push it further on occasion, especially in comedy like The Country Bears.
- Cool Old Guy: When they aren't evil, his characters in his later roles are definitely this and sometimes even when they are.
- Doing It for the Art: Takes nearly every role offered to him, not because he needs the money, but because he thinks every role is a learning experience.
- EmPHAsis On The Wrong SylLAble: An oft-imitated speech pattern of his. Made fun of in one SNL monologue, in which he sings "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" but never changed the pronunciation.Jimmy: You’re singing the words the same. You have to say, like, tomayto, tomahto. Tomahto, potahto.
Walken: "Tomahto", what's that? - Kubrick Stare: Walken will invoke this in his more villainous roles, like his performance in True Romance.
- Leslie Nielsen Syndrome: While he is mostly devoted to comedy nowadays, his early career consisted of more serious performances, like his Oscar-winning role in The Deer Hunter.
- Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Especially in Tim Burton films, Walken often plays unsettling or creepy characters.
- Obvious Stunt Double: The more acrobatic sections of "Weapon of Choice" were clearly handled by a double, made obvious by the fact that their hair colors don't match and that the double's face is awkwardly blurred out to try and obscure the switch, only to draw more attention to it.
- Production Posse: Walken is one of Abel Ferrara's favorite actors, appearing in no less than four films made by him.
- Those Two Actors: He's known for frequently working with Susan Sarandon.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: His characters always seem to stare off into the distance. Apparently, this is because Walken is always reading cue cards.
- Typecasting: He's usually a weirdo or a villain, with a few exceptions such as The Deer Hunter and Hairspray.
- Verbal Tic: Several: An irregular rhythm, unusual changes in pitch, and long pauses.note
