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CHRISTOPHER WALKEN

Christopher Walken is one of the weirdest American actors, with unmistakably stoic mannerisms, delivery, and voice, and a face that seems to hold no emotion, or all emotions. He shot to fame playing Russian roulette in The Deer Hunter.

Walken's parents were both immigrants. His father, a baker from Germany, ran Walken's Bakery in Queens. His mother, an amateur actress from Scotland, gave up her own on-stage ambitions, but noticed there were opportunities in New York for cute children as models, and in TV shows and commercials.

Mr. and Mrs. Walken had three cute children, Christopher, Kenneth, and Glenn, and their paychecks helped the family make ends meet. All three boys appeared on television shows, on Broadway, and in the movies, but only Christopher made it his career.

Walken made his Broadway debut at 15 in 1958, playing a lion tamer and working with a live lion in J.B., directed by Elia Kazan. He went to Hofstra University, but dropped out after a year when he was cast opposite Liza Minnelli in the play, Best Foot Forward. As an adult, Walken's Broadway debut came in 1964, in a production of High Spirits actually directed by Noel Coward. His film debut was in 1968's Me and My Brother, with Allen Ginsberg, in which Walken borrowed his father's German accent and shouted directions to an actor auditioning to play a catatonic-schizophrenic.
At some point, Walken developed an aversion to traditional punctuation. He's said that he would sometimes cross out punctuation marks in textbooks, and he still crosses out punctuation in his scripts today. Instead, he's explained that he reads scripts and speaks his lines with a dancer's cadence in his mind, sort of vocally "dancing" the lines. The words come out in Walken's signature style, often parodied by impressionists, to Walken's own delight.

Christopher Walken has acted in nearly one hundred films in his lifetime, and well over that many stage performances, encompassing every style and genre imaginable. He and his wife are happily married and working around the world. Recently, in addition to becoming one of SNL's most popular hosts, Walken has averaged nearly five movies per year, testament to his skill, dedication, and talent even at the age of sixty-two.

Now, more active than ever, Christopher Walken has realized that the state of his country is in dismay, and the politicians in charge care less for the citizens they serve and more about fattening their resumes and campaign chests. Having residences both in rural Connecticut and upper-west Manhattan, he sees that all walks of life are becoming disgruntled and apathetic towards the American government, and feels a duty, as a child of the American public, to restore the peace, prosperity, and greatness of the United States.

"Our great country is in a terrible downward spiral. We're outsourcing jobs, bankrupting social security, and losing lives at war. We need to focus on what's important-- paying attention to our children, our citizens, our future. We need to think about improving our failing educational system, making better use of our resources, and helping to promote a stable, safe, and tolerant global society. It's time to be smart about our politics. It's time to get America back on track."

The Official Homepage of the Walken 2008 Campaign
http://www.walken2008.com