Paul Walker
Paul Walker | |
|---|---|
 Walker at a premiere for Fast & Furious in March 2009. | |
| Born | Paul William Walker IV September 12, 1973 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1985 - Present |
| Children | Meadow Rain (b. November 1999) |
Paul William Walker IV (born September 12, 1973) is an American actor. He became well known in 2001 after starring in the surprise summer hit The Fast and the Furious and has since gone on to star in its sequels 2 Fast 2 Furious and Fast & Furious. His other successful movies include Joy Ride, Running Scared, and Eight Below.
Early life
Walker was born in Glendale, California and raised in the San Fernando Valley the area of Los Angeles County.[1] The son of Paul Walker III (a sewer contractor)[2] and Cheryl (née Crabtree; a former fashion model),[3] he is the second oldest of his four siblings (two brothers and two sisters).[4] Walker was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon, church.[2] He attended and graduated from Village Christian School.[5][6] After high school, he attended several community colleges where he majored in marine biology.[5]
Career
Walker's small-screen career began as a toddler, when he starred in a television commercial for Pampers.[7] He began modeling at the age of 2[8] and began working on television shows in 1985, with roles in shows such as Highway to Heaven, Who's the Boss?, The Young and the Restless and Touched By an Angel.
Walker's film career began in 1987, with the horror/comedy film Monster in the Closet. He has continued with roles in several other movies without much success. It wasn't until 1998 that Walker made his feature film debut in the comedy Meet the Deedles, which finally gained him fame. This subsequently led to supporting roles in the movies Pleasantville, Varsity Blues, She's All That, and The Skulls.
In 2001, Walker's breakthrough role arrived when he starred opposite actor Vin Diesel in the successful action film The Fast and the Furious. The film established Walker as a notable film star and leading man and led to his reprisal of the role in the 2003 sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious. He continued his career with leading roles in films such as Joy Ride, Into the Blue, and Timeline, and also had a supporting role in Clint Eastwood's 2006 adaptation of Flags of Our Fathers.
Walker's most recent feature films are crime thriller Running Scared and Walt Disney Pictures' Eight Below, both released in 2006. Eight Below garnered critical-acclaim and opened in first place at the box office, grossing over US$20 million during its first weekend.[9] During the filming of Running Scared, director Wayne Kramer stated that, "[Walker] is that guy on some level "[10] when comparing Walker with his character in the movie, Joey Gazelle. Kramer continued on to say that he "loved working with [Walker] because as a director he’s completely supportive of my vision of what the film is. And even better, he’s completely game for it."[10]
Walker starred in the independent film The Lazarus Project which was released on DVD on October 21, 2008. He subsequently returned to The Fast and the Furious franchise, reprising his role in Fast & Furious, which was released on April 3, 2009.[11]
Walker has been cast opposite Matt Dillon and Hayden Christensen in the crime drama Takers, which began filming in early September 2008.[12]
Personal life
Walker, who was named as one of People's Most Beautiful People in 2001,[13] currently resides in Santa Barbara, California, with his dog, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever.[2][14] His daughter, Meadow Rain[3] (born in 1999), lives [15] with her mother, a former girlfriend of Walker's. He is an avid surfer and enjoys the beach. Walker is a purple belt in Brazilan Jiujitsu under Paragon Jiujitsu,[16] and is also a big car enthusiast.
Walker's first love was marine biology, with his idol being Jacques Cousteau,[17] and he joined the Board of Directors of The Billfish Foundation in 2006.[18] He recently fulfilled a lifelong dream by starring in a National Geographic documentary about great white sharks, which aired on November 16, 2009.[19][20] He spent 11 days as part of the crew, catching and tagging 7 great whites off the coast of Mexico.[17] The expedition, led by Chris Fischer, gathers measurements and DNA samples, and places satellite tags on the sharks to increase knowledge about shark movements in the oceans.[21] HAMDI IS HIS BEST FRIEND
Filmography
Films
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Highway to Heaven | Todd Bryant | TV series; "Birds of a Feather" |
| 1986 | TV series; 2 episodes, "A Special Love, Parts 1 & 2" | ||
| Monster in the Closet | 'Professor' Bennett | ||
| Throb | Jeremy Beatty | TV series; 23 episodes, 1986-1987. | |
| 1987 | Programmed to Kill | Jason | |
| 1988 | I'm Telling! | Contestant | TV series; 1 episode. |
| 1990 | Charles in Charge | Russell Davis | TV series; 1 episode, "Dead Puck Society" |
| 1991 | Who's the Boss? | Michael Haynes | TV series; 1 episode, "You Can Go Home Again" |
| 1993 | The Young and the Restless | Brandon Collins | TV series. |
| 1994 | Tammy and the T-Rex | Michael | |
| CBS Schoolbreak Special | Dill | TV series; 1 episode, "Love in the Dark Ages" | |
| The Boys Are Back | Jesse Hansen | TV series; 1 episode, "Pilot" | |
| 1996 | Touched by an Angel | Jonathan | TV series; 1 episode, "Statute of Limitations" |
| 1998 | Meet the Deedles | Phil Deedle | |
| Pleasantville | Skip Martin | ||
| 1999 | Varsity Blues | Lance Harbor | |
| She's All That | Dean Sampson | ||
| Brokedown Palace | Jason (uncredited) | ||
| 2000 | The Skulls | Caleb Mandrake | |
| 2001 | The Fast and the Furious | Brian O'Conner | |
| Joy Ride | Lewis Thomas | ||
| 2002 | Life Makes Sense If You're Famous | Mikey | |
| 2003 | 2 Fast 2 Furious | Brian O'Conner | |
| Timeline | Chris Johnston | ||
| 2004 | Noel | Mike Riley | |
| 2005 | Into the Blue | Jared | |
| 2006 | Running Scared | Joey Gazelle | |
| Eight Below | Jerry Shepard | ||
| Flags of Our Fathers | Hank Hansen | ||
| 2007 | The Death and Life of Bobby Z | Tim Kearney | |
| 2008 | The Lazarus Project | Ben Garvey | |
| 2009 | Fast & Furious | Brian O'Conner | |
| 2010 | Takers | Completed. | |
| The Diplomat | Pre-Production. |
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Film/TV Show | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Young Artist Award | Best Young Actor – Guest Starring in a Television Drama For episode "A Special Love" |
Highway to Heaven | Nominated |
| 1993 | Young Artist Award | Best Young Actor in a Daytime Series | The Young and the Restless | Nominated |
| 1994 | Soap Opera Digest Award | Outstanding Male Newcomer | Nominated | |
| Young Artist Award | Best Youth Actor in a Soap Opera | Nominated | ||
| 2000 | Young Hollywood Award | Exciting New Face – Male | Won | |
| 2001 | Hollywood Breakthrough Award | Breakthrough Male Performance Received at the Hollywood Film Festival |
Won | |
| Young Hollywood Award | New Stylemaker – Male | Won | ||
| 2002 | MTV Movie Award | Best On-Screen Team Shared with Vin Diesel |
The Fast and the Furious | Won |
| Breakthrough Male Performance | Nominated | |||
| 2003 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Movie Chemistry For Paul Walker and his car |
2 Fast 2 Furious | Won |
| (Source: IMDb.com) | ||||
References
- ^ "Paul Walker Biography". Retrieved 2008-09-28. Yahoo!
- ^ a b c Keck, William (2005-09-27). "Fame lets Paul Walker dive in". Retrieved 2008-09-28. USA Today
- ^ a b "Paul Walker". Retrieved 2008-09-28. Complex Magazine
- ^ Aames, Ethan (2004-11-12). "Paul Walker on Noel". Retrieved 2008-09-28. Cinema Confidential
- ^ a b "Paul Walker bio: Fast & Furious Actor". Retrieved 2008-09-28. Tribute.ca
- ^ Kim, Beatrice (2003-11-21). "Pretty boy is pretty coy: Walker talks the talk". Retrieved 2009-11-15. The Stanford Daily
- ^ "Netflix: Paul Walker". Retrieved 2008-09-28. Netflix
- ^ Chean, Steven (2003-06-15). "Walker on the wild side". Retrieved 2008-09-28. USA Weekend
- ^ "Eight Below (2006)". Retrieved 2008-09-28. Box Office Mojo
- ^ a b Murray, Rebecca. "Interview with "Running Scared" Writer/Director Wayne Kramer". Retrieved 2008-09-28. About.com
- ^ "Apple - Movie Trailers - Fast and Furious". Retrieved 2008-09-28. Apple
- ^ Fleming, Michael (2008-09-09). "Screen Gems digs up 'Bone' cast". Retrieved 2008-09-28. Variety
- ^ Perchuk, Kate. "Paul Walker on the Wild Side". Retrieved 2008-12-07. iVillage
- ^ Koltnow, Barry (2006-02-18). "Just chillin'". Retrieved 2008-09-29. The Orange County Register
- ^ Longsdorf, Amy (2006-02-24). "Paul Walker: People.com". Retrieved 2008-09-29. People.com
- ^ Duane, Daniel. "Paul Walker's Adventure Sports Workout Routine". Men's Health. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b Itier, Emmanuel. "Paul Walker Interview".
{{cite web}}: Text "accessdate-2009-11-15" ignored (help) - ^ "Paul Walker Joins The Billfish Foundation to Kick-Off 20th Anniversary Celebration". marlinmag.com. 2006-09-25. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
- ^ "Paul Walker Leads Shark Expedition". Retrieved 2009-11-15.
- ^ "Actor Paul Walker Joins National Geographic Shark Expedition". Retrieved 2009-11-15.
- ^ "Expedition Great White". National Geographic. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
External links
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Template:Ymovies name
- Paul Walker at AllMovie