Read more about Walter White at: Wikipedia Official Site: AMC Walter Hartwell "Walt" White is a fictional character and the antihero of the American television drama series Breaking Bad on AMC. He is portrayed by Bryan Cranston and was created by series creator Vince Gilligan. Once a promising chemist who was one of the founding members of the fictional "Grey Matter Technologies", Walter left the company for personal reasons and became an unhappy and disillusioned high school chemistry teacher. Once he is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, he resorts to manufacturing methamphetamine to ensure his family's security when he dies. As the series progresses, Walter gradually grows violent and dangerous. Although AMC officials hesitated to cast Cranston due to his previous role on the comedy series Malcolm in the Middle, Gilligan cast him based on the actor's past performance in an episode of The X-Files. Cranston has contributed to much of his character including Walter's back story, physical appearance and personality traits. Gilligan had described his goal with Walter White as turning Mr. Chips into Scarface, and has deliberately made the character less and less sympathetic. Both the Walter White character and Bryan Cranston's performance have received positive reviews. Cranston has won three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, becoming the second actor ever to do so and the first since Bill Cosby for I Spy in the 1960s. Walter White is a talented chemist who, as a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, contributed to research that helped a team win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. After college, Walter founded the firm Gray Matter Technologies with Elliott Schwartz, his close friend and former science partner from college. Around this time, Walter dated his lab assistant, Gretchen (Jessica Hecht) until Walter abruptly left her in the middle of a vacation with her family. Walter left Gray Matter Technologies and retained financial interest in the company. Gretchen and Elliott later married and garnered a fortune with the company, over which Walter secretly harbors animosity.
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