Paul Walker : " The Road Less Traveled " .

Paul Walker :" If One Day The Speed Kills Me, Do Not Cry Because I Was Smiling "

Paul William Walker IV more famously known as Paul Walker was born on September 12, 1973 to Cheryl, a former fashion model and Paul William Walker III in Glendale, California. His father who worked as a sewer contractor was also an amateur boxer twice winning the Golden Gloves championship. His paternal grandfather ‘Irish Billy walker’ was also a professional boxer. Paul Walker’s love for speed and fast cars most probably runs in his blood since one of his grandfathers raced factory cars for Ford in the 1960s. He was the oldest of five siblings. After graduating high school from Village Christian School in San Fernando Valley he went to several different community colleges in Southern California and majored in marine biology. 

 

He is survived by his daughter 15-year-old Meadow, born with his girlfriend Rebecca McBrian. He also had an on-and-off relationship with Abrianna Atwell for some time. At the time of his death, he had been dating Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell, a college student sixteen years younger to Walker. What was remarkable is the fact that in spite of having been separated from Rebecca and Abrianna, their relationships were never soured and he was constantly in touch with both women and shared a warm friendship with the two. As a father he was very much committed to Meadow who bonded with him very well and also chose to live with him in California. 

Paul Walker began his celluloid career when he was a toddler starring in a television commercial for Pampers. He began his modeling career at the age of two and in 1985, started acting in various television shows such as Highway to Heaven,  Who’s the Boss?, Touched by an Angel etc. and in a commercial for Showbiz Pizza the same year.

His film career began in 1986 with a role in the horror/comedy film Monster in the Closet. In 1988 Paul and his sister Ashlie participated in an episode of the game show I’m Telling, a show for brothers and sisters finishing in the second place. He did more films such as Tammy and the T-Rex, Programmed to Kill, , Pleasantville,, Meet the Deedles, She’s All That, Varsity Blues  etc. Meet the Deedles finally brought him some fame but he was brought into the limelight by the speedy action thriller film The Fast and The Furious, which later on were made into more sequels. 

He starred in other films such as Running Scared, Walt Disney Pictures’ Eight Below, Joy Ride, Into the Blue and Timeline. He also starred in The Lazarus Project released in October 2008. In 2010, he appeared in the crime drama Takers. His upcoming films slated for release are Hours and Brick Mansions. He was filming Fast and Furious 7 before his life ended so abruptly in the car accident November 30, 2013.  In 2011, Davidoff Cool Water for Men, the Coty Prestige fragrance announced him to be their Brand Ambassador effective July 2011. 

About The Fast and The Furious Series :

The Fast and The Furious was a 2001 film which brought into fore the subject of illegal American street car racing and developed into a cult film. It was through this high-octane, high-speed drama that Paul Walker was elevated to the status of a film star. The film was based loosely on a magazine article ‘Racer X’ about clubs which raced Japanese cars illegally late at night. Distributed by Universal Pictures, it was produced by Neal H. Moritz and directed by Rob Cohen.  
Paul Walker plays the part of Brian O’Connor, an undercover LAPD cop who is sent in to investigate recent truck hijackings. He infiltrates the suspected gang lead by Dominic Toretto played by Vin Diesel using his cover job as aftermarket parts shop assistant. While investigating the gang, he himself becomes quite enamored with the adrenaline-fueled racing world and has to decide where his loyalties lie. Other stars in the film are Jordana Brewster who plays Mia, sister of Dominic, Chad Lindberg, Johnny Strong, Matt Schultze Michelle Rodriquez. When the film was released, it became an instant box office hit grossing over $40,089,015 in USA alone during the opening weekend.
 The film won several awards and nominations including Breakthrough Male Performance award given to Paul Walker for his role as Brain O’Connor and MTV Movie Awards, 2002 to both Paul Walker and Vin Diesel as the Best On-Screen Team. The film also won many other awards for music, stunts, and sound editing etc.  

The film later attained a cult status and spawned large number of popular video and arcade games such as The Fast and The Furious in 2004, later to be released in different versions as well. 

The film gave rise to its equally popular sequels starting with 2 Fast 2 Furious in 2003, The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift in 2006, Fast And Furious in 2009, Fast 5 in 2011, and Fast And Furious 6 in May 2013. Paul Walker appeared in all these movies as Brian O’Connor except in the film Tokyo Drift.  At the time of his death, he was on a break from filming scenes for the Fast and Furious 7. Only a few of the final scenes were remaining to be filmed when the accident took place. Talks are now on to rope in Paul’s brother Cody to shoot those sequences. Cody, who looks a lot like Paul and has worked as a movie stuntman, sees it as a fitting tribute to his brother. 

Walker’s love for adventure was also seen in another movie Into the Blue. Although the film was not as action-packed as any of the Fast and Furious franchises, but it had plenty of adventure, something Walker was passionate about. The movie was about a group of divers who hunted treasures for a living but instead become the hunted.  In the movie Eight Below, he played the role of an Antarctica guide who is extremely guilt-ridden when he has to leave his eight dogs behind him on the base camp of an Antarctic expedition. His character as Jerry Shepard was very touching and heart warming.

Walker’s passion for the fast cars was not limited to movies alone. Since 2010, he started participating in the Redline Time Attack series as a semi-professional driver. He set up a racing shop partnering with his friend Roger Rodas, who was driving the ill-fated Porsche Carrera Gt on the day of the accident. 

There was another side to this charismatic, handsome young star which is a little less known to most fans. Devastated by the turmoil caused by a major earthquake in Haiti, in 2010, Walker founded Reach Out Worldwide (ROWW), a disaster relief foundation that aims to provide fast relief, quick medical assistance and providing basic necessities to those struck with natural disasters. Since its foundation three years ago, ROWW has provided much-needed relief all over the globe from Indonesia to Philippines to typhoon-struck Alabama. 
Paul walker died young, just when he had started reaping the real benefits of his talent but his legacy and passion for fast cars and life will remain in the hearts of his fans forever.  
Ironically, in one of the interviews he is believed to have said "If one day the speed kills me, do not cry because I was smiling." We do not know if is true, but knowing his passion for high-octane speed, we can believe that he was indeed smiling.