Editing Christopher Walken (section)

==Early life and education ==
Walken was born Ronald Walken on March 31, 1943,<ref>{{cite news|title=Christopher Walken Filmography|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/filmgrph/christopher_walken.htm|access-date=January 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123090705/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/filmgrph/christopher_walken.htm|archive-date=January 23, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> in [[Astoria, Queens]], New York City. His parents were Rosalie Russell, a Scottish immigrant from [[Glasgow]], and Paul Wälken, a German immigrant from [[Gelsenkirchen]]<ref name="salon">[http://archive.salon.com/people/bc/2000/10/10/walken/index.html Salon.Com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121234035/http://archive.salon.com/people/bc/2000/10/10/walken/index.html |date=January 21, 2008}} "Both of his parents were immigrants&nbsp;– his father, Paul, from Germany; and his mother, Rosalie, from Glasgow, Scotland."</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-master-of-menace/ |title=The Master of Menace |publisher=Cbsnews.com |date=December 4, 2002 |access-date=May 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114021752/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/04/60II/main531647.shtml |archive-date=January 14, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> who owned and operated Walken's Bakery in Astoria.<ref>{{cite web |author=Bernard Weinraub |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/24/garden/lunch-with-christopher-walken-new-york-actor-takes-stardom-with-grain-salt.html |title=AT LUNCH WITH – Christopher Walken – A New York Actor Takes Stardom With a Grain of Salt – Biography – |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 24, 1992 |access-date=May 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506025049/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/24/garden/lunch-with-christopher-walken-new-york-actor-takes-stardom-with-grain-salt.html |archive-date=May 6, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=tsc>{{cite news|last=Gaver|first=Jack|title=This Mom Feels Like Casting Agency With Three Young Sons Working on Stage, TV|newspaper=Tuscaloosa News|date=January 20, 1954|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=diUeAAAAIBAJ&pg=5200,2155341&dq=rosalie-ni-teke-turnout-any-decent-part|access-date=July 16, 2010}}</ref> Walken was named after actor [[Ronald Colman]]. He was raised [[Methodist]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adherents.com/people/pw/Christopher_Walken.html |title=The religion of Christopher Walken, actor |publisher=Adherents.com |access-date=May 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504101755/http://www.adherents.com/people/pw/Christopher_Walken.html |archive-date=May 4, 2017 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> He and his brothers, Kenneth and Glenn, were child actors on television in the 1950s, influenced by their mother's dreams of stardom.<ref name=tsc/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/dec/02/christopher-walken-interview |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Sean |last=O'Hagan |title=Christopher Walken: 'No matter who I play, it's me' |date=December 2, 2012 |access-date=December 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109115656/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/dec/02/christopher-walken-interview |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

When he was 15, a girlfriend showed Walken a magazine photo of [[Elvis Presley]] and Walken later said, "This guy looked like a Greek god. Then I saw him on television. I loved everything about him." He changed his hairstyle to imitate Presley and has not changed it since.<ref>Robert Schnakenberg (2008). [https://archive.org/details/christopherwalke00schn "Christopher Walken A to Z"].</ref> As a teenager, he worked as a [[Lion taming|lion tamer]] trainee for a short time in a circus.<ref>{{cite web |author=Talk Interview by JESSICA GROSS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/magazine/christopher-walken-isnt-as-weird-as-you-think.html |title=Christopher Walken Isn't as Weird as You Think |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 9, 2012 |access-date=May 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324013506/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/magazine/christopher-walken-isnt-as-weird-as-you-think.html |archive-date=March 24, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Walken attended [[Hofstra University]] but dropped out after one year, having been cast in the role of Clayton Dutch Miller in an [[off-Broadway]] revival of ''[[Best Foot Forward (musical)|Best Foot Forward]]'' alongside [[Liza Minnelli]].<ref name="tca">Stated on ''[[Inside the Actors Studio]]'', 1996</ref> Walken initially trained as a dancer at the Washington Dance Studio before moving on to dramatic stage roles and then film.<ref name=tca/>