American actor (born 1943)
Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. His diverse work on depletion and screen has earned him numerous accolades including an Institution Award, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, kind well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and digit Tony Awards. His films have grossed more than $1.6 cardinal in the United States alone.[1]
Walken has appeared in supporting roles in films such as The Anderson Tapes (1971), Next Terminate, Greenwich Village (1976), Roseland (1977) and Annie Hall (1977), formerly coming to wider attention as the troubled Vietnam War Nick Chevotarevich in The Deer Hunter (1978). His performance attained him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was nominated for the same award for portraying con artist Outspoken Abagnale's father in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can (2002).
Since his breakthrough, Walken has appeared in films rotation various genres, both in lead and supporting roles.[2] These involve The Dogs of War (1980), Brainstorm (1983), The Dead Zone (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), At Close Range (1986), Biloxi Blues (1988), King of New York (1990), The Comfort of Strangers (1990), Batman Returns (1992), True Romance (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), The Prophecy (1995, and its two sequels), Suicide Kings (1997), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Man on Fire (2004), Wedding Crashers (2005), Hairspray (2007), Seven Psychopaths (2012), A Kick up a fuss Quartet (2012), Percy (2020), and Dune: Part Two (2024). Take steps has also provided voice work for the animated filmsAntz (1998) and The Jungle Book (2016).
On television, Walken has attended in films such as Who Am I This Time? (1982), and Sarah, Plain and Tall (1991), for which he customary a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. More recently, he has marked in television series The Outlaws (2021–), and Severance (2022–), say publicly latter of which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award footing Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series nomination. He has guest-hosted Saturday Night Live seven times. His roles on say publicly show include record producer Bruce Dickinson in the "More Cowbell" sketch, the disgraced Confederate officer Colonel Angus, and multiple appearances as an aging, unsuccessful lothario in the Continental sketch.
As a stage actor, Walken starred with Irene Worth in a 1975 Broadway revival of Sweet Bird of Youth. Walken has played the lead in the Shakespeare plays Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Coriolanus. His performance in the original understanding of James Joyce's The Dead (2000), earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical nomination. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in Martin McDonagh's A Behanding imprison Spokane (2010). He also wrote and played the lead lines in the 1995 play Him, about his idol Elvis Presley.[3]
Walken was born Ronald Walken on March 31, 1943,[4] efficient Astoria, Queens, New York City. His parents were Rosalie Astronomer, a Scottish immigrant from Glasgow, and Paul Wälken, a Teutonic immigrant from Gelsenkirchen[5][6] who owned and operated Walken's Bakery refurbish Astoria.[7][8] Walken was named after actor Ronald Colman. He was raised Methodist.[9] He and his brothers, Kenneth and Glenn, were child actors on television in the 1950s, influenced by their mother's dreams of stardom.[8][10]
When he was 15, a girlfriend showed Walken a magazine photo of Elvis Presley and Walken late said, "This guy looked like a Greek god. Then I saw him on television. I loved everything about him." Purify changed his hairstyle to imitate Presley and has not exchanged it since.[11] As a teenager, he worked as a champion tamer trainee for a short time in a circus.[12]
Walken accompanied Hofstra University but dropped out after one year, having archaic cast in the role of Clayton Dutch Miller in take in off-Broadway revival of Best Foot Forward alongside Liza Minnelli.[13] Walken initially trained as a dancer at the Washington Dance Bungalow before moving on to dramatic stage roles and then film.[13]
As a child, Walken appeared on screen as an extra carry numerous anthology series and variety shows during the Golden Be in charge of Television.[13] After appearing in a sketch with Martin humbling Lewis on The Colgate Comedy Hour, Walken decided to make an actor.[14] He landed a regular role in the 1953 television show Wonderful John Acton, playing the part of Kevin Acton. During this time, he was credited as Ronnie Walken.[15]
Over the next two years, he appeared frequently on television, spell had a thriving career in theater. From 1954 to 1956, Walken and his brother Glenn originated the role of Archangel Bauer on the soap opera The Guiding Light. In 1963, he appeared as a character named Chris in an occurrence of Naked City, starring Paul Burke.
In 1964, he denaturized his first name to Christopher at the suggestion of Monique van Vooren, who had a nightclub act in which Walken was a dancer. She believed the name suited him holiday than Ronnie (a pet form of his given name, Ronald), which he was credited as until then.[16] He prefers be obliged to be known informally as Chris instead of Christopher.[14]
In 1966, Walken played the role of King Philip of France in interpretation Broadway premiere of The Lion in Winter.[17] In 1968, of course played Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo bank on Romeo and Juliet at the Stratford Festival in Canada.[18][19]
He comed in the made-for-TV movies Barefoot in Athens (1966) and The Three Musketeers (1969), and made his feature film debut diminution Me and My Brother (1969), a low-budget production that besides featured Sam Shepard. In 1969, Walken guest-starred in Hawaii Five-O as Navy SP Walt Kramer.
In 1970, Walken starred interchangeable the Off-Broadway production of Lanford Wilson's Lemon Sky opposite Physicist Durning and Bonnie Bartlett.[20] Later that year Walken received depiction Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance.[21]
Walken's first major studio skin was Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes (1971) with Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. In 1972's The Mind Snatchers a.k.a. The Happiness Cage, Walken played his first starring role.[22] In that science fiction film, which deals with mind control and standardisation, he plays a sociopathic U.S. soldier stationed in Germany.
Paul Mazursky's 1976 film Next Stop, Greenwich Village had Walken, get it wrong the name "Chris Walken", playing the charismatic and promiscuous madeup poet Robert Fulmer. In Woody Allen's 1977 film Annie Hall (in which his surname was misspelled "Wlaken" in the suppress credits), Walken played the borderline crazy brother of Annie Pass (Diane Keaton).[23] Also in 1977, Walken had a minor conduct yourself as Eli Wallach's partner in The Sentinel. In 1978, bankruptcy appeared in Shoot the Sun Down, a western filmed herbaceous border 1976 that costarred Margot Kidder.[24] Along with Nick Nolte take precedence Burt Reynolds, Walken was considered by George Lucas for rendering part of Han Solo in Star Wars;[25][26] the part in the final went to Harrison Ford.
In 1977, Walken also guest-starred accent an episode of Kojak as Ben Wiley, a robber.
Walken won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Archangel Cimino's 1978 film The Deer Hunter. He played a Colony steelworker who was emotionally destroyed by the Vietnam War. Highlight help achieve his character's gaunt appearance before the third alarm, Walken consumed only bananas, water and rice for a month.[27]
Walken's first film of the 1980s was the controversial Heaven's Gate, also directed by Cimino. Walken also starred in the 1981 action adventureThe Dogs of War, directed by John Irvin. Misstep surprised many critics and filmgoers with his intricate tap-dancing stripper in Herbert Ross's musical Pennies from Heaven (1981). In 1982, he played a socially awkward but gifted theater actor bland the film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's short storyWho Am I This Time? opposite Susan Sarandon. Walken then played schoolteacher-turned-psychicJohnny Sculpturer in David Cronenberg's 1983 adaptation of Stephen King's The Forget your lines Zone. That same year, Walken also starred in Brainstorm be adjacent to Natalie Wood and (in a minor role) his wife, Georgianne.
In 1985, Walken played a James Bond villain, Max Zorin, in A View to a Kill, Roger Moore's last document as Bond. Walken dyed his hair blond to befit Zorin's origins as a Naziexperiment.[28]
At Close Range (1986) starred Walken style Brad Whitewood, a rural Pennsylvania crime boss who tries round the corner bring his two sons into his empire; his character was mostly based on criminal Bruce Johnston.
In 1988, Walken played a memorable role as Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey in Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues, which was directed by Mike Nichols, captivated he played the role of Federal Agent Kyril Montana check The Milagro Beanfield War. He also played the leading position of Whitley Strieber in 1989's Communion, an autobiographical film impenetrable by Strieber. It was based on claims that he arm his friends were subject to visitations by unknown, other-worldly entities variously identified as "aliens" or "visitors". That same year, Walken appeared in the film Homeboy, which was written by alight featured Mickey Rourke in the titular role. In 1989, sand played the lead role of "Puss" in the Cannon the stage group's musical version of Puss in Boots.
The Comfort appreciated Strangers, an art house film directed by Paul Schrader, world power Walken as Robert, a decadent Italian aristocrat with extreme genital tastes and murderous tendencies who lives with his wife (Helen Mirren) in Venice.
King of New York (1990), directed near Abel Ferrara, stars Walken as ruthless New York City medication dealer Frank White, a recently released prisoner set on reclaiming his criminal territory. In 1991, Walken starred in Sarah, Smooth and Tall as Jacob Witting, a widowed farmer. In 1992, Walken played villain millionaire industrialist Max Shreck in Batman Returns. In January 1993, he appeared in Madonna's music video solution her hit single "Bad Girl" (directed by David Fincher). Walken also played Bobby, Cassandra's producer, in Wayne's World 2.
Walken's next major film role was opposite Dennis Hopper in True Romance, scripted by Quentin Tarantino. Walken later had a encouraging role in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction as a Vietnam veteran given name Captain Koons.
Later in 1994, Walken starred in A Dole out Affair, a rare leading role for him in a idealized comedy. Walken manages to once again feature his trademark terpsichore scene as he performs the tango. In 1995, he developed in Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, Wild Side, The Prophecy and the modern vampire flick The Addiction, which was his second collaboration with director Abel Ferrara status writer Nicholas St. John. He also appeared in Nick always Time, which starred Johnny Depp, and an arthouse film get ahead of David Salle titled Search and Destroy. Also in 1995, Walken acted in "Him," the first play written by Walken, build up about his idol Elvis in the afterlife, featured in interpretation New York Shakespeare Festival. The New York Times gave a somewhat positive review of his "most cheering and refreshingly silly invention" of retelling Elvis' death as a disappearing act desert enabled Elvis to flee to Morocco for a sex banter to become "her" in a "woozily conceived, fantastical new play...in the sharpness and wit of writing and in the performances by Mr. Walken and Mr. Heyman."[29] Walken made an variety in the music video for Skid Row's "Breakin' Down".
In the 1996 film Last Man Standing, Walken plays a perverse gangster named Hickey. That year, he played a prominent r“le in the video game Ripper, portraying Detective Vince Magnotta. Ripper made extensive use of real-time recorded scenes and a nationalized cast of celebrities in an interactive film. In 1996 Walken also appeared in the Italian film Celluloide as US Officebearer Rod Geiger and played the role of Ray in rendering Abel Ferrara crime-drama film The Funeral. In 1997, Walken marked in the comedy films Touch and Excess Baggage and difficult to understand a minor role in the film Mouse Hunt.[30] He likewise appeared in the drama/thriller film Suicide Kings, which was too filled with suspense and humor.
In 1998, Walken played nourish influential gay New York theater critic in John Turturro's coating Illuminata. The same year he voiced Colonel/General Cutter in picture animated film Antz.
In 1999, he played James Houston terminate Vendetta, an HBO original film based on the March 14, 1891 New Orleans lynchings. In the same year, Walken comed in the romantic comedy Blast from the Past portraying Theologizer Webber, a brilliant but eccentric Caltechnuclear physicist whose fears push a nuclear war lead him to build an enormous result shelter beneath his suburban home. The same year, he arrived as the Headless Horseman in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, star Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci. He also appeared in Kiss Toledo Goodbye with Michael Rapaport and Nancy Allen.
In 2000, Walken was cast as the lead, along with Blair Brownish, in James Joyce's The Dead on Broadway. A "play operate music", The Dead featured music by Shaun Davey, conducted bid Charles Prince, with music coordination and percussion by Tom Partington. James Joyce's The Dead won a Tony Award that yr for Best Book for a Musical.
Walken had a masterpiece video performance in 2001 with Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice". Directed by Spike Jonze, it won six MTV awards strike home 2001 and—in a list of the top 100 videos pay no attention to all time compiled from a survey of musicians, directors subject music industry figures conducted by UK music TV channel VH1—won Best Video of All Time in April 2002. In depiction video, Walken dances and flies around the lobby of say publicly Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles; Walken also helped choreograph representation dance. Also in 2001, Walken played a gangster who was in the witness protection program in the David Spade humour Joe Dirt and an eccentric film director in America's Sweethearts. Also in 2001, Walken played Lieutenant Macduff in Scotland, PA, a loose film adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth.
In 2002 Walken played Mike in the film Poolhall Junkies and played Candid Abagnale Sr. in Catch Me If You Can, which keep to inspired by the story of Frank Abagnale Jr., a symbol artist who passed himself off as several identities and bad millions of dollars' worth of checks. His portrayal earned him a second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Walken also had a part in the 2003 action comedy disc The Rundown, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Seann William Scott, in which he plays a ruthless despot. He was nominated for a Razzie (Worst Supporting Actor) in 2002's The Country Bears[31] and in two 2003 films, Gigli and Kangaroo Jack.[32] Walken also starred in Barry Levinson's Envy, in which he plays J-Man, a crazy guy who helps Ben Stiller's character and in his starring role in 2004's Around picture Bend he again has a dancing scene as he portrays an absentee father who has fled prison to reunite give up your job his father, his son and the grandson he never knew before dying. Walken played the role of Paul Rayburn utilize 2004's Man on Fire, where, when speaking about the menacing destructive actions of John Creasy (Denzel Washington), his character states: "A man can be an artist... in anything, food, what. It depends on how good he is at it. Creasy's art is death. He's about to paint his masterpiece." Further in 2004, Walken played Mike in the film The Stepford Wives.
In 2005, he played Mark Heiss in the membrane Domino and the role of Secretary Cleary in the coat Wedding Crashers. In 2006, he played Morty, a sympathetic creator who is more than meets the eye, in the comedy/drama Click and also appeared in Man of the Year accelerate Robin Williams and Lewis Black. He co-starred in the 2007 film adaptation Hairspray, wherein he is seen singing and terpsichore in a romantic duet with John Travolta and portrayed depiction eccentric but cruel crime lord and Ping-Pong enthusiast Feng bolster the 2007 comedy action film Balls of Fury opposite Dan Fogler. Walken was in the film Five Dollars a Day (2008), in which he plays a con man proud deduction living like a king on $5 a day. The First Heist, a comedy co-starring Morgan Freeman, William H. Macy folk tale Walken about security guards in an art museum, debuted assume the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2009.[33]
Walken also starred inconvenience Universal Studios Florida's "Disaster!" theme park attraction, which opened pledge 2008 and closed in 2015. He portrayed Frank Kincaid, interpretation fictional CEO of "Disaster Studios" who encouraged guests to adjust extras in his latest film. In the attraction's pre-show, Walken was projected on a clear screen, much like a life-size hologram and interacted with the live-action talent.
Walken returned satisfy Broadway in Martin McDonagh's play A Behanding in Spokane find guilty 2010 and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Lend a hand by a Leading Actor in a Play.[34] He had a small voice role in NBC sitcom 30 Rock, in representation "Audition Day" episode. In 2011, he played the role promote Jewish-American loan shark Alex "Shondor" Birns in the film homegrown on the life of gangster Danny Greene, Kill the Irishman. In 2012, Walken reunited with McDonagh for the British-American offence comedy film Seven Psychopaths and also played the founder endure leader of a string quartet in A Late Quartet.
Walken costarred with Al Pacino and Alan Arkin in the ep Stand Up Guys, a story about aging gangsters out pomp the town for one last hoorah. He also appeared compromise The Power of Few. In 2012, Walken was selected although a "GQ" Man of the Year.[35] In 2013, Walken became the protagonist in the campaign "Made From Cool" by Carangid & Jones. In 2014, he appeared in Turks & Caicos. Walken appears as Gyp DeCarlo in the 2014 film Jersey Boys. In 2014, Walken played Captain Hook in the NBC production Peter Pan Live![36] In 2015, Walken starred in rendering film When I Live My Life Over Again and played the role of Clem for the second time in depiction David Spade comedy Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser. In 2016, he voiced King Louie in the CGI-live action adaptation warm Disney's The Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau. He besides recorded a cover of Louie's song "I Wan'na Be Famine You", which he sings in the film as well trade in on the soundtrack.[37] Also that year, he appeared in Dexter Fletcher's Eddie the Eagle and Barry Sonnenfeld's Nine Lives.[38] Oppress 2017, Walken replaced Bill Irwin in the role of Director Tinkler in the critically panned Father Figures.[39] The following day, he played Myron in the Netflix film Irreplaceable You.[40]
In 2021, Walken appeared as Frank in the BBC One/Amazon Prime Telecasting comedy The Outlaws.[41] and in the second series broadcast redistribute BBC1 in 2022.
In 2022, he had a supporting r“le as Burt Goodman, the severed chief of the Optics unthinkable Design division in the Apple TV+ series Severance.[42] For his performance, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award aim Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.[43] Walken next portray Emperor Shaddam IV in the 2024 film, Dune: Part Two.[44] The film received universal critical acclaim and SlashFilm wrote: "It's a treat to watch Walken work — he shows mess, delivers his ominous lines with a whisper, and wipes rendering floor with anyone he's acting against. Show 'em how it's make sure of, Christopher Walken."[45]
Described as "diverse and eccentric"[46] and "one of the most respected actors of his generation",[47] Walken has a long-established cult following among film fans.[48] He is overwhelm for his versatility and was named as one of Empire magazine's "Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time".[49] Once dubbed a "cultural phenomenon",[50] he has portrayed several iconic film characters including Johnny Smith in The Dead Zone, Max Shreck purchase Batman Returns, and Max Zorin in A View to a Kill, and was also considered for the role of Best Solo in Star Wars films. His Oscar-winning performance in The Deer Hunter was ranked as the 88th greatest film highest achievement of all time by Premiere magazine[51] and his performance birth Pennies from Heaven made it into Entertainment Weekly's list compensation the "100 Greatest Performances that should have won Oscars but didn't."[52] Sometimes regarded as "one of the kings of cameos", Walken has made several cameo appearances or appeared in a single scene of films including as Captain Koons in Pulp Fiction, Duane in Annie Hall, Hessian Horseman in Sleepy Hollow and Don Vincenzo in True Romance. Writer and director Quentin Tarantino declared that Walken's involvement in True Romance's "Sicilian scene" was one of the proudest moments in his career.[53]
Benicio depict Toro cited Walken as an influence and stated that depiction best advice he had ever been given regarding acting came from him: "When you're in a scene and you don't know what you're gonna do, don't do anything."[54]Kat Dennings callinged him her favorite actor and said that he was depiction reason that she wanted to be an actress.[55]Johnny Depp flawlessly said one of the main reasons he starred in Nick of Time was wanting to work with Walken.[56]Jeffrey Wright,[57]Mickey Rourke,[58]Sam Rockwell,[59]Colin Farrell,[60]Bradley Cooper,[61]Leonardo DiCaprio[62] and Mads Mikkelsen[63] are among actors who spoke about their admiration for Walken. Prominent film critic Roger Ebert, who was particularly impressed by his villain suggest anti-hero portrayals, once stated, "when he is given the unadorned role, there is nobody to touch him for his shivery ability to move between easy charm and pure evil"[64] become more intense called him "one of the few undeniably charismatic male villains."[65]
Walken is noted for refusing film roles only rarely, having declared in interviews that he will decline a role only pretend he is too busy to accept. He regards each acquit yourself as a learning experience.[66] A rare example of a conduct yourself Walken turned down was that of Ray Ruby in description film Go Go Tales (2007). According to film director Term Ferrara, the character was originally written for Walken, who "didn't want to do it". The role was then given withstand Walken's New Rose Hotel (1998) co-star Willem Dafoe.[67]
Walken's voice favour speaking style have been compared to other entertainment figures information flow voices that create "a pleasing (or at least entertaining) aural experience," such as William Shatner and Garrison Keillor.[68] Walken believes that the source of his speech stems from growing receptive with immigrant neighbors who came from everywhere, stating, "The locality itself, you didn't hear a lot of English. Lots personage Greek, Italian, Polish, German, Yiddish. I think I grew hype listening to people who spoke English in a kind pills broken way. I think maybe I talked that way."[69] Walken inspired the stage show, All About Walken: The Impersonators leverage Christopher Walken, created by actor/comedian Patrick O'Sullivan in Hollywood stuff 2006.
In 2003, he was voted Number 34 in Canal 4's countdown of the 100 greatest movie stars of rivet time.[70]
Walken has hosted the comedy drawing and satire TV series Saturday Night Live (SNL) seven times.[71]
One of Walken's SNL performances was a spoof of Behind say publicly Music, featuring a recording session of Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) the Reaper". In the guise of record producer Physician Dickinson (not to be confused with the real Bruce Poet, lead singer for Iron Maiden), Walken makes passionate and a little unhinged speeches to the band and is obsessed with deed "More Cowbell" into the song. The phrase "I gotta suppress more cowbell" has since been adapted to merchandise. The creator who suggested the cowbell on the original BÖC recording disintegration David Lucas.
Walken appeared in one of Will Ferrell come first Rachel Dratch's "The Luvahs" skits.[72] His character brought a muhammadan friend to meet The Luvahs and she is subjected let down learning the history that Walken's character shares with The Luvahs. He also divulges private information about his sex life down his girlfriend, much to her horror ("She was willing find time for accept her lover's body in places no one had insinuating trespassed... specifically, the ear canal").
Walken spoofed his starring position from The Dead Zone (1983) in a sketch titled "Ed Glosser: Trivial Psychic" (1992).[73] In the film, Walken's character commode predict deaths and catastrophes, while Glosser can accurately predict vacuous, trivial future events but with the same emotional intensity though in the film: "You're going to get an ice trounce headache. It's going to hurt real bad, right here, [touches forehead] for eight, nine seconds.").
His character in A Bearing to a Kill was parodied in a sketch titled "Lease with an Option to Kill", in which he reprised his role as Max Zorin. Zorin, who had taken on depleted qualities of other Bond villains (Blofeld's cat and suit, Emilio Largo's eye patch), was upset that everything was going foul up for him. His lair was still under construction; his henchmen had jump suits that didn't fit; and his shark cistern lacked sharks, having a giant sea sponge instead. A internee James Bond, portrayed by Phil Hartman, offered to get Zorin "a good deal" on the abandoned Blofeld volcanic lair hypothesize Zorin let him go, to which he reluctantly agreed.
He performed a song and dance rendition of the Irving Songster standard, "Let's Face the Music and Dance". Finally, there was the "Colonel Angus" sketch,[74] laden with ribald double entendres, straighten out which Walken played a dishonored Confederate officer.
Until 2003, Walken had a recurring SNL sketch called "The Continental",[75] in which Walken played a "suave ladies' man" who in reality cannot do anything to keep a woman (a neighbor in his apartment building) from giving him the cold shoulder. Though of course is outwardly chivalrous, his more perverted tendencies inevitably drive deliver his date over his pleading objections. For instance, he invites the woman to wash up in his bathroom; once she is inside, it becomes obvious that the bathroom mirror report a two-way mirror when he is seen lighting up a cigarette. In "The Continental", only the hand of his dwell is ever seen; the camera always shows her point intelligent view.
The April 5, 2008 Saturday Night Live show was the first time an episode hosted by Walken did crowd have a "Continental" sketch or a monologue in which smartness sang and danced. This episode, however, did include one depict titled "Walken Family Reunion",[76] which spoofs many of Walken's idiosyncrasies. The sketch depicts a fictional Walken family reunion, where wrestle of Christopher's relatives have his mannerisms and speech patterns fairy story sport his trademark pompadour hairstyle. In order of appearance, representation other Walkens are Christopher's cousin Stanley (Bill Hader); Stanley's sibling John (Jason Sudeikis); John's son Scott (Andy Samberg) and girl Maxine (Amy Poehler) (who carries a doll that also has a pompadour); Nathan (Fred Armisen), a gay relative for whom "flamboyance" means dressing all in black and running his influence around the rim of a cosmo glass; Uncle Richard (Darrell Hammond) and Aunt Martha (Kristen Wiig), who think that The Deer Hunter was hilarious and who are hosts of a Nigerianforeign exchange student named Oleki (Kenan Thompson). When he came to live with them, Oleki—who has absorbed all of depiction Walken Family traits—could not speak any English. But now (he says) he "talks like a normal teenaged American boy". Rendering biggest laugh of the sketch occurs when Christopher expresses his sympathies for Scott's teenaged attitude: "I appreciate your situation. Avoidable a Walken, adolescence is a difficult time. You feel materialize you're the only normal person in a school full counterfeit nutjobs." Scott's response: "Wow! It's like you're lookin' right jerk my noggin!" (Will Forte also appears as a waiter dress warmly the beginning of the sketch, but does not do a Walken impression.)
In September 2004, SNL released a DVD called The Best of Christopher Walken through Lionsgate.[77]
Walken returned to description show for the first time in 15 years on Oct 28, 2023, in a cameo role as the "Spirit assault Halloween" in which he gave advice to President Joe Biden (Mikey Day). Walken also introduced the musical guest Foo Fighters instead of host Nate Bargatze. Foo Fighters were the lyrical guest during his 2003 episode, during which Dave Grohl pranked Walken into speaking with the emphasis on "Fighters" instead reproach "Foo". Clips of the introduction later became an internet meme and Walken pronounced the band's name correctly in 2023.
Walken became the subject of a hoax controversy dainty 2006, when a fake website started in August of dump year by members of Internet forum Genmay.com announced that recognized was running for President of the United States. Some believed it was authentic, until Walken's publicist dismissed the claims.[78] When asked about the hoax in a September 2006 interview look at Conan O'Brien, Walken said he was amused and when asked to come up with a campaign slogan, he replied, "What the Heck" and "No More Zoos!"[78]
In 1963, Walken reduce Georgianne Thon during a tour of West Side Story.[79] They married in January 1969. The couple have no children favour Walken has stated in interviews that not having children recapitulate one of the reasons that he has had such a prolific career.[80]
Walken discussed his feelings on sexuality in a 1973 interview with After Dark promoting his appearance as Bassanio ploy The Merchant of Venice. "I suppose I think of depiction man I'm playing as bisexual, and I suppose that's exhibition I think of myself too. I'd hate to think guarantee I was harnessed to heterosexuality. I mean, my life equitable heterosexual, but I like to think that my head task bisexual, and I think it's a good idea for everybody to start getting used to that notion, because that pastime one becomes aware of a lot more things."[81]
On November 29, 1981, Walken was with Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner trust Wagner's yacht the night Wood went missing and ultimately was found dead by drowning. Walken was not considered a harbour by authorities.[82] The case was re-opened in November 2011, Walken was once again not considered a suspect and he vigilantly co-operated with them on the investigation.[83]
Main article: Christopher Walken controversial stage and screen
Main article: List of awards pivotal nominations received by Christopher Walken