Paul William Walker IV (born September 12, 1973) is an American actor and former fashion model. He became known during the early 2000s, after starring in several major Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and Varsity Blues.


Early life

Walker was born in Glendale, California, the son of Cheryl A. (née Crabtree), a former fashion model, and Paul William Walker III, a sewer contractor.  He has two younger brothers, Caleb and Cody, and a younger sister, Ashlie. Walker has Irish and German ancestry  and was raised a Mormon, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in a conservative household.  He grew up in Glendale and the nearby Sunland district of Los Angeles, and attended The Carden-Lee School and the Alfred Nobel School.


Career

Walker's small-screen career began with commercials as a child. Some of his early TV work includes episodes of Charles in Charge, Highway to Heaven, Who's the Boss?, and Diff'rent Strokes. He was later cast for the first season of the sitcom Throb. He began modeling in the late 1980s. His big-screen career began with appearances in several low-budget B movies, including Monster in the Closet (1987) and Tammy and the T-Rex (1994). He also had a brief stint on the soap opera The Young and the Restless in 1992-93. In 1998, he starred in his first widely released film, the critically-derided Meet the Deedles as well as the well-received Pleasantville, playing a high school basketball player along with Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon. Between 1999 and 2001, Walker appeared in a few notable films aimed at a teenage audience, including She's All That, The Skulls and Varsity Blues.

His breakthrough came in 2001 when he starred opposite Vin Diesel in the highly successful action film The Fast and the Furious, which established Walker as a notable film star and leading man. His other 2001 film, Joy Ride, received very positive reviews by critics. Subsequently, Walker played the lead role in a number of action-adventure films, the most financially successful of which was 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). Walker was also originally set to star in the film S.W.A.T. (2003), but left the project and was replaced by Colin Farrell. In 2002, he was chosen by People Magazine as one of the "50 most beautiful people in the world".

In February 2006, Walker starred in two films; Running Scared, an action thriller, and Eight Below, an adventure set in Antarctica. Eight Below, a family-friendly Disney film inspired by a true story, opened in first place at the box office, grossing over $24 million during its first four days.  The film received positive reviews and was considered a success for Walker, whose most recent films, including Timeline and Into the Blue, were financial and critical failures. Walker filmed Running Scared in 2004, wanting to participate in a darker-edged film; the film's director, Wayne Kramer, has commented that the film's character is closer to Walker's own personality than any of his previous roles.  In fall 2006, Walker portrayed US marine Hank Hansen in Flags of Our Fathers, a war movie directed by Clint Eastwood. Currently, Paul has finished up filming the independent film The Heaven Project, which he is also producing, and is now filming The Fast and the Furious 4 scheduled for a 2009 summer release.


Personal life

Walker resides in Santa Barbara and Huntington Beach, California. He has a daughter, Meadow Rain; she lives with her mother in Hawaii. One of his close friends is actor Scott Caan, who appeared alongside Walker in several films, including Varsity Blues and Into the Blue. He also formed a close friendship with Tyrese Gibson during the filming of 2 Fast 2 Furious.




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