Celebrity Story: Christopher Walken is Not a Psychopath

… but he does play them convincingly in the movies. I knew him way before most of you did and here’s an excerpt from Three Stages about Christopher Walken. Yet another

celebrity story.

Buy – for iPad, Kindle, Nook or your computer
Buy at Amazon (KIndle)

Westside Cast, 1965

The guy playing “Riff” was a lanky, goofy dancer named Chris [Walken]  but half the kids called him Ronnie. Turned out that there was already a Ron Walken in Actors’ Equity when he joined. He was great in the show and went on to even greater greatness not long after.

Chris Walken and the Stitch Queen

Stan Mazin, who played “Bernardo” (kills Riff at the end of the first act) had the mien of a matador. His gayness added an element to his on-stage menace. You know that almost prissy style bullfighters have? He had that. He also had a running battle with Chris Walken who punched him in the mouth about once a week. The Rumble begins when Riff swings at Bernardo but the actors are not supposed to actually hit one another. It’s called “acting” for a reason. Anyhow, Chris was lanky with long arms and a limited spatial consciousness. From time to time he would misjudge the distance between them when he swung at Bernardo thereby causing his fist to come into sudden contact with Stan’s mouth. Stan found this somewhat inconvenient and was not shy about sharing his displeasure with Chris (and anyone else within a hundred yards). On several occasions actual sutures were needed to repair Stan’s wounds and thus he was dubbed the “stitch queen”.

Westside

Chris as Riff, me (behind) as Diesel

Most of the theatres we played were tents with round or oval stages. We made our entrances and exits down and up an aisle rather than from the wings as one would in a proscenium theatre. Before each performance the stage manager would announce to the audience that they should remain seated until the lights came on after an act. That didn’t always work and often one found oneself caught in a crowd when trying to leave the stage. Normally this was a mere annoyance but in our show it was a real hazard. As act one ends, Riff and Bernardo lie dead on the stage. In the blackout Michael had one of the Sharks, Jo Jo I think, run back on and pick up Stan. I ran on and picked up Chris. We then carried the “bodies” up the aisle in the dark. One night a guy got out of his aisle seat and I collided with him at full gallop. We all went down in a heap. Chris and the guy were both okay but I pulled a muscle in my quadriceps and was gimpy for a week.

*******

Chris Walken: the Final Blow

Chicago was supposed to be our last stand but an additional three weeks had been booked at a theatre in Mineola, Long Island. …

… Chris finally did it in Mineola. At the start of the rumble his fist made solid contact with Stan’s mouth. Blood flew and Stan went down hard but he bounced off the floor swinging his (blunt) switchblade with fire in his eyes. The audience, thinking it was part of the show, loved it. John Tormey [“Action”] and I looked at each other ready to grab Stan if he lost it completely which seemed possible. Chris was frozen in his tracks for a moment and then the training kicked in and the choreography took over. Stan went to the emergency room after a yelling spasm at Chris. He needed, I believe, five stitches in his mouth. For the rest of the run Chris never even came close. (end of excerpt)

The next time I saw Christopher Walken was on the screen: his (well deserved) Oscar winning performance in The Deer Hunter.

Buy – for iPad, Kindle, Nook or your computer
Buy at Amazon (KIndle)

Tags: , , , , ,

Comments & Responses

Comments are closed.

2024 © InkThemes. All rights reserved.