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29 Mar 2024 1:44
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  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Christopher Walken worked as a “trainee lion tamer” when he was 16

    The 78-year-old actor has dismissed rumours that he ran away from home to join the circus when he was a teenager, as he says he actually got hired as a trainee lion tamer for one summer and knew it wasn’t a job that he could turn down


    He said: “I didn’t run away, I just got a job as a trainee lion tamer.

    Who’s going to turn that down?”

    And speaking about his few months working with a lion named Sheba, he

    added: “I would come into the cage and wave my whip, and she’d lazily get up and sit like a dog and maybe give a little roar. I like cats a lot. I’ve always liked cats. They’re great company.”

    The ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ star also reflected on his childhood growing up in New York as the son of two first-generation immigrants.

    He said: “My parents were first-generation immigrants, both of them fortysomething when I was born. They came to America during the Depression and made a life. My dad was a baker from Germany. My mother was from Glasgow.”

    Christopher – who was born Ronald Walken – was pushed into acting as a child by his mother, and said he “never got paid a cent” for his early roles.

    He explained: “I was one of those kids who was on TV shows. I was in sketches with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. Never got paid a cent!”

    And although he tried out other career options, nothing has captured his heart quite like acting.

    Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, the ‘Outlaws’ star said: “I love to work – that’s one of the reasons I didn’t have children – and I probably won’t ever retire.

    “I’ve never had hobbies, just a strong work ethic like my father.

    Tennis? Swimming? Golf? They never did it for me. Acting is really what I love. I don’t really like to go out of the house unless I’m working.”

    © 2024 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

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     Today's News

    Business:
    The Government's made a new pay offer to Police 21:57

    Entertainment:
    Lily Allen was introduced to Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher as Rita Ora - and was too mortified to disclose who she really was 21:53

    Entertainment:
    Mel B's fiance visited her father's grave to "ask permission" to propose to her 21:23

    Accident and Emergency:
    State Highway 6 is blocked by a serious crash, South of Lake Paringa in the South Island's Tasman region 21:17

    Accident and Emergency:
    State Highway One is has now reopened between Kaikoura and Riverlands - after a two-vehicle collision at Kekerengu, north of Kaikoura, this morning 21:17

    International:
    Shopper swallowed as shopping mall floor collapses in eastern China 21:07

    Entertainment:
    Kris Jenner won't spend quality one-on-one time with her grandchildren because it would cost her too much time and money 20:53

    Law and Order:
    A person has died following an incident at a restaurant in Auckland's Browns Bay 20:27

    Entertainment:
    Halle Berry's perimenopause symptoms were mistaken for herpes 20:23

    Entertainment:
    Keke Palmer wants 10 kids 19:53


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