Summary

Paul William Walker IV (November 30, 2013) was an American actor, model, race car driver and marine biologist, known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the action film The Fast and the Furious, repeating five times in the following films of the franchise. He also acted in other films such as Sub-Zero (2006), Timeline (2003), Lethal Immersion (2005), Never Play with Strangers (2001) and Proof of Crime (2006).

After graduating from the University of California with a degree in marine biology, which he combined with his career as a professional model, Walker began his career as a guest actor on various television shows such as The Young and the Restless and Touched by an Angel. He also gained fame through teen films such as Someone Like You and Game of Champions. Outside of acting, he was the face of The Coty Prestige perfume brand, Davidoff Cool Water fragrance for men, and starred in the National Geographic Channel series, Expedition Great White. He also founded the charity "Reach Out Worldwide" (ROWW), an organization that provides relief efforts for areas affected by natural disasters, for which he was often praised for his charity work off-screen as much as he was as a performer.

Paul Walker died on November 30, 2013 in California, after his vehicle collided and caught fire due to speeding. Following his death, three films in which he had participated were released: Hours (2013), Brick Mansions (2014) and Furious 7 (2015). The song See You Again by Wiz Khalifa nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, part of the Furious 7 soundtrack, is a tribute to Walker.

Childhood

Walker was born in Glendale, California but grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, the son of Cheryl Crabtree, a runway model, and Paul William Walker III, a sewer contractor and professional boxer who was a two-time Golden Gloves champion. Paul's paternal grandfather also had a boxing career as "'Irish' Billie Walker," a Pearl Harbor survivor and factory automobile test driver for Ford in the 1960s. His ancestry was mostly English, with a bit of German, Swiss

The second of five siblings (two boys, Caleb and Cody, and two girls, Ashlie and Amie), Paul grew up primarily in the Sunland-Tajunda community of Los Angeles and attended high school in the San Fernando Valley, graduating from Village Christian School in 1991. He was raised in a very conservative environment, as his father was a Mormon and had his entire family join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After high school, Walker attended several community colleges in Southern California, majoring in marine biology.

One of Paul Walker's early and not so well known passions was marine biology, a passion the actor maintained throughout his professional career. Walker graduated from a California community college with a degree in marine biology and was also a great admirer of marine explorer and researcher Jacques Cousteau.

Personal life

Walker lived between Huntington Beach and Santa Barbara, California, where he often went sailing, lived with his dogs and his daughter Meadow Rain Walker, product of his brief relationship with Rebecca McBrain. His daughter lived with her mother Rebecca in Hawaii for her first thirteen years, when she moved to California to live with her father Paul in 2011, after obtaining full custody. Walker was very focused on his paternal side, in an interview he stated that he had become angry with some producers at a job offer for the summer, as during that time of year the priority was his daughter and they should know better. After Paul's death, Vin Diesel became Meadow's guardian.

Paul's hobbies included surfing and the practice of martial arts such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu and muay thai kickboxing, for which he was posthumously awarded a black belt by Miller. His cars included a Nissan Skyline R34, which he used in the Fast & Furious films, and a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, with which he had the final accident, of which only just over 1,200 units were produced.

Walker maintained his interest in marine biology; he joined the Board of Directors of The Billfish Foundation in 2006. He fulfilled a lifelong dream by starring in a 2010 National Geographic Channel series Expedition Great White (later retitled Shark Men].

In March 2010, Walker traveled to Constitución, Chile, to offer his help and support to those injured in the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the region on February 27. He also traveled with his humanitarian relief team, Reach Out Worldwide, to Haiti to assist victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Paul Walker was considered on several occasions as one of the most attractive men in the world. As a great car enthusiast, he competed in the Redline Time Attack racing series racing a BMW M3 E92, in the AE Performance Team. His car was sponsored by Etnies, Brembo Brakes, Ohlins, Volk, OS Giken, Hankook, Gintani, and Reach Out Worldwide. Walker was preparing for the California auto show before his death. Roger Rodas became Walker's financial advisor in 2007 and helped establish Reach Out Worldwide. who worked as Walker's financial advisor, was the man driving the car owned by Walker in the accident. Walker maintained a close friendship with his co-star Tyrese Gibson. Vin Diesel considered Walker a brother, both on and off screen, and affectionately called him "Paul." Walker's mother referred to Vin Diesel as being her son's "other half." In mid-March 2015, Diesel's third daughter was born, whom he named "Pauline," in honor of his friend Paul Walker.

Death

At 3:30 p.m. on November 30, 2013 in the Valencia neighborhood of the city of Santa Clarita, California, Paul Walker suffered a tragic accident that cost him his life, after colliding his red Porsche Carrera GT against an electric pole and a tree, when he went off on a curve, causing his vehicle, driven at the time by his friend and partner Roger Rodas, with him as co-driver, to be consumed by flames in a short time.

Walker and Rodas had just left a Reach Out Worldwide charity event for victims of Typhoon Haiyan. The car crashed into a light pole and two trees on the curve of Hercules Street in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California, at a speed of about 45 miles per hour (after impact the vehicle burst into flames. The accident was filmed by a street security camera. Authorities determined that Rodas was driving the car, while Walker was the passenger. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department stated that both victims died on the spot. Rodas died of multiple traumatic injuries, while Walker died from the combined effects of physical and thermal trauma injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Both bodies were burned beyond recognition. The curve where Walker and Rodas died is a frequent accident scene.

The coroner's report stated that the Porsche Carrera GT was traveling at a speed of possibly 100 mph (160 km/h).

Paul Walker's autopsy showed "scant soot" on his trachea, leading investigators to believe that he died before the car became engulfed in flames, meaning that the impact caused head trauma, neck trauma and chest trauma.

In March 2014, an investigation revealed that excessive speed of the car was the main reason for the accident. The car was carrying a speed between 80 miles per hour (130 km

In September 2015, Walker's daughter filed a lawsuit against Porsche for the wrongful death of her father, alleging that her father's sports car had numerous design flaws. Namely, that the Porsche Carrera GT had had a history of instability and that improper seat belt placement inside the vehicle could have caused damage on impact. On September 29, 2015, it was reported that according to Porsche Cars North America spokesman Calvin Kim, the manufacturer has not yet seen the lawsuit and declined to comment on it. He stated, "As we have said before, we are saddened any time someone is injured in a Porsche vehicle, but we believe the authorities' reports in this case clearly state that this tragic accident was due to reckless driving and speeding." As of November 2015, Porsche's response to the manslaughter lawsuit, was to deny all allegations, and, in fact, blame Walker; "The dangers and risks are for everyone and it was obvious that they were known to him, and he chose to behave in a manner in order to expose himself to such dangers and risks, thus assuming all the risks involved in using the vehicle." In any case, lawyers for Meadow Walker, Paul's daughter, claim that the car company is at fault.

General

Already as a child, he had participated in some commercials on the small screen, such as starring in a TV commercial for Pampers, and had also appeared in episodes of series such as Highway to Heaven (1985), Throb (1986) where he played a 12-year-old boy named Jeremy Beatty, I'm Telling! (1988), Who's the Boss? (1991), The Young and the Restless (1993), The Boys Are Back (1994), or Touched By an Angel (1996), among others. At a very young age, he began working as an advertising model, which served to pay his college expenses and at the same time to bring him closer to his dream of becoming an actor. Towards the end of the 80's, he began his career in front of the cameras, working in B movies, such as the horror and comedy film Monster in the Closet (1986), Programmed to Kill (1987), Meet the Deedles (1989), Tammy and the T-Rex (1994).

His first experience in Hollywood cinema was in 1998, with the film Pleasantville. In it, he played a basketball player, Skip Martin, sharing the credits with Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon and Jeff Daniels. He starred in Varsity Blues, sharing the scene with actor Jon Voight, where on these film sets he met his great friend Scott Caan.

Also in 1999 he became one of the stars of the romantic comedy She's All That (Someone Like You), accompanied by Freddie Prinze, Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook and Anna Paquin. Immediately after, he was called to play the leading man in Brokedown Palace (1999), which also starred Claire Danes, Kate Beckinsale and Bill Pullman, a film that was very well received by the public, although it was not a success.

Already in the new millennium, he became the protagonist of The Skulls (2000) alongside Joshua Jackson, in which the two become very good friends when they are initiated into a secret and very dark society that William Petersen tries to disrupt. In 2001 he became Lewis Thomas, the brother of Fuller Thomas, starring Steve Zahn, a troubled but nice guy in the film Joy Ride (Never Play with Strangers), in which the two brothers and the friend of one of them are pursued by a psychopathic killer on the roads of the United States. He starred in Timeline (2003), Noel (2004), sharing the credits with Robin Williams, Susan Sarandon and Penélope Cruz, mysteriously involved in Christmas Eve and Into the Blue (2005) alongside Jessica Alba, where he plays Jared Cole, a natural diver who, after finding a sunken plane loaded with cocaine, must fight to save himself from drug dealers and sharks. He had a supporting role in director Clint Eastwood and producer Steven Spielberg's hit film Flags of Our Fathers (and starred in Running Scared (2006).

One of the roles for which Walker is remembered is for playing Jerry Shepard in the real-life inspired film Eight Below: Antarctic Rescue (2006), a Walt Disney Pictures film about an expedition of a group of scientists during research in Antarctica and the rescue mission of six husky and malamute dogs. Audiences and critics alike were able to empathize with Walker's anguish as he went to rescue his canines, an empathy between different animal species that is not within the reach of everyone. ...

He starred in the feature films The Death and Life of Bobby Z (2007), Stories USA (2007), The Lazarus Project (2008), The Diplomat (2010), and the 2010 crime/drama film Takers alongside actors Matt Dillon and Hayden Christensen.

He played the role of narrator and host on the National Geographic Channel series Expedition Great White, which premiered in June 2010. He spent 11 days as part of the crew during the capture and tagging of seven great white sharks off the coast of Mexico. The expedition, led by Chris Fischer, founder and CEO of Fischer Productions, along with Captain Brett McBride and Dr. Michael Domeier of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, was undertaken to take measurements, collect DNA samples, and place real-time satellite tags on the great white sharks, allowing Dr. Domeier to study migratory patterns, especially those related to mating and calving, over a five-year period.

He applied for the role of Anakin Skywalker, but was too old for the role, he also applied for the role in the film S.W.A.T. (2003) as Jim Street, but was cast as Colin Farrell. He worked on several occasions with Scott Caan. He was also considered for the role of Johnny Storm in The Fantastic Four (2005).

He was in charge of narrating the medium-length film Air Racers 3D (2012), was involved as executive producer and starring actor in the film Vehicle 19: Infernal Race (2012) and starred alongside Elijah Wood in Pawn Shop Chronicles (2013).

His last three films, were released posthumously; Hours (2013) released two weeks after his death, set during Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans; Brick Mansions (2014) in which Walker plays Damien Collier in a remake of the 2004 French film District 13, which was released five months after his death; and Fast and Furious 7 (2015), Paul Walker's last film.

Saga The Fast and the Furious

Paul Walker's leap to stardom and worldwide fame came with the fast sports car movie, after being cast as Brian O'Conner in The Fast and the Furious (2001), what would later become the long-running Fast & Furious film franchise that has continued to roll on and on, with a clichéd formula - women and cars - and dynamic, gas-burning cinema that sweeps the worldwide box office.

The saga begins with Full Throttle (2001), with young cop Brian O'Conner entering the world of car tuning to unmask the illegal racing of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), but everything gets complicated when he falls in love with his sister Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster).

The saga continues with A Todo Gas 2 (2003), which after letting Toretto escape in the first film, O'Conner moves to Miami, which is visualized through the short film released prior to the release of the second film titled Turbo-Charged Prelude (2003), to erase his record in exchange for imprisoning Carter Verone with the help of Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson). In the third film A Todo Gas: Tokyo Race (2006) Paul Walker does not intervene, but it is crucial for the development of the next films, as the plot is set in Tokyo and new characters are incorporated. The fourth film Fast and Furious: Even Faster (2009) is developed as a direct sequel to the first one, in which Dominic 'Dom' Toretto and Brian's friendship resurfaces, the relationship with Mia and Brian joins Dom's team, leaving behind his life as a cop and starting a life as a fugitive from the law. In this installment Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Toretto's girlfriend, is killed. In the fifth installment, Fast and Furious 5 (2011), Dom, Mia and Brian are hiding from the law in Brazil, but are pursued by agents Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Elena Neves (Elsa Pataky). In order to stay on the run, they team up with Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Tej Parker (Chris Bridges), Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot), Han Lue (Sung Kang), Leo Tego (Tego Calderon) and Rico Santos (Don Omar) to rob the billionaire villain in Rio de Janeiro. In the sixth installment Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Brian and the rest of the team are scattered around the world enjoying the money from the Rio heist, but agent Luke Hobbs is still on their trail, and on the trail of the villain Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), Letty's alleged killer, who turns out to be alive and at their orders, so Hobbs calls a truce to Toreto and his team, to hunt Shaw, who ends up being the cause of Gisele's death. In the seventh installment Furious 7 (2015), Dom, Brian and the whole team enjoy their freedom after being released from charges upon catching and almost killing Owen Shaw in the previous installment. But Owen's older brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) shows up, seeking revenge for his brother, and wants to eliminate Dom's entire team, starting by assassinating Han Lue, in Tokyo - making allegory of the third film Tokyo Race - so the team will once again unite, along with Hobbs, to defeat Deckard Shaw.

At the end of Furious 7 it ends with Paul Walker saying goodbye to Dom Toretto; Dominic is on the beach with "his family", and leaves without saying goodbye in his Dodge Charger R car.

An emotional ending to pay tribute to the saga's protagonist. However, the first version of the film showed Walker joining Dom's "family", which would imply that Walker's character would be part of new races in future installments, but the deadly incident in the middle of the shooting of the film caused several changes in the script, as Walker would no longer appear in the saga and the production company Universal had to decide whether to continue the film or not. However, they opted to use all available technology to move forward with the production and record the end of Walker in Fast 7, with the dubbing of his own brothers Cody and Caleb Walker, impersonating him and the generation of computer-generated imagery (CGI), which allowed them to sign the ending and finish the film.

Wiz Khalifa's See You Again, which is part of the Furious 7 soundtrack, is another tribute to Walker. The track was a Golden Globe Award nominee for Best Original Song at the 73rd Golden Globes.

Meanwhile, we had to wait until April 12, 2017, to be able to clarify the way in which the screenwriters concluded Brian O'Conner's starring role in The Fate of the Furious.

Sources

1. Paul Walker
2. Paul Walker
3. «Paul William Walker IV». WGN News at Nine. WGN-TV/WGN America. 30 de noviembre de 2013.
4. a b Merry, Stephanie; Yahr, Emily (10 de diciembre de 2015). «Golden Globes nominations 2016: Complete list». The Washington Post. Consultado el 10 de diciembre de 2015.
5. «Paul Walker Biography». Archivado desde el original el 1 de febrero de 2009.
6. Paul William Walker II 1930 United States Census. Consultado el 22 de diciembre de 2013.
7. «Meet Paul Walker». Spartanburg Herald-Journal. 29 de marzo de 2006. Consultado el 3 de diciembre de 2013.
8. ^ a b Shared with Vin Diesel
9. ^ Shared with Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson
10. ^ Shared with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Dwayne Johnson, Ludacris
11. 1 2 Joel Landau. 'Fast and Furious' star killed in fiery car crash (англ.). NY Daily News (30 ноября 2013). Дата обращения: 30 ноября 2013. Архивировано из оригинала 16 мая 2019 года.
12. 1 2 3 Keck, William Fame lets Paul Walker dive in (англ.). USA Today (27 сентября 2005). Дата обращения: 28 сентября 2008. Архивировано 29 декабря 2011 года.
13. Noémie Luciani, « L'ombre de Paul Walker plane sur « Fast & Furious 7 » », Le Monde, 31 mars 2015.
14. Thomas Sotinel, « La mort de Paul Walker n'empêchera pas la sortie de Fast & Furious 7 », sur Le Monde, 2 décembre 2013.
15. a b c d et e (en) Alan Duke, « Investigators: Speed -- not drugs, racing or mechanical failure -- killed Paul Walker », sur cnn.com/, 26 mars 2014.
16. Virginie Gonçalves, « Paul Walker  : pourquoi sa mort tragique dans un accident de voiture a autant choqué », sur gala.fr, 13 septembre 2020 (consulté le 13 novembre 2023).