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Christopher Walken (/ˈwɔːkən/ WAWK-ən; born March 31, 1943) is an American character actor whose career has spanned over 50 years with appearances in theater, film, and television. He has appeared in over 100 movies and television shows, including A View to a Kill, At Close Range, The Deer Hunter, King of New York, Batman Returns, Pulp Fiction, Sleepy Hollow, True Romance, and Catch Me If You Can, as well as music videos by recording artists such as Madonna and Fatboy Slim.
Contents
- Filmography
- Television appearances
- Saturday Night Live appearances
- Theater
- Video games
- Music video
- CD
- References
Walken's early career was primarily in theater and television where he often played small roles. During this period of his career, Walken was credited as "Ken Walken" and later as "Ronnie Walken", until he finally settled on "Christopher Walken". He began acting in films in 1969 and, after a series of increasingly larger roles, won an Academy Award in 1978 as Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Deer Hunter. Since then, Walken has become a highly sought-after actor, typically performing in numerous films every year.
Walken has been a primary character in two film franchises: as Gabriel the fallen angel in The Prophecy series, and as Jacob Witting in the made-for-television films based on Patricia MacLachlan's Sarah, Plain and Tall novels. Other notable roles include:Johnny Smith in The Dead Zone, Captain Koons in Pulp Fiction, and Frank Abagnale Sr. in Catch Me if You Can. He also sings and dances, as seen in some of his films including: Puss in Boots, Hairspray, and Pennies From Heaven.
Filmography
Following his early (1950s) work in television and theater, Walken has acted primarily in films. This list includes credits in studio films, independent films, animated films, and made-for-television movies. The list includes the 2001 short five-minute film Popcorn Shrimp which Walken wrote, produced and directed.
Television appearances
In the beginning of his acting career, Walken had relatively small roles in episodes for a number of television shows. This list includes appearances in various episodes of fictional shows, while excluding appearances as himself on talk shows, interview shows, ceremonies, and the like.
^ III Credited as "Ronnie Walken".
Saturday Night Live appearances
Walken has hosted Saturday Night Live a total of seven times, and is therefore part of the "Five-Timers Club", a select group of celebrities who have hosted the show five or more times. Among Walken's roles on the show, are as the title character in "The Continental" and as fictional record producer Bruce Dickinson in "More cowbell". In 2004, The Best of Christopher Walken was released on DVD, featuring highlights from Walken's many appearances on the show.
Theater
In addition to acting for film and television, Walken has acted in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway theater productions. He has acted in more than 100 additional plays including some by Shakespeare. This list includes the most popular of them.
^ III Credited as "Ronnie Walken".
^ IV Credited as "Ken Walken".
^ V Acted as a replacement for Arnold Merritt.