Walker, the son of Cheryl (née Crabtree), a fashion model, and Paul William Walker III, a sewer contractor, was born in Glendale, California and raised in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County. His ancestry included Irish, English, and German. His paternal grandfather was professional boxer Irish Billy Walker. Walker was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He graduated from Village Christian School. After high school, he attended several community colleges, majoring in marine biology. Walker began his small screen career as a toddler, when he starred in a television commercial for Pampers. He began modeling at the age of 2 and began working on television shows in 1985, with roles in shows such as Highway to Heaven, Whos the Boss?, The Young and the Restless, and Touched by an Angel. Also in 1985, he starred in a commercial for Showbiz Pizza. Walkers film career began in 1986, with the horror/comedy film Monster in the Closet. He and his sister Ashlie were contestants on a 1988 episode of the game show Im Telling!; they finished in second place. He continued with roles in several other movies without much success; it was not until 1998 that Walker made his feature film debut in the comedy Meet the Deedles, which finally gained him fame. This subsequently led to supporting roles in the movies Pleasantville (1998), Varsity Blues (1999), Shes All That (1999), and The Skulls (2000). In 2001, Walkers breakthrough role arrived when he starred opposite actor Vin Diesel in the successful action film The Fast and the Furious. The film established Walker as a notable film star and leading man and led to his reprisal of the role in the 2003 sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious. He continued his career with leading roles in films such as Joy Ride (2001), Into the Blue (2005), and Timeline (2003); he also had a supporting role in Clint Eastwoods 2006 adaptation of Flags of Our Fathers. Walker then starred in the crime thriller Running Scared and Walt Disney Pictures Eight Below, both released in 2006. Eight Below garnered critical-acclaim and opened in first place at the box office, grossing over US$20 million during its first weekend. During the filming of Running Scared, director Wayne Kramer stated that [Walker] is that guy on some level when comparing Walker with his character in the movie, Joey Gazelle. Kramer continued on to say that he loved working with [Walker] because as a director hes completely supportive of my vision of what the film is. And even better, hes completely game for it. Paul Walker at a convention in 2006. Walker starred in the independent film The Lazarus Project, which was released on DVD on October 21, 2008. He subsequently returned to The Fast and the Furious franchise, reprising his role in Fast & Furious, which was released on April 3, 2009.Walker then appeared with T.I., Idris Elba, Chris Brown, Matt Dillon, and Hayden Christensen in the crime drama Takers, which began filming in early September 2008 and was released in August 2010. In February 2013, it was announced that he was to play Agent 47 in the Hitman film adaptation. The Coty Prestige fragrance brand Davidoff Cool Water for Men announced in January 2011 that Walker was going to be the new face of the brand as of July 2011. He reprised his role in the fifth installment of The Fast and the Furious series, Fast Five (2011), and again in Fast & Furious 6 (2013).
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 13:51:28 +0000
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