The “chanteuse” who gave Christopher Walken his stage name: “I just kept it”
Every day, people try to make it in Hollywood, sometimes even sacrificing stable jobs and family for the sake of getting closer to that sparkling dream machine, which presents no guarantee of actual success.
In their attempts to make it in the illusory world, budding actors tend to lie about personal information, like their age and, to secure roles, and often it works. For instance, Mila Kunis claimed she was 18 when she landed a role in That ‘70s Show, even though she was only 14, and Nicolas Cage changed his name to establish his own identity to escape the major shadow of the Coppola family legacy.
Actors make amendments for various reasons, and often, no one really minds that much. In fact, it’s probably good to have a stage name, because with the intense extremes certain tabloids will go to uncover juicy secrets about an actor, you’re better off making it one step harder. Of course, the real names usually get exposed at some point, and you can usually see why Michael Caine, a symbol of suave British cool, was born Maurice Micklewhite, had to rename himself. The real one doesn’t exactly have the same ring to it, does it?
Having a recognisable name can really be a make-or-break factor in Hollywood, and the best example is probably Norma Jeane Mortensen, who changed her name to the famous Marilyn Monroe and subsequently embodied a whole new persona of a dazzling blonde bombshell as opposed to the mousey brown of Norma Jeane.
In another revelation, Christopher Walken, who has been a stalwart feature of Hollywood since he started acting as a child in the 1950s, wasn’t always known by his now-iconic name. In fact, the star was born Ronald Walken, a name that I’m sure many of us associate with the famous (and ever-unsettling) fast food mascot. That’s not why he changed it, though; it was actually due to a certain “chanteuse” who called Walken the wrong name on purpose, forever crowning him with his new moniker.
Before he was winning Academy Awards and dancing his way through a Fatboy Slim music video, he took on various jobs in the entertainment industry that weren’t strictly television or cinema related. He worked in a circus as a teenager, as well as danced in nightclub acts, and it was there that he met Monique Van Vooren, the Brussels-born singer, actor, and entertainer who appeared on Broadway, in movies like Tarzan and the She-Devil, and even released music.
Talking to IndieWire, the actor revealed how this experience came to give him his new name, fit for a career on the silver screen.
“She was like a chanteuse, she was very beautiful, Belgian. And she sang in [the] cabaret, and she had an act, and she used three dancers! Dancers tend to be kind of smaller, and I was always a tall dancer. She had these tall guys dancing, and she would introduce us at the end. And one night, my name is Ronnie, she said, ‘You know, I’m going to call you Christopher’, and I said, ‘Okay’. And I just kept it.” That was that. From that point on, Ronnie was now Christopher walking.
