Happy Birthday, Christopher Walken: 5 of the legendary actor's lasting performances

But with nearly 140 acting credits dating back to the 1950s, there is plenty of earlier material worth reviewing in celebration of Walken's birthday.

Below, we've chosen five of Walken's performances that stand the test of time.

"Weapon of Choice" (2001)

Walken's career is so extensive, so maybe it's misguided to begin this list with his cameo in Fatboy Slim's official music video for "Weapon of Choice" over say, his roles in Annie Hall (1977), Batman Returns (1992), Sleepy Hollow (1999), or Hairspray (2007), but this particular dancing performance spoke to Walken's crossover appeal in pop culture as a whole. The single, released in April 2001, had staying power only because of Walken.

The Queens, New York, native starts out in a contemplative state before the track starts playing from a nearby radio and grabs his attention. Soon, he can't help but stand up and start dancing. It's equal parts impressive and mesmerizing.

"He volunteered," Fatboy Slim said of Walken's involvement during a May 2007 interview. "Spike Jonze (the director) had become a friend of years, and he met Spike before he became an actor and he trained as a dancer. He said to Spike, 'I would love to get my dancing on film while I’m still young enough to do it.' ... I think it’s full of irony, and to see an actor that I really admire but who’s famous for playing psychopaths, to see him do that silly un-psychopathic dancing made me smile and made everyone else smile."

The Deer Hunter (1978)

Walken earned his first and only Oscar (best actor in a supporting role) for his portrayal of Nick in Michael Cimino's war drama The Deer Hunter. 

The film, which won five Oscars overall, followed three best friends and avid deer hunters named Nick, Michael (Robert De Niro) and Steven (John Savage) enlisted for the Vietnam War from their small Pennsylvanian industrial town. Once in Vietnam, they are taken prisoner and submerged into a subculture of Russian roulette. Nick suffered the most from post-traumatic stress disorder and ultimately kills himself. Meryl Streep and John Cazale also starred.

Pennies from Heaven (1981)

More dancing! 

Steve Martin was Pennies from Heaven's leading man—Martin played music salesman Arthur Parker, who believes songs materialize in his real life—but Walken's tap-dancing scene was truly a definitive moment: 

The musical was right up Walken's alley, as he began dancing lessons from a very young age. He spoke to that during a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone: 

"Boys took tap class a lot when I was a kid. It was like going to baseball practice. My tap teacher, when I was 12 years old, was a guy named Danny Daniels, who was the choreographer for Pennies From Heaven. He told Herb Ross, the director, 'Chris Walken, the guy from The Deer Hunter, he can tap dance. I know because I taught him.' So the three of us were talking about what kind of a number to do, because we knew the song was 'Let’s Misbehave,'  and Herb said to Danny, 'Oh, have him do a striptease.'"

Saturday Night Live's "More Cowbell" (2000)

Again: maybe you'll discredit this list because a Saturday Night Live sketch made the cut over Walken's leading role in 1983 thriller The Dead Zone, but we're willing to bet the man himself wouldn't argue with this placement. 

"It was a very good sketch, but I don't understand why it follows me around like it does," Walken told Conan O'Brien in December. "I was in a restaurant in Singapore, and the couple at the next table, at one point the guy said to me, 'Chris, you know, this salad needs more cowbell.'" 

The sketch placed fictional rock band Blue Oyster Cult in the studio with Bruce Dickenson (played by Walken), who oddly insists on Gene Frenkle (Will Ferrell) to add more and more cowbell to the track.

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

This term gets tossed around a lot, but Steven Spielberg truly did direct a star-studded cast in Catch Me If You Can: Walken, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Martin Sheen, Amy Adams, and more. 

Based on a true story, Frank Abangale Jr. (DiCaprio) shoulders the emotional burden of his parents' divorce. Throughout his extravagant conman adventures, the teenager crosses paths with his troubled father, Frank Abangale Sr. (Walken), who had his own history of crime by way of IRS tax fraud. FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Hanks) is tasked with bringing the Abangales down.

Walken was nominated at the 75th Academy Awards for best supporting actor. 

And, for the record, Walken is still the second mouse: