‘Regular Guy’ Christopher Walken Has Built His $50 Million Net Worth Since He Began Acting at 5 Years Old
Plenty of new actors dazzle when they burst onto the entertainment scene, but there are also some long-standing staples in the film world that have been showcasing their talents for decades. Christopher Walken is among the latter.
Earning praise for both his ability to bring complex characters to life and for his professionalism on the set, Walken is a rare gem in the acting world, and he has dozens of acting roles stretching back for decades to showcase it.
Christopher Walken’s mother hoped her boys would go into entertainment
Born Ronald Walken in 1943, the New York native had a very working-class background. As Biography reports, Walken was the son of Paul Walken, a baker. Walken’s mother had an interest in the glitz and glamour of show business, so she impressed on her sons the potential of entertainment as a path to fame from an early age.
Walken and his brothers — perhaps with this advice in mind — spent their time hanging out near the Rockefeller Center in Midtown where they’d sometimes get the chance to serve as extras on TV sets.
Walken started these small parts at the early age of 5, and by 10 he had landed a regular TV role. From that point on, he got consistent roles in both TV and theater, snowballing each experience into the next as he amassed an impressive resume. His 1978 appearance in Deer Hunter alongside Robert De Niro stood as a turning point, and Walken’s profile became noticeably higher in the years to come.
Notable parts over the years include Pulp Fiction, Last Man Standing, The Prophecy, and Catch Me if You Can. Walken is not often the lead, but he frequently plays impressive supporting roles that bring his deadpan delivery forward in a drama or add a hilarious edge to a comedic situation — an ability showcased to the fullest in Walken’s famed “cowbell” sketch on SNL.
Christopher Walken is ‘very cautious’ about money
Today, Walken has amassed a considerable fortune that is even more impressive in light of his humble upbringing. Celebrity Net Worth reports that the star is worth an estimated $50 million. The site also reports that the star has a reputation for his eccentricity and has developed a “cult following of fans.”
Part of what makes him so endearing to fans is his humble demeanor around his wealth. A 2013 profile of the actor in The Guardian explored his take on living a rather simple life:
“My life is really quite conservative. I’ve been married nearly 50 years. I don’t have hobbies or children. I don’t much care to travel. I’ve never had a big social life. I really just stay home, except when I go to work.”
As for money, Walken says that his personality — about everything — is a reserved one: “I’m very cautious. I worry. I tend to have contingency plans.”
Dozens of roles stretching back over seven decades for Christopher Walken
Whether it’s because of his contingency plans or simply a matter of being willing to take on a wide range of roles, Walken has managed to amass an impressive 140 acting credits on his IMDb filmography. These parts include blockbuster hits and small indie flicks. They stretch all the way back to 1953, giving the actor nearly seventy full years of active work.
At the age of 79, Walken shows no signs of stepping out of the spotlight. He’s been playing Frank Sheldon in the TV series The Outlaws and has been announced for the upcoming Dune: Part Two.
