Paul Walker, born on September 12, 1973, in Glendale, California and died accidentally on November 30, 2013, in Valencia, California, is an American actor, screenwriter and film producer. He is best known for playing Brian O’Conner in the Fast and Furious saga.
| birth date | September 12, 1973 |
|---|---|
| Birthplace | Glendale, California |
| Death date | November 30, 2013 (at 40 years old) |
| Death place | Valencia, California |
| Burial | Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
| Birth name | Paul William Walker IV |
| Nationality | American |
| Training | Village Christian Schools |
| Activities | Actor, racing driver, screenwriter, film producer, marine biologist |
| Period of activity | 1984-2013 |
| Siblings | Caleb Walker Aimee Walker Pond Ashlie Walker Cody Walker |
| Child | Meadow Walker |
| More information | |
|---|---|
| Size | 1.88 m |
| Eyes | Blue |
| Sport | Motorsport |
| Website | paulwalkerfoundation.org |
| Distinction | MTV Movie Awards for Best On-Screen Duo (2002) |
| Main works | Fast and Furious |
Paul Walker Biography
Youth
Paul William Walker IV was born on September 12, 1973, in Glendale, California. His mother, Cheryl (née Crabtree), was a model and his father, Paul William Walker III, was a sewer entrepreneur and amateur boxer. He won the Golden Gloves twice. Paul Walker’s paternal grandfather, William, known as “Irish” Billy Walker, had a short-lived boxing career. His family followed the precepts of Mormonism. He has two younger siblings: Aimee, Ashlie, Caleb and Cody. As a child, he acted in commercials, modeled and appeared in television series such as Highway to Heaven, Arnold and Willy (Diff’rent Strokes) and The Young and the Restless. Paul Walker attended a community college and chose marine biology as his major subject.
The film career of Paul Walker
Paul Walker landed his first role in 1986 in the comedy Monster in the Closet. In 1998, he made a name for himself playing Skip Martin in Gary Ross’s Pleasantville, and in 1999, he starred in She’s All That with Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard. Rob Cohen gave him one of the leading roles in his film The Skulls, but in 2001, he became famous thanks to Fast and Furious by the same director. He was approached in 2004 for the role of the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four, the adaptation of the famous comic book Marvel, but it is Chris Evans who is finally chosen. In 2010, he played John Rahway in Takers, a film described as the middle ground between Ocean’s Eleven and Fast and Furious and Vehicle 19 in 2013. He also starred in the film Eight Below.
The actor died accidentally on November 30, 2013, after appearing in several films scheduled for release in 2013. The shooting of Eric Heisserer’s Hours and Brick Mansions, a remake of the French film Banlieue 13, was finished. On the other hand, that of Fast and Furious 7, the seventh film in the Fast and Furious series was in progress, which does not prevent its release following adaptations of the screenplay. It is his little brother, Cody, who replaces him on screen by playing several scenes.
Other activities
Paul Walker, who cites Jacques-Yves Cousteau among his “idols”, is passionate about marine biology. He joined the Board of Directors of the Billfish Foundation in 2006. In 2010, the actor participated in the filming of a show of the series Expedition Great White broadcast by the television channel National Geographic. He spent eleven days with the crew capturing and tagging seven great white sharks off the coast of Mexico. The expedition, led by Chris Fischer, founder and CEO of Fischer Productions, along with Captain Brett McBride and Dr. Michael Domeier of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, aims to take measurements, collect DNA samples, and attach real-time satellite tags to great white sharks.
Paul Walker founded Reach Out Worldwide, an organization dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance to disaster victims. After the earthquake in January 2010, the actor went to Haiti to contribute to relief operations.
Passionate about motor racing, he is co-owner with Roger Rodas of Always Evolving. He drove a BMW M3 E92 for the AE Performance (Always Evolving Team) in the Redline Time Attack Championship. He also practiced surfing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Private life and charitable activities
Paul Walker resided in Santa Barbara, California. From 2006 until his death, he was partnered with Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell, 17 years his junior. His daughter Meadow, born on November 4, 1998, joined him in 2011, after spending his childhood in Hawaii with his mother, Rebecca Soteros.
Paul Walker owns several dogs, one of which is a Chesapeake Bay retriever.
In March 2010, Paul Walker and Reach Out Worldwide went to Chile, particularly Constitución, to offer their help and support to those injured in the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on February 27. He also assisted the victims of the 2010 earthquake.
After his death in November 2013, his former social worker and friend, Ken Williams, revealed that Paul Walker was homeless while studying at the University of California, Santa Barbara. At the same time, he announced that he had made a documentary in 2009 about this difficult period. The film, entitled Shelter, follows the journey of homeless people in Santa Barbara.
The accidental death of Paul Walker
Paul Walker died on November 30, 2013, at the age of 40, in a motor vehicle accident in Valencia, California while returning from a charity gala for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The car, a Porsche Carrera GT is driven by Roger Rodas, a friend of Paul Walker, it is not rated by the NCAP program but is modified after marketing to increase speed, the tires were nine years old.
The driver loses control of the car in which the actor is a passenger. The vehicle collided with a lamppost and several trees on Hercules Street in the municipality of Santa Clarita. Both men were wearing seat belts, and the airbags deployed properly at the time of impact. The speed (between 130 and 150 km/h according to the police) of the vehicle exceeded the speed limit of 70 km/h, and the violence of the impact set fire to the vehicle. Both men lost their lives in the accident; the bodies were deemed unidentifiable after being charred, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
According to the autopsy, the actor suffered multiple fractures to his jaw, collarbone, arm and ribs, he succumbed to “traumatic and thermal injuries”. The driver, Roger Rodas, died instantly, having suffered several fractures to his skull “exploding his brain” while Paul Walker remained unconscious for a brief moment before succumbing in turn.
Paul Walker was cremated on December 12, 2013, and buried on December 14, 2013, at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Michelle Rodríguez had great difficulty coming to terms with Paul’s disappearance. She admits to having drowned her grief in illicit substances: “When I lost Paul, I spent a year just being an animal”.
In 2015, his daughter Meadow filed a lawsuit against Porsche, which she considered responsible for her father’s death, claiming that the vehicle had defects. In 2017, an amicable settlement was reached with the German car manufacturer, its terms were kept confidential. In addition, the Daily Mail reports that in 2014, she obtained $10.1 million from Roger Rodas’ inheritance, with the driver deemed “partially responsible”.
Tributes
Friends since they met during the filming of the first Fast & Furious in 2001, Vin Diesel, touched by this tragedy, does not forget it and often pays tribute to it. He gave the name Pauline to his last daughter, born in March 2015, to pay tribute to him: ” When it was necessary to write the name, I started to write Paul and I simply added INE”.
The song See You Again by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth was written in his tribute and published in 2015. The clip will be for a time the most viewed video on YouTube in July 2017 and will be the second video to cross the 4.5 billion views mark on this platform. Beginning February 2020, it is the fourth most viewed video on YouTube with nearly 5 billion views behind the song Shape of You by British singer Ed Sheeran.
We can also note a tribute to the actor at the end of the movie Fast & Furious 9. At mealtime, Dom says there is an empty chair left as they wait for the arrival of the last member of the family. We then see the arrival of the blue Nissan Skyline R34 that Paul Walker drove in the saga.
Filmography of Paul Walker
Cinema
- 1987: Monster in the Closet by Bob Dahlin as Professor Bennett
- 1987: Programmed to Kill by Allan Holzman and Robert Short: Jason
- 1994: Tammy and the T-Rex by Stewart Raffill: Micahel
- 1998: Meet the Deedles by Steve Boyum: Phil Deedle
- 1998: Pleasantville by Gary Ross: Skip Martin
- 1999: Varsity Blues by Brian Robbins: Lance Harbor
- She’s All That (1999) by Robert Iscove as Dean Sampson Jr.
- Brokedown Palace (1999) – Jason (uncredited)
- 2000: The Skulls by Rob Cohen: Caleb Mandrake
- 2001: Fast and Furious by Rob Cohen: Brian O’Conner
- 2001: Joy Ride by John Dahl: Lewis Thomas
- 2002: Life Makes Sense If You’re Famous by Erik MacArthur: Mikey (short film)
- 2003: Turbo Charged Prelude to 2 Fast 2 Furious: Brian O’Conner (short film)
- 2003: 2 Fast 2 Furious by John Singleton: Brian O’Conner
- 2003: Timeline by Richard Donner: Chris Johnston
- 2004: Christmas by Chazz Palminteri: Mike Riley
- 2005: Into the Blue by John Stockwell: Jared Cole
- 2006: Running Scared by Wayne Kramer: Joey Gazelle
- 2006: Eight Below by Frank Marshall: Jerry Shepard
- 2006: Flags of Our Fathers by Clint Eastwood as Hank Hansen
- 2007 : Kill Bobby Z by John Herzfeld : Tim Kearney
- 2007: Stories USA by David Brooks: Mikey (segment Life Makes Sense If You’re Famous)
- 2008: The Lazarus Project by John Glenn: Ben Garvey
- 2009: Fast and Furious 4 by Justin Lin: Brian O’Conner
- 2010: Takers by John Luessenhop: John Rahway
- 2011: Fast and Furious 5 (Fast Five) by Justin Lin: Brian O’Conner
- 2013: Vehicle 19 by Mukunda Michael Dewil: Michael Woods (released directly on DVD)
- 2013: Fast and Furious 6 by Justin Lin: Brian O’Conner
- 2013: Hours by Eric Heisserer: Nolan
- 2013: American Stories by Wayne Kramer: Raw Dog
- 2014 : Brick Mansions by Camille Delamarre : Damien (posthumous release)
- 2015: Fast and Furious 7 (Furious 7) by James Wan: Brian O’Conner (posthumous release)
TV
- Highway to Heaven (1985–1986) as Eric Travers (season 2, episode 6: The Birds) / Todd Bryant (season 3, episodes 1 and 2: A Special Love (2 parts)
- 1986-1987 Throb by Fredi Towbin as Jeremy Beatty (23 episodes)
- 1988: I’m Telling! (Game show): (season 1 episode 16)
- Charles in Charge (1990) as Russell Davis (season 5, episode 20: Dead Puck Society)
- Who’s the Boss (1991)Michael Haynes (Season 7, Episode 15: You Can Go Home Again)
- 1991 What a Dummy as Rick (season 1, episode 12: “Bringing Up Baby“)
- The Young and the Restless (1992–1993) as Brandon Collins (1 episode)
- 1994 CBS Schoolbreak Special as Dill (1 episode: Love in the Dark Ages)
- The Boys Are Back (1994) as Jesse Hansen (season 1, episode 1: Pilot)
- Touched by an Angel (1996) – Jonathan (season 2, episode 24: Statute of Limitations)
- 2010: Shark Men as himself
Distinctions
Rewards
- Hollywood Film Festival 2001: Best Performance for Fast and Furious
- 2002 MTV Movie Awards: Best On-Screen Duo for Fast and Furious, with Vin Diesel
- 2003 Teen Choice Awards: Best Chemistry for 2 Fast 2 Furious
Appointments
- Young Artist Awards 1988: Best Young Actor for Roads to Paradise
- Young Artist Awards 1993: Best Young Actor for The Fires of Love
- Young Artist Awards 1994: Best Young Actor for The Fires of Love
- 1994 Soap Opera Digest Awards: Best Male Newcomer for The Fires of Love
- 2002 MTV Movie Awards: Best Performance for Fast and Furious
- 2009 MTV Movie Awards: Best Actor for Fast and Furious 4
- 2011 MTV Movie Awards: Best Actor for Fast and Furious 5
- 2013 MTV Movie Awards: Best Chemistry for Fast and Furious 6, starring Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson
Others voices
In France, Guillaume Lebon was the regular French voice of Paul Walker from 2001 to 2015. Adrien Antoine and Bruno Choël also doubled him twice each.
In Quebec, he was mainly voiced by Martin Watier. There is also François Godin who doubled him four times.
References (sources)
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