Christopher Walken’s cats are his kids: ‘I think a lot of people are like that’
We rarely cover Christopher Walken, although the man is a national treasure. He’s just not controversial at all – he seems like a nice guy, everyone loves him, he loves to dance, and as we can see from this Parade cover, he loves cats. He’s promoting a family film called Nine Lives, where he plays a magical pet shop owner. Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Garner are in the movie too. Weird. Anyway, this whole interview is charming, mostly because he talks about CATS! You can read the full Parade piece here, and here are some highlights: On being a teenage lion tamer: [Sheba, his lioness in a one-ring circus on upstate New York] “was very sweet. She’d walk around and bump up against you leg, just like a nice old cat. I’d wave my whip and she would sit up on her back legs and roll over and do stuff. When we weren’t performing, I used to hang out with her and pet her.” But now he’s against zoos & circuses: “As I get older, I’m very much against zoos and, frankly, animals in captivity. Especially big, wild animals. I wish there wasn’t any such thing as ‘animal acts.’ I wish there wasn’t any such thing as zoos.” His kitty, The Cat: Walken adopted his own feral black-and-white “tuxedo cat” after she showed up on his porch one day—with her babies. “Now I have this basically wild cat that likes to be outside, but she’s friendly. When it gets cold, she comes in.” He calls her simply “the Cat.” And he and Georgianne, who have no children, have always considered their cats as their kids. “I think a lot of people are like that with their pets.” He’s the son of a German immigrant & a Scottish immigrant: “I had a wonderful childhood. Everything: food, house. But my parents didn’t. My parents really did have a hard time where they came from, and they came here and they made this great life. That’s what America is, always and still. I believe people should be able to go and make their lives as they wish. America certainly has always been that for a lot of people. As a kid, I grew up with all sorts of people, different kinds of people. To me, that’s the way it ought to be. Of course, we live in a time of dangerous things. There’s got to be a way around that without making it difficult for everybody.” On his longtime love of cats: “My cats are extremely well taken care of. Frankly, if there’s such a thing as reincarnation, it would be wonderful to come back as my cat. I’m not sure you could do better than that.” [From Parade] But what happened to The Cat’s kittens? Did the Walkens give the kittens away? Or did he bring the kittens inside and now The Cat is the only one who prefers being outside? So many questions. I actually love that he calls his cat The Cat. I did that with my dog too – my (late) puppy had a real name, but I mostly just called him “Puppy” or “Black Dog.” I’m thinking about getting another animal – from a shelter – and I do think I’ll get a cat this time. Photos courtesy of Parade.
