A stage-trained British actor who rose to prominence playing incarcerated American Muslim leader Kareem Said on the gritty HBO drama series "Oz" (1997-2003). While studying social work, Walker tried out for the Explosive Dance Theatre Company, beginning his career in show business. This led to stage work, including a 1983 turn as a punk in the musical "Labelled With Love", a working class London-set production based on the seminal Squeeze album "East Side Story". TV work followed for the actor, who took a regular role on the BBC sitcom "In Sickness and in Health" from 1985-1987. From 1988-1989, he played PC Malcolm Haines on "The Bill", an ITV police drama. 5 In 1991, Walker made his feature debut in "Young Soul Rebels", a period piece about London's latter-day soul movement. He was next featured in "Shopping", a 1994 drama chronicling a pair of outlaws (Jude Law and Sadie Frost) who crash stolen cars into shop windows for thrills. Walker returned to series television the following year, playing convict Snoopy Oswald in "The Governor" (1995-96), an ITV prison series produced and directed by Lynda LaPlante and starring Janet McTeer as a female warden. He reteamed with LaPlante in "Supply & Demand" (ITV) in 1997, playing a veteran detective who goes undercover to bust a drug operation. 5 Work on "Oz" brought Walker to the USA in 1997, and he brought to the role of Said a quiet grace and power, as well as a flawless American accent. Working with producer Tom Fontana, Walker created a fully realized character who showed his human frailties and spiritual sincerity even while engaging in self-righteous grandstanding. Between the third and fourth seasons of "Oz", Walker was featured in "Homicide: The Movie", the 2000 TV-movie reunion of Fontana's acclaimed NBC series. Here he impressed with a pivotal role as a news cameraman who has lost a son to drug abuse and is driven over the edge, shooting a mayoral candidate pushing for drug legalization. Later that year, he was featured in "Once in the Life", a drug-themed drama about two ne'er-do-well brothers, written, produced and directed by as well as starring Laurence Fishburne.
Quoted from www.hollywood.com
Quoted from www.hollywood.com
Eamonn appeared in the following stage plays:
-Julius Caesar
-Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
-Pecong
-Ridley Walker (edit) Eamonn was inspired to become an actor after seeing Sidney Poitier in The Heat of the Night. (edit) Eamonn attended the University of North London. (edit) Eamonn studied to become a social worker. (edit) Eamonn was a dancer with the Explosive Dance Theatre Company. (edit) Eamonn made his London stage debut in the play Labelled With Love. (edit) Eamonn's mentors were screenwriter Lynda La Plante, and actor Robert David MacDonald. (edit) Eamonn founded the Flipside Theatre Company in London. (edit) Eamonn made his feature film debut in Young Soul Rebels. (edit) Eamonn won the CableACE award for Actor in a Dramatic Series with his role on Oz in 1997. (edit) Eamonn was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Drama Series at the 2000 Satellite Awards. He was nominated for Oz. (edit) Eamonn was the first black actor to play Othello at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. (edit) Eamonn's father was from Grenada and his mother was from Trinidad. (edit) Eamonn is married to novelist Sandra Walker. (edit) He has three children, two of them are twins. (edit) When he was younger, he trained as a dancer. (edit) His height is 6' 2" (1.88 m) (edit) Began his career as a dancer, but when a leg operation forced him to give it up, he turned to his second love acting. (edit)
-Julius Caesar
-Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
-Pecong
-Ridley Walker (edit) Eamonn was inspired to become an actor after seeing Sidney Poitier in The Heat of the Night. (edit) Eamonn attended the University of North London. (edit) Eamonn studied to become a social worker. (edit) Eamonn was a dancer with the Explosive Dance Theatre Company. (edit) Eamonn made his London stage debut in the play Labelled With Love. (edit) Eamonn's mentors were screenwriter Lynda La Plante, and actor Robert David MacDonald. (edit) Eamonn founded the Flipside Theatre Company in London. (edit) Eamonn made his feature film debut in Young Soul Rebels. (edit) Eamonn won the CableACE award for Actor in a Dramatic Series with his role on Oz in 1997. (edit) Eamonn was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Drama Series at the 2000 Satellite Awards. He was nominated for Oz. (edit) Eamonn was the first black actor to play Othello at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. (edit) Eamonn's father was from Grenada and his mother was from Trinidad. (edit) Eamonn is married to novelist Sandra Walker. (edit) He has three children, two of them are twins. (edit) When he was younger, he trained as a dancer. (edit) His height is 6' 2" (1.88 m) (edit) Began his career as a dancer, but when a leg operation forced him to give it up, he turned to his second love acting. (edit)
[His favorite storyline from Oz]
Eamonn Walker: The one that got a lot of attention was the one where I had a white girlfriend. I like that because all these two people ever did was hold hands and the world ended. So it made me laugh on some level, there's all this controversy and all this reaction and pain that everybody was carrying and these two people just held hands. He was in a prison and he couldn't come out so there was nothing that was ever going to happen. So I saw that was quite funny and ironic. (edit) [On what his favorite role is]
Eamonn Walker: Kareem Said, the Muslim prisoner in Oz. As an actor, I like to be in productions that are not frightened to push the envelope. Oz did that, whether it was dealing with religion, sexuality or crime. As far as I’m concerned, the series broke the mold on American TV. Because it was an HBO series, you had to buy it so it wasn’t on prime time and could cover all sorts of taboo things that are normally only caught in movies. Series like The Sopranos came after and they all took bits of Oz. (edit) [On what fans think of Oz]
Eamonn Walker: What people say about the show is that they can't believe how much it affects them. Long after the show has finished on the air, they are either talking about it or thinking about it, and it always makes them feel something. That is, different things for different people, but all of the things that I hear on the street are excellent. People love this show. That makes me very happy to be a part of something that, in my opinion, has changed the way that America is looking at television today. I am very proud to be a part of that journey. (edit) [On if he would work with Oz creator Tom Fontana again]
Eamonn Walker: In a heartbeat. I don't have a medium of which I prefer to work on. Tom Fontana is one of the best writers I've ever worked for. Him and Andrew Niccol have the courage of their convictions to put down the question where we're at as a race of people in such a way that can not only entertain you but force you to think. (edit) [On what roles he looks for]
Eamonn Walker: I look for good scripts. I don't look for roles. The script touches my mind or my gut. Primary I read and wait for the payoff. Sometimes the first part of the script may just get one click, because there's a beginning, middle, and an end. It doesn't have to be good, and it doesn't have to be bad; I don't have to be a good person or an evil person; I just need a good script that I can relate to. It's that simple. (edit) [On if it was difficult to making the transition from acting in the UK to the US]
Eamonn Walker: In the beginning, yes. I had so much I needed to learn about America. I had to learn the accent. I had to learn about American politics, the penal system, and Muslims. I had to learn how to speak some phrases in Arabic. So in the beginning, there was a lot to do, but God blessed me in a way I would never know how to repay him. He put the right people to help me get all of that information, and collated it together, right in front of me. (edit)
Eamonn Walker: The one that got a lot of attention was the one where I had a white girlfriend. I like that because all these two people ever did was hold hands and the world ended. So it made me laugh on some level, there's all this controversy and all this reaction and pain that everybody was carrying and these two people just held hands. He was in a prison and he couldn't come out so there was nothing that was ever going to happen. So I saw that was quite funny and ironic. (edit) [On what his favorite role is]
Eamonn Walker: Kareem Said, the Muslim prisoner in Oz. As an actor, I like to be in productions that are not frightened to push the envelope. Oz did that, whether it was dealing with religion, sexuality or crime. As far as I’m concerned, the series broke the mold on American TV. Because it was an HBO series, you had to buy it so it wasn’t on prime time and could cover all sorts of taboo things that are normally only caught in movies. Series like The Sopranos came after and they all took bits of Oz. (edit) [On what fans think of Oz]
Eamonn Walker: What people say about the show is that they can't believe how much it affects them. Long after the show has finished on the air, they are either talking about it or thinking about it, and it always makes them feel something. That is, different things for different people, but all of the things that I hear on the street are excellent. People love this show. That makes me very happy to be a part of something that, in my opinion, has changed the way that America is looking at television today. I am very proud to be a part of that journey. (edit) [On if he would work with Oz creator Tom Fontana again]
Eamonn Walker: In a heartbeat. I don't have a medium of which I prefer to work on. Tom Fontana is one of the best writers I've ever worked for. Him and Andrew Niccol have the courage of their convictions to put down the question where we're at as a race of people in such a way that can not only entertain you but force you to think. (edit) [On what roles he looks for]
Eamonn Walker: I look for good scripts. I don't look for roles. The script touches my mind or my gut. Primary I read and wait for the payoff. Sometimes the first part of the script may just get one click, because there's a beginning, middle, and an end. It doesn't have to be good, and it doesn't have to be bad; I don't have to be a good person or an evil person; I just need a good script that I can relate to. It's that simple. (edit) [On if it was difficult to making the transition from acting in the UK to the US]
Eamonn Walker: In the beginning, yes. I had so much I needed to learn about America. I had to learn the accent. I had to learn about American politics, the penal system, and Muslims. I had to learn how to speak some phrases in Arabic. So in the beginning, there was a lot to do, but God blessed me in a way I would never know how to repay him. He put the right people to help me get all of that information, and collated it together, right in front of me. (edit)
Person Vital Stats
Person
Score: 9.4 Superb 31 votes
Score: 9.4 Superb 31 votes
This content requires Macromedia Flash Player 7 or higher. Get Flash
| Track This Person | |
| Review This Person | Contribute |
