Paul Walker

Paul Walker Headshot

Actor

Birth Name: Paul William Walker, IV

Birth Date: September 12, 1973

Death Date: November 30, 2013

Birth Place: Glendale, California

While Paul Walker began his show business career as a child model, it was years before he became a household name considerably later with his role as LAPD cop-turned-criminal Brian O'Conner in the surprise action hit "The Fast and the Furious" (2001). After the phenomenal success of the testosterone-fueled film, Walker developed a following as an athletic, attractive leading man in actioners including "Into the Blue" (2005), and the family-oriented Disney offering "8 Below" (2006). He also found occasional success in more character-oriented dramas like "Pleasantville" (1998) and "Flags of Our Fathers" (2006), though it was Walker's continued involvement in the "Fast and Furious" franchise that kept him in the limelight and offset his string of second-rate thrillers that came and went with little notice.

In fact, the franchise became his de facto bread and butter, as Walker reprised O'Conner for "2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003), the fourth installment "Fast & Furious" (2009) and "Fast Five" (2011), the most critically and commercially successful movie of the bunch. Despite catcalls from some quarters over his limited range, Walker nonetheless was a central figure in one of the more popular and successful film franchises of recent memory. His death in a high-speed car crash in November 2013 shocked and saddened the film community, who lost not only a rising action film star, but a quiet humanitarian.

Walker was born on Sept. 12, 1973, and raised near Los Angeles where he made his debut at age two as a diapered toddler in a commercial for Pampers. With a former model for a mother and a building contractor father, it was probably predestined that Walker would grow into a attractive, strapping young man; one who found it relatively easy to break into television after landing guest roles on "Highway to Heaven" (NBC, 1984-89), "Charles in Charge" (CBS, 1984-85; syndicated, 1987-1990) and "Growing Pains" (ABC, 1985-1992). Walker maintained steady employment with a regular role on the syndicated series "Throb" and a season on the legendary soap opera, "The Young and the Restless" (CBS, 1973- ).

During the 1994-95, season Walker also enjoyed a role on the short-lived sitcom "The Boys Are Back" (CBS), starring as a teenager whose adult brothers move back into the family home. Walker made his feature film starring debut in 1998 in Disney's "Meet the Deedles," where his background in surfing and extreme sports proved useful for a movie about adventurous, free-spirited twins wreaking havoc in Yellowstone National Park. The same year, he had a featured role in the critical darling, "Pleasantville," as an earnest basketball player trapped in a black-and-white sitcom world until a 1990s girl (Reese Witherspoon) woos him into color.

His classic jock-next-door looks suited Walker perfectly for the part of football quarterback Lance Harbor in "Varsity Blues" (1999). In the box-office hit, Walker did a fine job of tracing the fall of an injured local hero who has little left when his high school football career is sidelined. Taking on a more villainous character, Walker appeared as Freddie Prinze, Jr.'s callous friend and rival in "She's All That" (1999), turning in an impressive comedic performance as a popular creep who refuses to forget a bet he makes with school golden boy Zack (Prinze) to turn awkward, unpopular Laney (Rachael Leigh Cook) into the prom queen. He also served up more dramatic work that year in "Brokedown Palace," as the boyfriend of one of a pair of young American travelers (Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale) imprisoned in Thailand for drug smuggling.

After first working with journeyman director Rob Cohen on the B-level thriller "The Skulls" (2000), Cohen provided Walker with his breakout role when he cast him in "The Fast and the Furious" (2001), a high-octane action thriller in which Walker plays a detective infiltrating a ring of street-racing car thieves led by Vin Diesel. The film, which debuted with little fanfare or expectation, became a surprise hit. As a result, Diesel was proclaimed an overnight superstar, Cohen became an A-list director and Walker became a hot commodity at last.

Another competent auto-focused thriller, "Joyride" (2001), added a bit of extra luster to Walker's action hero sheen, but before he could establish himself firmly in other roles, he returned - without Diesel or Cohen - to head the cast of the sequel "2 Fast, 2 Furious" (2003). The John Singleton-directed sequel paired Walker's character with an ex-con buddy (Tyrese Gibson) to pull off an undercover heist. Surprising to some who expected the Diesel-free film to tank, "2 Fast" made off with over $200 million in box office receipts. Walker's follow-up, the big budget Michael Crichton adventure adaptation "Timeline" (2003), was an unfortunate misfire, while the Christmas drama "N l" (2004), directed by Chazz Palminteri, showcased the actor in a more sensitive new light. Unfortunately, it received limited theatrical release.

Walker returned to thriller territory with "Into the Blue" (2005), playing opposite Jessica Alba as one of four divers who discover a crashed plane full of illicit cargo and make a pact to keep their discovery quiet. Despite the interesting premise and appealing cast, "Into the Blue" was scorned by critics.

In "Running Scared" (2006), Walker received star billing for playing a low-level Mafia thug embroiled in a cop killing, but the over-the-top thriller was a veritable bomb at the box office and with critics. The actor fared better in Disney's family blockbuster "8 Below" (2006), an adventure yarn about a team of sled dogs finding their way across the Antarctic wastelands after being abandoned by a group of explorers. Sticking to more legitimately dramatic work, Walker was next cast in the critically acclaimed "Flags of Our Fathers" (2006), Clint Eastwood's historical drama about the six soldiers who famously raised the American flag in Iwo Jima near the end of World War II. After appearing in this much lauded drama, Walker returned to the genre best suited to his particular talents by starring in the rote actioner "The Death and Life of Bobby Z" (2007).

He did make another attempt to explore more dramatic tones with his portrayal of a former criminal who gets a second chance at life in the low-profile "The Lazarus Project" (2008).

In 2009, Walker re-teamed with his original cast mates eight years later for the sequel "Fast & Furious." Not unexpectedly, the retread project did not excite critics, but diehard fans showed up en masse, bringing in record-breaking ticket sales on opening weekend. After co-starring with Matt Dillon and Idris Elba in the crime thriller "Takers" (2010), Walker again reprised O'Conner for "Fast Five" (2011), the pulse-pounding fifth installment that moved away from street racing and into the realm of heist thriller, as the crew travels to Buenos Aires to rob a drug dealer of his money. This time, critics responded to the action flick - even if some of the more elaborate set pieces were implausibly silly - as the film went on to become the biggest earner in the series, setting up an inevitable sixth movie.

That film, "Fast & Furious 6" (2013) continued the franchise's move into crime caper territory with a high-octane edge, and was equally successful. Not one to rest on his laurels, Walker continued working on lower-budget films such as the action comedy "Pawn Shop Chronicles" (2013), which re-teamed him with "Running Scared" director Wayne Kramer, and "Hours" (2013), an indie drama set in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

On November 30, 2013, Paul Walker was killed in a car crash in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Clarita. He was a passenger in his own 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, which was being driven by his friend Roger Rodus, a professional racer, when the car crashed into a light pole, bursting into flames. The two men were attending a toy drive sponsored by Walker's disaster relief charity Reach Out Worldwide, which he helped found in 2010.

Credits

Featurette Fast & Furious 6 - We Own It

Actor
Brian O'conner
Show
2018

Featurette Fast & Furious 6 - Sie haben einen Panzer

Actor
Brian O'conner
Show
2018

Air Racers

Narrator
Show
2017

Fast And Furious Episodic Collection

Actor
Show
2015

Furious 7Stream

Actor
Brian O'Conner
Movie
2015
81%

Spawn of Jaws: The Birth

Actor
Show
2014

Atlas

Actor
Show
2014

Brick MansionsStream

Actor
Damien Collier
Movie
2014
25%

Fast & Furious 6: Extras

Actor
Show
2013

Spawn of Jaws

Self
Show
2013

The Making Of: Fast & Furious 6

Actor
Show
2013

HoursStream

Actor
Nolan
Movie
2013
61%

HoursStream

Executive Producer
Movie
2013
61%

Pobezhdaya vremya

Actor
Movie
2013

Fast & Furious 6Stream

Actor
Brian O'Conner
Movie
2013
71%

Vehicle 19Stream

Actor
Michael Woods
Movie
2013
23%

Vehicle 19Stream

Executive Producer
Movie
2013
23%

Pawn Shop ChroniclesStream

Actor
Raw Dog
Movie
2013
18%

Pawn Shop ChroniclesStream

Producer
Movie
2013
18%

Air Racers

Narrator
Movie
2012

The Making Of: Fast Five

Actor
Show
2011

Fast FiveStream

Actor
Brian O'Conner
Movie
2011
78%

On the Red Carpet

Guest
Show
2010

TakersStream

Actor
John Rahway
Movie
2010
28%

Expedition Great White

Actor
Show
2009

Lopez Tonight

Guest
Show
2009

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Guest
Talk
2009

Fast & FuriousStream

Actor
Brian O'Conner
Movie
2009
28%

The Lazarus Project

Actor
Ben Garvey
Movie
2008

Bobby Z

Actor
Tim Kearney
Movie
2007

Stories USA

Actor
Mikey
Movie
2007

etalk

Guest
Show
2006

Sky Cinema Special

Self
Show
2006

Running ScaredStream

Actor
Joey Gazelle
Movie
2006
41%

Eight BelowStream

Actor
Jerry Shepard
Movie
2006
73%

Flags of Our FathersStream

Actor
Hank Hansen
Movie
2006
73%

Made in Hollywood

Guest
Series
2005

Into the BlueStream

Actor
Jared
Movie
2005
21%

Noel

Actor
Mike
Movie
2004

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Guest
Talk
2003

2 Fast 2 FuriousStream

Actor
Brian O'Conner
Movie
2003
37%

TimelineStream

Actor
Chris Hughes
Movie
2003
13%

The Fast and the FuriousStream

Actor
Brian O'Conner
Movie
2001
54%

Joy RideStream

Actor
Lewis
Movie
2001
74%

Entertainment Studios.com

Guest
Show
2000

The Skulls

Actor
Caleb Mandrake
Movie
2000

Varsity BluesStream

Actor
Lance Harbour
Movie
1999
43%

She's All ThatStream

Actor
Dean Sampson
Movie
1999
41%

Brokedown PalaceStream

Actor
Jason (uncredited)
Movie
1999
31%

Kickin' It: With Byron Allen

Guest
Show
1998

Meet the Deedles

Actor
Phil Deedle
Movie
1998

PleasantvilleStream

Actor
Skip Martin
Movie
1998
86%

Touched by an AngelStream

Guest Star
Series
1994

Tammy and the T-Rex

Actor
Michael
Movie
1994

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

Guest
Talk
1992

What a Dummy

Guest Star
Rick
Series
1990

The Retaliator

Actor
Jason
Movie
1987

Charles in ChargeStream

Guest Star
Russell Davis
Series
1984

Who's the Boss?Stream

Guest Star
Series
1984

Highway to HeavenStream

Guest Star
Series
1984