Walter White (Breaking Bad)

Walter White
Breaking Bad character
Bryan Cranston as Walter White
First appearance	Breaking Bad: "Pilot" (2008) Better Call Saul: "Breaking Bad" (2022)
Last appearance	Breaking Bad: El Camino (2019) Better Call Saul: "Saul Gone" (2022)
Created by	Vince Gilligan
Portrayed by	Bryan Cranston
In-universe information
Full name	Walter Hartwell White Sr.
Alias	Heisenberg
Nickname	Walt
Occupation	Drug lord Co-founder of Gray Matter Technologies High school chemistry teacher Car wash cashier, proprietor, and manager
Affiliation	Gray Matter Technologies Gustavo Fring's drug empire His own drug empire
Spouse	Skyler White
Significant other	Gretchen Schwartz (formerly)
Children	Walter White Jr. (son) Holly White (daughter)
Relatives	Hank Schrader (brother-in-law) Marie Schrader (sister-in-law)
Home	308 Negra Arroyo Lane, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States New Hampshire, United States (Remote)
Nationality	American
Date of birth	September 7, 1958
Date of death	September 7, 2010 (aged 52)
Alma mater	California Institute of Technology

Walter Hartwell White Sr., also known by his alias Heisenberg, is the fictional antihero^[a] or villain protagonist of the American crime drama television series Breaking Bad, portrayed by Bryan Cranston.

White is a skilled chemist who co-founded a technology firm before he accepted a buy-out from his partners. While his partners got rich, Walter became a high school chemistry teacher in Albuquerque, barely making ends meet with his family: his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) and son Walter Jr. (RJ Mitte). At the start of the series, the day after his 50th birthday, White is diagnosed with Stage III lung cancer. After this discovery, White decides to manufacture and sell methamphetamine with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), to ensure his family's financial security after his death. Due to his expertise, White's "blue meth" is purer than any other on the market, and he is pulled deeper into the illicit drug trade.

White becomes increasingly ruthless as the series progresses, and later adopts the alias "Heisenberg", which becomes recognizable as a kingpin figure in the Southwestern drug trade. White struggles with managing his family while hiding his involvement in the drug business from his brother-in-law, DEA agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris). White becomes less sympathetic throughout the show, as series creator Vince Gilligan wanted him to turn from "Mr. Chips into Scarface". Although AMC officials initially hesitated to cast Cranston due to his previous comedic role on Malcolm in the Middle, Gilligan cast him based on the actor's past performance in The X-Files episode "Drive", which Gilligan wrote. Cranston contributed greatly to the creation of his character, including White's backstory, personality, and physical appearance.

Both the character and Cranston's performance have received critical acclaim, with Walter White frequently being mentioned as one of the greatest and most iconic television characters of all time. Cranston won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, three of them being consecutive. He is the first man to win a Critics' Choice, Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance. Cranston reprised the role of Walt in a flashback for Breaking Bad's sequel film El Camino, and again in the sixth and final season of the prequel series Better Call Saul, making him one of the few characters to appear in all three, alongside Jesse Pinkman, Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), Ed Galbraith (Robert Forster), and Austin Ramey (Todd Terry).

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