Christopher Walken (1943 - )
Lifespan: 1943 -
Related: American cinema - actor
The Comfort of Strangers (1990) - Paul Schrader
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Like many of Paul Schrader's films, The Comfort of Strangers is a mournful examination of decaying innocence and sexual transgression.
More films: Communion (1989) - The Comfort of Strangers (1990)
Biography
Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken on March 31, 1943) is an Academy Award-winning American film and theatre actor. He was born in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens to Paul, a German father, and Rosalie, a Scottish-born mother. Walken has been married to casting director Georgianne Walken since 1969. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher Walken [Sept 2006]
Cult status
Walken has attracted a strong cult following as an actor. One reason for this is the type of films he has appeared in, for example gangster and science fiction/fantasy films, or films by directors with their own cult following such as Abel Ferrara, David Cronenberg, and Quentin Tarantino. But more important factors are his odd appearance, his quirky mannerisms, his unique delivery (since high school, he has kept the habit of eliminating the punctuation from his scripts), and his ability to exude menace.
Additionally, his comedic efficiency comes as a surprise to those who are familiar only with the more serious roles that comprise the majority of his body of work, and so Walken is admired for his versatility. This cult status is demonstrated by the number of photo-shopped images of Walken on the net, the frequency of impersonations either by amateurs or other professional actors (notably Kevin Spacey, Kevin Pollak, and Jay Mohr), the invention of fictitious stories about his activities, and the invention of various things he might have said.
There is also the fan practice of rote reciting some of his speeches from film - for example True Romance, Pulp Fiction and The Prophecy. There are even short films and plays which use his persona. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Walken#Cult_statusw [Sept 2006]
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