Introducing "Christopher" Walken
Yes, he's a clown. Yes, he's scary.
Alex Q. Arbuckle
c. 1955
Ronald Walken was born in 1943 to German and Scottish immigrants in Queens, New York. The middle child of three brothers, young Ronnie’s first paid gig in show business came when he was 14 months old and posed for a nude calendar shoot with a pair of fluffy kittens.
I posed naked snuggling with two cats for a series of calendar pictures, which were a big success. I haven’t seen those pictures in a long, long time, but I remember doing it, and I’ve always wondered what kind of cats those were. - Christopher Walken
Walker’s mother Rosalie had always wanted to be an actress, and went to work booking television appearances for all three of her sons. Ronnie got roles as an extra on numerous live television shows, appearing alongside entertainers such as Milton Berle and Sid Caesar. One of his earliest regular roles was as the young narrator of the 1953 program The Wonderful John Acton, and from 1954 to 1956 he and brother Glenn shared the role of Michael Bauer during the early days of the decades-spanning soap opera Guiding Light.
My brother was on three shows at the same time, he used to run from place to place. There was a radio version of one of the TV things he did and when he couldn’t make it I would go, because I had the same voice he did. - Christopher Walken
Here, Ronnie puts on an energetic performance as a clown at his family’s home in Bayside, Queens. He would go on to train as a dancer at the Professional Children’s School in Manhattan, and work as dancer in musicals. In 1964, at the offhand suggestion of nightclub singer Monique Van Vooren, he changed his name from Ronald to Christopher.
She would introduce us at the end of the show and one night she said to me, 'You know, I don't really like 'Ronnie.' I think you are more 'Christopher.' Do you mind if I call you Christopher?" I said, "Call me anything you like, just don't call me late for lunch." - Christopher Walken
I don't much like being directed. I enjoy being allowed to play. - Christopher Walken
There's something dangerous about what's funny. Jarring and disconcerting. There is a connection between funny and scary. - Christopher Walken
Visit Premier Exhibitions at 417 5th Avenue to see the past become present again at "Retronaut's New York." This pop-up exhibition of extraordinary, digitally restored photographs captures New York City at the turn of the 20th century. It's only open until May 15, so be sure to get down there before it’s gone.