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Bryan Cranston is an American actor, screenwriter, voice actor, director and producer, famous for his roles as Walter white in the series “Breaking Bad, and as Hal in the series “Malcolm in the Middle.” Here are 50 facts about the actor
- He is the second actor in the television history to win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards for three consecutive times, for his role as Walter White in the AMC crime drama series “Breaking Bad.”
- He is one for the two actors to have the most wins in the category Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Emmy Awards, following his fourth Emmy Award in the year 2014, for his performance in the “Breaking Bad,” series.
- The same role landed him in the list of "Eight Actors Who Turn Television into Art", in the cover story of the New York Times magazine’s September 2011 edition.
- He was honored as Grand Marshal of the 2006 Sherman Oaks, California, Street Fair by the Chamber of Commerce for his leadership in the community and his protection of children through KidSmartz.
- Bryan Lee Cranston was born on March 7, 1956, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, and was raised in Canoga Park.
- He is the second son of Joseph Louis "Joe" Cranston, an actor and former amateur boxer and Audrey Peggy Sell, a radio actress.
- He was raised partly by his grandparents and lived with them on their farm and worked with poultry, as his family lost their home in foreclosure.
- He is the younger brother to Kyle Edward Cranston, and actor famous for his roles in “Midnight Brew” (2013), “10 to Midnight” (1983) and “Mission: Killfast” (1991).
- His father moved out of their family when he was just 11 years old. It was only when he was 22 years that he reunited with his father, after he and his brother tracked their father down.
- He graduated from the Canoga Park High School in Canoga Park, California in 1974.
- He used to play baseball as a student and still remains a collector of baseball memorabilia and an avid fan of the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
- Cranston is such a big fan of baseball that his wife Robin Dearden threw him a surprise 40th birthday party at Dodgers Stadium.
- In the year 1976, he earned an associated degree in Police Science from Los Angeles Valley College. At one point during his teen years, he considered becoming a police officer.
- He and his brother travelled around the United States by motorcycles for two years.
- He started his career in acting at the San Fernando Valley’s Granada Theater and in other local and regional theaters.
- Though he had performed as a youth, he did not work regularly till the late 1980s, as his parents had mixed feelings about Cranston being involved in the profession.
- During this time, he was ordained as a minister by the Universal Life Church, and performed weddings for $150 a service to help with his income.
- In his late 20s, he did voice acting for a couple of titles including "Royal Space Force - The Wings of Honneamise" and "Macross Plus." He starred in minor roles and a number of commercials.
- He even did voice acting for the English dubbing of Japanese animation, under the name Lee Stone.
- He was married to writer Mickey Middleton from 1977 to 1982.
- From 1983 to 1985, he portrayed the character of Douglas Donovan in the ABC soap opera “Loving,” as one of the original cast members.
- Since then, he is best friends with actor John O’Hurley and even served as best man at both of O’Hurley’s weddings.
- Following this, he appeared in a handful if series including the “Raising Miranda,” and “From the Earth to the Moon.”
- He met actress Robin Dearden on the sets of 1984 TV series “Airwolf.” The duo were cats together in the third season of the series in the year 1986, in which Cranston played the villain of the week and Dearden was his hostage.
- The first Blue Ranger in the 1993 Might Morphin Power Rangers – Billy Cranston, was named after him, as he did various work as part of the crew including voice-overs.
- In the year 1998, Cranston made an appearance as Patrick Crump, in the episode of “Drive,” in “The X-Files” TV series.
- In an effort to find an inventive gift to his wife Dearden for her birthday, he wrote a screenplay and offered it as a gift. His wife, having enjoyed the screenplay asked Cranston when they were going to make the movie.
- Though, he had never considered making the movie, he agreed to his wife’s idea and ended up becoming the writer, director, and producer of 1999’s “Last Chance.”
- The movie won the Best of the Fest Award at the Breckenridge Festival of Film and the Audience Award at the Valley Film Festival.
- Cranston was cast in the leading role of Hal in the 2000 comedy series “Malcolm in the Middle.”
- His performance as Hal, throughout the series from 2000 to 2006, earned him three Primetime Emmy nominations.
- He even directed three episodes in the series’ fifth season namely “Malcom in the Middle: Vegas,” “Malcolm in the Middle: Dirty Magazine,” and “Malcolm in the Middle: Experiment.”
- During the 2001 Emmy Award speech, the series’ director Todd Holland singled out Cranston and proclaimed that Cranston would “stand up here soon.” The very next year Cranston was nominated for the first time.
- For the first season episode – “Malcolm in the Middle: Rollerskates,” he spent more than six weeks to learn how to roller skate. That particular episode is his favorite in the entire series.
- He along with Justin Berfield and Erik Per Sullivan are the only cast members to appear in every episode of the series.
- After the success of “Malcolm in the Middle” series, he went on to star in the AMC series “Breaking Bad,” from 2008 to 2013 as Walter White.
- His performance in the series was met with widespread critical acclaim, winning him a number of awards including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in each of the show's first three seasons.
- He received his fourth Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in the second half of the fifth season.
- He was also the producer of the fourth and fifth seasons of the series, and directed three episodes of the show.
- Before being cast as Walter White, he almost lost the role to John Cusack and Matthew Broderick, who were first offered the chance, but turned it down.
- AMC was initially cautious about casting him as Walter, due to his comedy background with “Malcolm in the Middle,” but after watching his “The X-Files” episode, they changed their minds.
- He once claimed that his portrayal of Walter White was actually based on his own father who had a slumped posture "like the weight of the world was on his shoulders."
- He along with his co-star Aaron Paul, learned how to produce meth in an effort to be as accurate as possible during the shooting of the sequences in which they make it.
- It is reported that Cranston earned $225,000 for every episode of “Breaking Bad’s” final season, which amounts to an estimated $1.8 for the series’ final eight episodes.
- Following the filming of the final episodes of the series, he and Paul, got Breaking Bad tattoos as a remembrance. He got the show’s logo tattooed on the inner part of his finger.
- His daughter Taylor Dearden Cranston, with Robin Dearden, starred as an extra in a “reaking Bad,” episode, which was directed by him. His daughter is a theatre studies student at the University of Southern California.
- He is a part-owner of the independent theater Cinemas Palme d'Or in Palm Desert, California.
- He has a dog named Sugar that was saved from a local Los Angeles pound.
- He had played different supporting roles in many successful movies including “The Lincoln Lawyer,” “Drive,” “John Carter,” “Rock of Ages,” “Argo,” and “Total Recall.”
- Cranston played the role of U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson in the American Repertory Theater and Broadway productions of “All the Way.” His performance received widespread acclaim.
