The Fast & Furious star Paul Walker died yesterday in a car crash in Santa Clarita, California. He was 40 years old.
The American actor was in the passenger seat of a Porsche Carrera GT that exploded into flames after it slammed into a lamp post.
According to the entertainment website TMZ, which broke the story, Walker was in Santa Clarita to make an appearance at an event for his charity to support the typhoon relief efforts in the Philippines. His friend Roger Rodas, a former race car driver, who was at the wheel at the time of the accident, also died. The two had taken the car out for a test drive.
Walker’s representatives released a statement confirming his death.
“He was a passenger in a friend’s car, in which both lost their lives,” it said. “We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news.”
Fellow actors reacted to news, taking to social network sites to express their grief.
Walker's Fast & Furious co-star Ludacris led the tributes, describing Walker as a "brother".
“Your humble spirit was felt from the start, wherever you blessed your presence you always left a mark, we were like brothers & our birthdays are only 1 day apart, now You will forever hold a place in all of our hearts @paulwalker legacy will live on forever. R. I. P” posted on Instagram.
The actress Olivia Wilde, who starred with Walker in the 2007 action film The Death and Life of Bobby Z, also tweeted her condolences.
“Heavy heavy heart tonight,” she said. “Paul Walker was a genuinely good, sweet, kind, laid back, loving person. Sending much love to his family.”
Walker's death has cast a huge shadow over the forthcoming seventh instalment of Fast & Furious. Scheduled to be released next July, production has already begun in Atlanta.
While he may be known for steering the action blockbuster franchise, Walker also acted in more than 30 films that saw him explore other genres.
Born in Glendale, California in 1973, Walker’s career literally began when he was in nappies – he starred in his first television commercial for Pampers as a toddler.
By 1995, the youngster had already wracked up an impressive series of appearances on television, including in the Tony Danza sitcom Who’s the Boss, the soap opera The Young and the Restless and the drama Touched by an Angel.
His early years in the film industry was not as consistent, however.
Starting with his 1986 film debut in the horror-comedy Monster in the Closet, Walker’s first four films were mostly B-grade affairs, including the 1987 action film Programmed to Kill and the panned 1994 comedy Tammy and the T-Rex.
His acting breakthrough occurred in 1998 courtesy of scene-stealing role as the dim-witted Skip Martin in the coming of age drama Pleasantville.
Typical of the Hollywood machine, Walker then became the go-to-actor for meat-headed roles in teen flicks, including the 1999 comedies Varsity Blues and She’s All That before getting a slightly more serious part in the 2000 thriller The Skulls.
It all paid off in 2001 when Walker was offered to star alongside the fledgling action star Vin Diesel in The Fast and the Furious.
The undeniable chemistry between the two characters – Walker’s steely portrayal of the undercover operative Brian O’Conner and Diesel’s brash characterisation of the street-racer Dominic Toretto – was largely responsible for the success of the franchise, which garnered more than US$2 billion (Dh7.3bn) in the box office.
Fast & Furious dominated the last decade of his career – Walker appeared in all the films but one, yet also found time to stretch his acting chops in the 2003 science-fiction thriller Timeline and the 2006 Second World War drama Flags of Our Fathers.
Walker’s prolific workload means a string of his films will be released posthumously.
First up is the thriller Hours, where Walker attempts to save his family from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. The comedy Pawn Shop Chronicles has Walker starring alongside Matt Dillon and Brendan Fraser in a tale of a missing wedding ring in Las Vegas. The action thriller Brick Mansions finds Walker playing a cop attempting to infiltrate a ruthless crime syndicate.
Walker leaves behind his 15-year-old daughter Meadow.
sasaeed@thenational.ae
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