Birth Date: 07 Mar, 1924, Age (79)

Occupation : Actor

Place of Birth : Indore

Date of Death : 29 Jul, 2003

Johnny Walker

Badruddin Khan Jamaluddin Kazi (1924 – 29 July 2003), better known by his stage name Johnny Walker, was an Indian actor who acted in around 300 films. He was born in Indore, British India, the son of a mill worker. Kazi took various jobs as the sole breadwinner for the family,eventually becoming a bus conductor with Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST). Throughout his youth he dreamed of being involved in films, idolising Noor Mohammed Charlie and practising stunts that he saw on-screen.

Balraj Sahni saw him, perhaps on a bus or perhaps while Kazi was amusing the cast of Hulchul, a film for which he had obtained a bit part, with an extemporised routine as a drunk. Sahni, who sources say was either at that time writing the script for Baazi (1951) or acting in Hulchul, told Kazi to demonstrate his drunkard act to Guru Dutt. From that meeting he gained a role in Baazi. It was Dutt who gave him the name of Johnny Walker, a reference to the brand of Scotch whisky, when he was inspired by Kazi's display in the role of a drunkard.His attempts to portray heroic personae in the eponymous Johnny Walker and Mr. Qartoon were not successful but films such as Mere Mehboob, C.I.D., Pyaasa and Chori Chori made him a star. His heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s and his later career was affected by the death of Dutt, who had greatly influenced it, in 1964. He worked with directors such as Bimal Roy and Vijay Anand but his career faded in the 1980s. He was unwilling to adopt the cruder form of comedy and changed priorities that had become the vogue, saying that

Walker was particularly satisfied with his work in B. R. Chopra's Naya Daur (1957), Chetan Anand's Taxi Driver (1954) and Bimal Roy's Madhumati (1958). His final film came after an absence of 14 years when he took a role in a remake of Mrs. Doubtfire titled Chachi 420 (1997). During the intervening period, he had a successful business dealing with precious and semi-precious stones.