In an interview with CBS News in 2012, Walken did his best to explain how his voice developed, his theory being that his mother Rosalie, a Glaswegian and his German father Paul shaped his intonation.

Christopher Walken has more than 130 roles to his name in a screen career that dates back to childhood, when he appeared on TV as Ronnie Walken. But as Burt Goodman, head of optics and design at ...