Paul Walker's 47th birth anniversary: Check out some facts about the 'Fast & Furious' star

Paul Walker was popularly known for his role as Brian O’Conner in the Fast & Furious franchise. The late actor was born on September 12, 1973. Many were familiar with his love for cars but there are few facts that not much people know about the late actor. Take a look a few facts about Walker on his 47th birth anniversary.

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15 facts about Paul Walker on his 47th birth anniversary

• Paul Walker started his acting career at a young age when he was just two-years-old. He was seen in an advertisement for a diaper company. He got his first movie role when he was just 13-years-old in 1986 released Monster in the Closet. Walker appeared in a game with his sister in 1988.

• Paul Walker is actually Paul William Walker the IV. His grandfather, Paul Williams II was a professional boxer who goes by the name “Irish” Billy Walker. After his retirement, he appeared in multiple films, TV shows and even raced cars for Ford.

• Paul Walker owned a high-end performance car shop named, Always Evolving. It was situated in Valencia, California and often held car meets to promote their exotic tune-ups. Roger Rodas was the CEO of the shop and also Walker’s financial advisor. Rodas was the man who had been driving the Porsche when they crashed in 2013.

• Paul Walker received immense recognition for his performance in the Fast & Furious franchise. The reason behind him coming on-board was his admiration for 1997 movie Donnie Brasco, starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp. The late actor liked the idea of playing an undercover cop, like Depp, but with cars.

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• His love for cars is known by many, but few know that Paul Walker was also passionate about the ocean. In fact, he studied Marine Biology at a community college in California. He also worked in Expedition Great White show on National Geographic.

• Star Wars is one of the biggest sci-fi franchise and Paul Walker was almost a part of it. He auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker in the prequel trilogy, which was a success at the box office. However, the executives thought that he was too old to portray the character and it went on to Hayden Christenson.

• Apart from being a race-car driver on-screen in the Fast & Furious franchise, he was a race-car driver in real life too. Paul Walker took part in the Redline Time Attack racing series and was on the Always Evolving Performance Team. He raced with cars like BMW M3 E92, R34 Nissan, Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Skyline GT-R.

• In 2014, Paul Walker paid for an engagement ring of a couple he did not know. An Iraq war veteran wanted to buy the ring for his fiancé, which was priced at $9000. The actor overheard the couple’s conversation and gifted them the ring.

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• Paul Walker preferred doing his own stunts in the movies. The actor performed all his stunts by himself in the first Fast & Furious film. It has quite difficult stunts but he knew cars.

• Paul Walker was a great fighter on and off-screen. He was a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which is the second-highest belt. After his demise, the actor’s friend and instructor honoured him with a posthumous black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

• The friendship between Paul Walker and his Fast & Furious co-star Vin Diesel is admired by many. Walker made Diesel the godfather of her daughter, Meadow Walker. In 2015, following Paul’s demise, Vin named his daughter, Pauline in memory of his beloved friend.

• Paul Walker was preparing for an auto show before his demise. His AE shop was set to feature at an auto which would have his BMW M3 E92 car. It included big names from the automobile industry for sponsorship.

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• There are several actors who like to see themselves on-screen, but Paul Walker was not one of them. The actor was not much of a fan of watching his own performance on the big screen. He would mark his presences on his movies’ premieres, out of respect, but did not watch them again.

• The Nissan Skyline R34 car that Brian O’Conner drives most frequently was owned by Paul Walker. The car was touched up at his Always Evolving car shop and had a sentimental value to him. Walker also helped hand-pick many cars that were used in Fast & Furious movies.

• Paul Walker had founded a disaster relief organization called 'Reach Out Worldwide'. It specialized in providing basic necessities and medical assistance to survivors in the bleakest of situations. The actor was leaving a 'Reach Out Worldwide' event when he had the tragic car accident.

Disclaimer: The following points have been sourced from unbelievablefacts.com, hotcars.com and guff.com