Walter Sobchak is the deuteragonist of the 1998 film The Big Lebowski.
Walter was portrayed by John Goodman who also played Fred Flintstone in the 1994 adaptation of The Flintstones, Rex in We're Back! A Dinosaur's story, James P. Sullivan in the Monsters, Inc. franchise, Ralph Jones in King Ralph, Pacha in The Emperor's New Groove, Hound in the Transformers franchise, and William Randa in Kong: Skull Island.
Biography[]
A veteran of the Vietnam War, Walter suffered from PTSD. Growing up Polish Catholic he converted to Judaism upon marrying Cynthia. The marriage did not last and the pair later divorced. Sobchak continued to be an observant Jew following the divorce, engaging in practices such as Shomer Shabbos - and not engaging in work, cooking, driving, or bowling on Saturdays. He owned a small security business.
In the year 1990, Walter was friends with Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski and Donny Kerabatsos - whom he would often tell to shut up. Sobchak was a member of The Dude's bowling team. Walter was very passionate about bowling, to the point that he would flash a piece out on the lanes if things were not going his way.
Walter tended to be very loud and obnoxious, yelling and swearing in places where such activity was frowned upon. He was hot tempered and quick to resort to violence.
When The Dude got mixed up with the other Jeffrey Lebowski and the disappearance of that Jeffrey's wife Bunny Lebowski, Walter tried to help his friend but generally screwed up in his attempts to help The Dude, making the situation worse.
Walter, Donny, and The Dude were confronted by German nihilists in the parking lot of the local bowling alley. Walter managed to defeat the German nihilists but Donny suffered a fatal heart attack in the process. Walter and The Dude gathered to remember Donny but he still screwed up the scattering of Donny's ashes. After apologizing to the Dude he said, "Fudge it, let's go bowling."
Equipment[]
- M1911A1: Walter carries this semi-automatic handgun in his bowling bag which he used to threaten Smokey into changing his score for going over the line. He most likely got this gun from his service in the Vietnam War.
- Uzi: Walter took this submachine gun with him in a brown bag when accompanying the Dude to a handoff when he jumped out of the car, he dropped it and the Uzi went off, hitting the car.
- Bowling bag: Walter carried this bag when going bowling to hold his bowling ball. He used it as an improvised weapon when he threw it at a Nihilist wielding a submachine gun.
- Crowbar: Walter used a crowbar to break what he assumed was Larry Sellers' car to find out the briefcase of money's location.
- Boombox: Walter used the Nihilists' own boombox to knock out the last member.
Quotes[]
- " Also, Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please."
- "Uh, excuse me? Mark it zero, next frame."
- "Smokey, this is not Nam. This is bowling, there are rules."
- "If you mark that frame an eight, you're entering a world of pain. A world of pain."
- MARK IT ZERO!
- "This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps!/feed a stoner scrambled eggs!" - the edited for TV version.
Trivia[]
- The character of Walter Sobchak was partially based on writer, director, and producer John Milius, who was a friend of the Coen Brothers.