Christopher Walken has provided voice work for the animated films Antz (1998) and The Jungle Book (2016).  On television, Walken has appeared in films such as Who Am I This Time? (1982), and Sarah, Plain and Tall (1991), for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.  He has guest-hosted Saturday Night Live seven times.  His roles on the show include record producer Bruce Dickinson in the "More Cowbell" sketch, the disgraced Confederate officer Colonel Angus, and multiple appearances as an aging, unsuccessful lothario in the Continental sketch.  As a stage actor, Walken starred with Irene Worth in a 1975 Broadway revival of Sweet Bird of Youth.  Walken has played the lead in the Shakespeare plays Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Coriolanus.  His performance in the original rendition of James Joyce's The Dead (2000), earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical nomination.  He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in Martin McDonagh's A Behanding in Spokane (2010).  He also wrote and played the lead role in the 1995 play Him, about his idol Elvis Presley.   In 2022, he had a supporting role as Burt Goodman, the severed chief of the Optics and Design division in the Apple TV+ series Severance.  For his performance, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.  Walken next portrayed Emperor Shaddam IV in the 2024 film, Dune: Part Two.  Benicio del Toro cited Walken as an influence and stated that the best advice he had ever been given regarding acting came from him:  "When you're in a scene and you don't know what you're gonna do, don't do anything."  Kat Dennings called him her favorite actor and said that he was the reason that she wanted to be an actress.  Johnny Depp once said one of the main reasons he starred in Nick of Time was wanting to work with Walken.  Walken was born Ronald Walken on March 31, 1943, in Astoria, Queens, New York City.  His parents were Rosalie Russell, a Scottish immigrant from Glasgow, and Paul Wälken, a German immigrant from Gelsenkirchen who owned and operated Walken's Bakery in Astoria. Walken was named after actor Ronald Colman.  When he was 15, a girlfriend showed Walken a magazine photo of Elvis Presley and Walken later said, "This guy looked like a Greek god.  Then I saw him on television.  I loved everything about him."  He changed his hairstyle to imitate Presley and has not changed it since.  As a teenager, he worked as a lion tamer trainee for a short time in a circus.  Walken attended Hofstra University but dropped out after one year, having been cast in the role of Clayton Dutch Miller in an off-Broadway revival of Best Foot Forward alongside Liza Minnelli.  Walken initially trained as a dancer at the Washington Dance Studio before moving on to dramatic stage roles and then film.  In 2000, Walken was cast as the lead, along with Blair Brown, in James Joyce's The Dead on Broadway.  A "play with music", The Dead featured music by Shaun Davey, conducted by Charles Prince, with music coordination and percussion by Tom Partington.  James Joyce's The Dead won a Tony Award that year for Best Book for a Musical.  Walken inspired the stage show, All About Walken:  The Impersonators of Christopher Walken, created by actor/comedian Patrick O'Sullivan in Hollywood in 2006.  The April 5, 2008 Saturday Night Live show was the first time an episode hosted by Walken did not have a "Continental" sketch or a monologue in which he sang and danced.  This episode, however, did include one sketch titled "Walken Family Reunion", which spoofs many of Walken's idiosyncrasies.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Walken#  Christopher Walken has never owned a cellphone.  ‘I don’t have technology,’ says the actor.    

There was a young man of Devises

Whose ears were of different sizes.

One was so small

It was no use at all,

But the other was huge and won prizes.  (excerpt)

Gelett Burgess 

Tomato Pudding was a staple at the Tally Ho, a tearoom at 133 22nd Street in downtown Toledo, Ohio  

TALLY HO TOMATO PUDDING

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup tomato puree
1/4 cup water
2 cups bread cubes, crusts removed
1/2 cup melted butter

Combine brown sugar, tomato puree and water and cook five minutes.  While tomato mixture is cooking put bread cubes in casserole and pour butter over.  Add tomato mixture.  Bake 50 minutes in 325-degree oven.  https://www.toledohistorybox.com/2012/07/25/tomato-pudding-a-toledo-original/   

February 2, 2025  Beyoncé finally won the coveted Album of the Year award at the 2025 Grammys after being shut out the last four times she was nominated.  Beyoncé entered the night with the most nominations, 11, for her album "Cowboy Carter"—becoming the most-nominated artist in Grammy history with 99 throughout her career.  In addition to Album of the Year, she also won Best Country Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance.  Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone and Charli XCX received seven nominations this year, while Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan earned six nods.  Lamar swept all five categories he was nominated in, winning both Record and Song of the Year. Roan was also a big winner, taking home the award for Best New Artist.  https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/how-to-watch-2025-grammy-awards/?intcid=CNR-01-0623

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2903  February 5, 2025