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Ronnie made his off-Broadway debut at age fifteen in Archibald MacLeish's J.B. and around that time, he took a brief stint acting as a lion tamer's son in a circus. Ronnie's job was to bring out an old, extremely docile lion and "tame" him. Ronnie graduated from PCS and attended Hofstra University for about one year. In the spring following his first year at college, Ronnie's tap instructor, Danny Daniels cast him and his brother, Glenn in the off Broadway musical he was directing and choreographing; Best Foot Forward. Ronnie suggested that Daniels also audition young girl he was taking acting lessons with. That girl was Liza Minelli and she got the part. Over the next two and a half years, Ronnie worked mostly in musical theater. He worked in a touring production of West Side Story and danced opposite Georgianne Thon. The two were married later in 1969. At age 22, Ronnie was renamed Christopher by Monique Van Vooren, a singer he was working with. He decided to keep it and was billed as Christopher for the first time when he performed in the1965 musical Baker Street in which he danced next to Tommy Tune. Later he came to do numerous dramatic roles, his first being The Lion In Winter, in which he played the part of King Phillip. This was his first speaking (not singing) role and he has noted that he wrestled with extreme stage fright, nervous shakes and broken concentration. Christopher nearly got fired, but begged the show's producer to give him a chance. He was given three days to find a solution to these dilemmas. Somehow, someway, he overcame his fears and actually went on to win the Clarence Derwent Award for that performance. He was then cast for many other Shakespearian roles and more dramatic stage roles in plays such as The Unknown Soldier. In 1966, he won the Theatre World Award for his performance in the revival of Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo.

At about age 25, Walken began his film career, with small roles in the films Me And My Brother, the Sidney Lumet-directed The Anderson Tapes, and his first starring role in The Happiness Cage. Christopher then had a small but memorable role in Woody Allen's classic Annie Hall, in which he played Annie's brother, Duane. Shortly after that, Christopher was cast as Nick in Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the New York Film Critic's Circle Award. Soon after, he appeared in Cimino's critically trashed follow-up picture, Heaven's Gate with Kris Kristofferson. It was shortly after returning to New York after filming Heaven's Gate that Christopher was assaulted on the street on which he and Georgianne lived. He had asked two men on the street to turn down their music. The men, in turn, attacked him and broke his nose. But, Walken's career carried on without a break. He continued to get roles in films such as the western with Margot Kidder, Shoot The Sun Down and the last MGM musical movie, Pennies From Heaven with Steve Martin and choreography by Danny Daniels, Walken's former tap teacher. Christopher received rave reviews from critics regarding his dancing scene in Pennies From Heaven- and compliments from toe-tapping legends Fred Astaire and Gene Kelley.

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