inspiring person

PAUL WALKER

Paul William Walker was born on September 12, 1973 in Glendale, California. A native of Southern California, Paul grew up active in sports like soccer and surfing, with brothers Cody and Caleb and sisters Ashlie and Amie. His mother was a model, which lead to Paul modeling and acting as a young child. Some of his early TV work includes episodes of "Charles in Charge", "Highway to Heaven", "Who's the Boss?", and "Diff'rent Strokes". In 1986, Paul starred in the horror spoof Monster in the Closet and was featured on the TV series "Throb" (1986-87). After finishing Village Christian High School in Sun Valley, Paul attended several community colleges and at first majored in Marine Biology. However, his early taste of acting came back with a vengeance and Paul decided to pursue an acting career. With experience in modeling, a number of television guest spots, Paul joined the cast of "The Young & The Restless" as Brandon Collins for a 2-year stint. He was young, making money and starring in the top rated soap opera on television. Paul started spending more money than he had and after the job ended, he tried attending Santa Barbara City College to work towards a Marine Biology degree.

With encouragement from friends and an old casting agent who remembered him as a child, he decided to try his luck once more with acting shortly after returning from College. He starred in Meet the Deedles (1998), a campy, silly but surprisingly fun film which failed to garner much attention. However, lack of attention would not be a problem for Paul Walker for long. With Pleasantville (1998), he appeared in his first hit. As the town stud (a la 1950s) who more than meets his match in modern day Reese Witherspoon, he was one of the most memorable characters of the film. Roles in the teen hits Varsity Blues (1999), She's All That (1999) and The Skulls (2000) have cemented Walker's continued rise to celebrity. He was chosen to be one of the young stars featured on the cover of Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood issue in April 2000. While the other stars on the cover, brooded and tried their best to look sexy and serious, Paul smiled brightly and showed why he is not part of the norm. This is one young actor who certainly stood apart from the rest of the crowd, not only with his talent but with his attitude. The Dallas Morning News commented in March of 2000 that, "Paul is one of the rarest birds in Hollywood- a pretension free movie star." The latest blockbuster hit The Fast and the Furious (2001) had raised his stardom to an even higher level.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: DaveStewart
Paul William Walker IV was born in Glendale, California. Paul grew up together with his brothers, Caleb and Cody and sisters, Ashlie and Amie. Their parents Paul William Walker III and Cheryl Walker separated around September 2004. His grandfather, William Walker was a Pearl Harbor survivor and a Navy middleweight boxing champion, while his maternal grandfather commanded a tank battalion in Italy under General Patton during World War II.

The 6' 3" tall star attended high school at Village Christian High School in Sun Valley, California, graduating in 1991. Paul set his mind to be in the entertainment industry. Paul attended a number of auditions and had a number of small roles on TV and in the movies before gaining a role in Varsity Blues (1999) in 1999.

That same year, Paul and his then-girlfriend Rebecca had a baby girl named Meadow Rain Walker. Even though Paul publicly admitted that Meadow was not planned, he said that she is his number one priority. Paul and Rebecca separated a few years ago and Meadow lives with her mother in Hawaii. She often visited with Paul as his homes in Santa Barbara and Huntington Beach, California.

Walker, who had English and German ancestry, became famous as a child star as he was appearing in TV commercials at a young age. He was cast for the first season of the family sitcom, Throb (1986) and began modeling until he received a script for the 1994 movie, Tammy and the T-Rex (1994).

Roles in Pleasantville (1998) opposite fellow Hollywood members Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire, Varsity Blues (1999)opposite actor Scott Caan and also another teenage movie, She's All That (1999) opposite then-teenage heartthrobs, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook. Real success came when he appeared in The Fast and the Furious (2001) opposite Vin Diesel.

Paul has formed a friendship with Tyrese Gibson, Jason Biggs, Oakley Lehman, Scott Caan and Jessica Alba.

Aside from that, Paul enjoyed working out. His fighting scenes in the movies lead to a passion for martial arts. He has studied various forms of Jujitsu, Taekwondo, Jeet Kune Do and Eskrima. Paul mentioned in a magazine interview that he hopes enroll in the Keysi Fighting Method when it comes to the United States.

Other than practicing martial arts, Paul enjoyed relaxing at home with his daughter, Meadow Rain, surfing near his Huntington Beach abode, walking his dogs and just driving. When Paul seriously did get a break from the entertainment business, he says he loved traveling. Paul had traveled to India, Fiji, Costa Rica, Sarawak, Brunei, Borneo and other parts of the Asian continent.

Tragically Paul Walker died in a car crash on Saturday November 30, 2013, after attending a charity event for "Reach Out Worldwide."

In memory of Paul Walker, here are 5 things you may not have known.

1. Marine Biology Major

Surfing soothes me, it’s always been a kind of zen experience for me. The ocean is so magnificent, peaceful, and awesome. The rest of the world disappears for me when I’m on a wave.
– Paul Walker

Many people don’t know that Marine Biology was actually Paul Walker’s first love and continued to stay with him even through his success as an Actor. He majored in Marine Biology at a California community college and was a huge fan of Marine Biologist Jacques-Yves Cousteau. He went on to join the Board of Directors of the Billfish Foundation in 2006 and went on to do many projects including the National Geographic series “Expedition Great White” in 2010.

2. Full Time Dad

Just recently they came at me with an offer of something going in the summertime, and I wanted to punch them in the face for even coming to me with it. ‘You know what my priorities are right now, why are you even tempting me with this?’ I got home and I was just pissed off and my daughter was like ‘What’s the matter?’ And I told her what happened and she mellowed me out and she’s so funny. She sits me down and she’s like ‘When does it go? What months? I like to travel in the summertime anyway.’ So I said ‘We should actually entertain this one?’ and we both sat down and read it. We’re thinking about it.
- Paul Walker

Meadow Rain Walker, his only child, was born on the 4^th of November 1999. While many people knew that he had a daughter not many people knew that he had just decided to take on the role of being a full time father.

3. He was religious

While many celebrities keep silent about whether or not they believe in a God, Paul Walker opened up about his religion:

I’m a Christian now. The things that drove me crazy growing up was how everyone works at fault-finding with different religions. The people I don’t understand are atheists. I go surfing and snowboarding and I’m always around nature. I look at everything and think, ‘Who couldn’t believe there’s a God? Is all this a mistake?’ It just blows me away.

4. Professional Race Car Driver

Paul Walker was known for his role as Brian O’ Conner in the Fast & Furious series.

While he drove fast cars throughout the series some may not know that he actually drove fast cars in everyday life as well.

He was a professional race car driver and worked with AE Performance.

I have a performance shop called AE Performance and we do race prep and all that stuff out in Valencia. So I have a couple partners and we all race together. It’s a family business basically. We brought in friends and people coming from different economic backgrounds, let’s just say, but it’s cool because everyone gets to have their cake and eat it too. Eric Davis, Roger Rodas, Rich Taylor, Casey Adamo are just a handful of the guys involved.
- Paul Walker

5. Humanitarian

I’m a doer, and whether it was the tsunami in Sri Lanka or the earthquake in Indonesia, I was always saying, ‘I should be there; I should be helping out.

So he connected the dots.

My mother’s a nurse, my sister’s going to nursing school right now, and my friends have construction backgrounds. God willing, the next time there’s a natural disaster I’m going to be there with 11 or 14 people and a handful of doctors. And the next time, it’ll be 150 people with 30 to 35 doctors.
–Paul Walker

Paul Walker made sure to give back to the community whenever he had the opportunity.

Helping Chilean victims after the earthquake as well as victims of the earthquake in Haiti, he was a true humanitarian.  In 2010, he helped found the non-profit organization Reach Out Worldwide (ROWW), a disaster relief organization. Also, in 2010 he helped form REACT (Rapid Emergency Assistance Care Team), a group of EMTs and health-care professionals whose goal is to get into disaster zones the minute they hear news- ahead of the larger and less mobile emergency teams. Paul Walker was actually hosting a charity event to raise money for the victims of the Philippines Typhoon on the day that he died.

Paul Walker will truly be missed. He wasn’t just a charming and talented young Actor; he was a father, a friend, and a shining beam of light. R.I.P Paul Walker. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and loved ones.

All my strength, love & faith to the Walker family during this heartbreaking time. We find our strength.. in his light. Love you brother.
– Dwayne Johnson (Fast & Furious co-star)