Christopher Walken
Born: 31 March, 1943
Where: Queens, New York
If a casting agent wants an actor to play a deranged psychotic or unhinged thug then Walken isn't far down the list of possibles.
He received a best supportng actor Oscar for The Deer Hunter and now is a familiar presence as the barking baddie in the background.
He also joined that elite group of actors to play a Bond villain - Max Zorin in A View To A Kill.
Born Ronald Walken, he is one of a rare breed of actors who made the successful transition from child to adult star.
The actor studied dance as a youngster and, from the age of 10, appeared in live musicals and dramas in the so-called 'Golden Age' of television in the 1950s.
He also occasionally traded places with his brother Glenn playing the character of Mike Bauer on the TV series Guiding Light between 1954 and 1956.
His breakthrough performance came as Duane Hall in Woody Allen's Annie Hall and he has subsequently appeared in more than 50 feature films.
These include Stephen King's The Dead Zone, James Foley's At Close Range, Mike Nicol's Biloxi Blues and Abel Ferrara's gritty King of New York.
His brilliant depiction of the self-disintegration of a war-ravaged Vietnam soldier obsessed with playing Russian roulette, in Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter, earned him a 1978 Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
Cutting a colourful figure, he portrayed the camp nemesis to Roger Moore's James Bond in A View to a Kill in 1985, becoming the only Oscar-winner to ever play a 007 villain.
In recent years, he has created some memorable cameos including Vincent Coccotti in True Romance and Captain Koons in Pulp Fiction.
Walken also won praise for the Headless Horseman in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow and crooked businessman Max Shrek in Batman Returns.
Recent work has included Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can and the forgetable comedy Kangaroo Jack.
Walked had a brief role in the turkey Gigli with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez and also appeared in Envy with Ben Stiller and Jack Black.
In 2004, he played Glenn Close's sinister spouse in Frank Oz's remake of The Stepford Wives and also starred in the drama Around The Bend.
Recent work includes the comedy Wedding Crashers alongside Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.
