Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach | |
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Stacy Keach in May 2007 | |
Born |
Walter Stacy Keach, Jr. June 2, 1941 Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
Occupation | Actor/Narrator |
Years active | 1966–present |
Spouse(s) |
Malgosia Tomassi (1986-present) Jill Donahue (1981-1986: div.) Marilyn Aiken (1975-?: div.) Kathryn Baker (1964-?: div.) |
Website |
www |
Walter Stacy Keach, Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He is mostly known for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration most notably for CNBC'S American Greed also his works included The Opie & Anthony Show on Sirius XM satellite radio, and in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy (particularly his role in the Fox sitcom Titus as Ken, the hard-drinking, chain-smoking, womanizing father of comedian Christopher Titus and for Sergeant Stedenko in Up in Smoke) and musical roles. He is also particularly well known for portraying Mickey Spillane's fictional detective Mike Hammer in a 1984 TV series, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, for one season (due to a cocaine arrest in England) and then a recurring series of television films starting in 1986. Keach is probably the actor most identified with the role of Hammer.
Early life
Keach was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of Mary Cain (née Peckham), an actress, and Stacy Keach, Sr. (Walter Stacy Keach), a theatre director, drama teacher, and actor.[1] His brother James Keach is an actor and television director. Keach graduated from Van Nuys High School in June 1959, where he was class president,[2] then earned two BA degrees at the University of California, Berkeley (1963), one in English, the other in Dramatic Art. He earned a Master of Fine Arts at the Yale School of Drama and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. While studying in London Keach met his acting hero Laurence Olivier.[3]
Career
Theatre
Keach played the title role in MacBird!, an Off-Broadway anti-war satire by Barbara Garson staged at the Village Gate in 1966. In 1967, he was cast, again Off Broadway, in George Tabori's The Niggerlovers with Morgan Freeman in his acting debut. To this day, Freeman credits Keach with teaching him the most about acting.[4] Keach first appeared on Broadway in 1969 as Buffalo Bill in Indians by Arthur Kopit. Early in his career, he was credited as Stacy Keach, Jr. to distinguish himself from his father. He played the lead actor in The Nude Paper Sermon an avant-garde musical theatre piece for media presentation, commissioned by Nonesuch Records by composer Eric Salzman.
He has won numerous awards, including Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards and Vernon Rice Awards. In the early 1980s, he starred in the title role of the national touring company of the musical Barnum composed by Cy Coleman.In 1998, he was one of the three principles in a London production of Rent with George Wendt. In 2006, he performed the lead role in Shakespeare's King Lear at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. In 2008, he played Merlin in Lerner and Loewe's Camelot, done with the New York Philharmonic. In the summer of 2009, Shakespeare Theatre Company remounted the production of King Lear at Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, D.C., which won him the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actor.[5][6]
He has played the title role in two separate productions of Hamlet.[7]
In 2008 and 2009, Keach played Richard M. Nixon in the U.S. traveling version of the play Frost/Nixon.[5]
On December 16, 2010, Keach began performances as patriarch Lyman Wyeth in the off-Broadway premiere of Jon Robin Baitz' acclaimed new play Other Desert Cities. The production transferred to Broadway's Booth Theatre, where it opened November 3, 2011.
Keach is a founding member of L.A. Theatre Works and had held leads in many productions with them, including 'Willy Loman' in Death of a Salesman and 'John Proctor' in The Crucible.[8]
He was scheduled to return to Broadway in December 2014 in the revival of Love Letters at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre alongside Diana Rigg, but the play closed before Keach and Rigg were to begin their runs.[9]
Films
Keach played a rookie policeman in The New Centurions (1972), opposite George C. Scott. That year he also starred in Fat City, a boxing film directed by John Huston. He was the first choice for the role of Damien Karras in the 1973 movie The Exorcist, but he did not accept the role. He went on to play Kane in the 1980 movie The Ninth Configuration, written and directed by Blatty; this role was itself intended for Nicol Williamson.
Stacy Keach's storytelling talent as narrator was given worldwide exposure in the 1973 Formula One racing documentary Champions Forever, The Quick and the Dead by Claude du Boc.
Keach played Cheech and Chong's Police Department nemesis Sgt. Stedenko in Up In Smoke and Nice Dreams. He also appeared as Barabbas in Jesus of Nazareth. In 1978 he played a role of explorer and scientist in The Mountain of the Cannibal God, co-starring former Bond girl Ursula Andress.[5] The film became a cult favorite as a "Video nasty".
One of his most convincing screen performances was as Frank James (elder brother of Jesse) in The Long Riders (1980). His brother James played Jesse James. In 1982 Keach starred in Butterfly with Pia Zadora.
He portrayed a white supremacist in American History X, alongside Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. In Oliver Stone's 2008 biopic W., Keach portrays a Texas preacher whose spiritual guidance begins with George W. Bush's AA experience, but extends long thereafter.
Keach also starred in the TV film Ring of Death playing a sadistic prison warden who runs an underground fight club where prisoners compete for their lives.
He had also starred in the movie Planes as Skipper Riley, main character Dusty Crophopper's flight instructor. He reprised the role in Planes: Fire & Rescue.
In 2012 Keach had a significant supporting role in The Bourne Legacy, and in the 2013 Alexander Payne film Nebraska .
Television
One of Keach's early television roles was in 1958 on the syndicated romantic comedy, How to Marry a Millionaire, with Barbara Eden and Merry Anders. His first-ever experience as a series regular on a television program was playing the lead role of Lieutenant Ben Logan in Caribe in 1975.[10] He played Barabbas in the 1977 Jesus of Nazareth (miniseries), and portrayed Jonas Steele, a psychic and Scout of the United States Army in the 1982 CBS miniseries, The Blue and the Gray. He later portrayed and is best known as Mike Hammer in the CBS television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer and The New Mike Hammer from 1984 to 1987. He returned to the role of Hammer in Mike Hammer, Private Eye, a new syndicated series that aired from 1997 to 1998. In 1988, he starred as Ernest Hemingway in the made-for-TV movie Hemingway.[11]
In 2000, he played Ken Titus, the father of the title character in Fox's sitcom Titus. Cast members of Titus have commented they enjoyed working with Keach because he would find a way to make even the driest line funny.[12]
Keach lent his voice to the The Simpsons episodes "Hungry, Hungry Homer" and "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play," portraying Duff Brewery President Howard K. Duff VIII, and the Batman Beyond episode "Lost Soul" as an artificial intelligence. He also guest starred in a 2005 episode of the sitcom Will & Grace, and had a recurring role as Warden Henry Pope in the Fox drama Prison Break.
In November 2013, Keach appeared on the Fox comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, in the episode "Old School".[13]
In February 2015, Keach started guest appearing in NCIS: New Orleans as Cassius Pride, father of NCIS Agent Dwayne Pride. Incarcerated for corruption, he is later instrumental in revealing a mole in the City of New Orleans, and is rewarded by his son testifying at his parole board hearing. It has not been revealed yet if he has made parole or not
Narrator
Stacy Keach narrated several episodes of Nova, National Geographic, and various other informational series. From 1989-1992, he was host of the syndicated informational reenactment show, Missing Reward, which had a similar format to the popular Unsolved Mysteries at the time. From 1992 - 1995, he became the voice-over narrator for the paranormal series Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories. Beginning in 1999, he served as the narrator for the home video clip show World's Most Amazing Videos, which is now seen on Spike TV. He currently hosts The Twilight Zone radio series. Keach can also be heard narrating the CNBC series American Greed. For the PBS series American Experience, he narrated The Kennedys, among others.
In 2008 Keach once again reprised his famous role as Mike Hammer in a series of full-cast radio dramatisations for Blackstone Audio. (He also arranged and performed the music for the audio dramas. His wife, Malgosia Tomassi also starred in the dramas playing Maya Ricci, a yoga instructor.) Keach has also read many of Mickey Spillane's original Mike Hammer novels as Audiobooks.
Keach plays the role of John in The Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible, a 22-hour audio version of the RSV-CE translation of the New Testament.[14]
On January 6, 2014, Keach became the official voice of The Opie and Anthony Channel on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Sirius Channel 206, XM Channel 103).
Personal life
Keach was born with a cleft lip and a partial cleft of the hard palate, and he underwent numerous operations as a child. Throughout his adult life he has often worn a mustache to hide the scars. He is now the honorary chairman of the Cleft Palate Foundation, and advocates for insurance coverage for such surgeries.[15] In the 1971 film Doc, Keach impersonated the title character, John "Doc" Holliday, who historians specializing in the American West believe might likewise have been born with a cleft palate.
In 1984, London police arrested Keach at Heathrow Airport for possession of cocaine. Keach pleaded guilty, and served six months at Reading Prison.[16] This was during the run of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, which Keach also narrated in character, and impressionist Rich Little had to fill in as the show's narrator during Keach's imprisonment.
Keach has been married four times: to Kathryn Baker in 1964, to Marilyn Aiken in 1975, to Jill Donahue in 1981, and to Malgosia Tomassi around 1986. He has two children from his fourth marriage. He was living near Piaseczno, in Poland, as of October 2014.
Keach stated that his time in prison (which he said was the lowest point of his life) and the friendship he formed with a priest who befriended him during that time, led to his conversion to Roman Catholicism. Subsequently, he and his wife were able to meet with Pope John Paul II to have their son blessed since his wife, Malgosia Tomassi, had gone to the same school that the Pope had attended in Warsaw.[17]
He had a mild stroke in March 2009, from which he has made a full recovery.[7][18][19]
Filmography
Films
Title | Year | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Joy Ride | 1958 | Wechsler | |
Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, TheThe Heart Is a Lonely Hunter | 1968 | Blount | |
Brewster McCloud | 1970 | Abraham Wright | |
End of the Road | 1970 | Jacob Horner | |
Traveling Executioner, TheThe Traveling Executioner | 1970 | Jonas Candide | |
Doc | 1971 | Doc Holliday | |
New Centurions, TheThe New Centurions | 1972 | Roy Fehler | |
Fat City | 1972 | Billy Tully | KCFCC Award for Best Actor (tied with Marlon Brando for The Godfather) |
Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, TheThe Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean | 1972 | Original Bad Bob the Albino | |
Wilbur and Orville: The First to Fly | 1973 | Wilbur Wright | |
Luther | 1973 | Martin Luther | |
The Dion Brothers | 1974 | Calvin | |
Watched! | 1974 | Mike Mandell/Sonny | |
Conduct Unbecoming | 1975 | Captain Harper | |
Street People | 1976 | Charlie Hanson | |
Killer Inside Me, TheThe Killer Inside Me | 1976 | Lou Ford | |
Squeeze, TheThe Squeeze | 1977 | Jim Naboth | |
Greatest Battle, TheThe Greatest Battle | 1978 | Major Mannfred Roland | |
Gray Lady Down | 1978 | Capt. Bennett | |
Up in Smoke | 1978 | Sergeant Stedanko | |
Two Solitudes | 1978 | Huntley McQueen | |
Mountain of the Cannibal God | 1979 | Professor Edward Foster | |
Ninth Configuration, TheThe Ninth Configuration | 1980 | Col. Vincent Kane | |
Long Riders, TheThe Long Riders | 1980 | Frank James | |
Road Games | 1981 | Patrick Quid | |
Nice Dreams | 1981 | Sergeant Stedanko | |
Butterfly | 1982 | Jess Tyler | |
That Championship Season | 1982 | James Daley | |
False Identity | 1990 | Ben Driscoll/Harlan Errickson | |
Class of 1999 | 1990 | Dr. Bob Forest | |
Milena | 1991 | Jesenski | |
Sunset Grill | 1993 | Harrison Shelgrove | |
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm | 1993 | Carl Beaumont / Voice of Phantasm | Voice only |
New Crime City | 1994 | Wynorski | |
Raw Justice | 1994 | Deputy Mayor Bob Jenkins | |
Escape From L.A. | 1996 | Commander Malloy | |
Prey of the Jaguar | 1996 | The Commander | |
Sea Wolf, TheThe Sea Wolf | 1997 | Captain Wolf | |
American History X | 1998 | Cameron Alexander | |
Future Fear | 1998 | General Wallace | |
Fear Runs Silent | 1999 | Mr. Hill | |
Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return | 1999 | Dr. Michaels | |
Unshackled | 2000 | Warden Kelso | |
Icebreaker | 2000 | Bill Foster | |
Militia | 2000 | George Armstrong Montgomery | |
Mercy Streets | 2000 | Tom | |
Sunstorm | 2001 | General John Parker | |
Birds of Passage | 2001 | Captain Savienko | |
When Eagles Strike | 2003 | General Thurmond | |
Hollow, TheThe Hollow | 2004 | Claus Van Ripper | |
Caught in the Headlights | 2004 | Mr. Jones | |
Galaxy Hunter | 2004 | 3V3 | |
El Padrino: The Latin Godfather | 2004 | Governor Lancaster | |
Man with the Screaming Brain | 2005 | Dr. Ivanov | |
Keep Your Distance | 2005 | Brooks Voight | |
Come Early Morning | 2006 | Owen Allen | |
Jesus, Mary and Joey | 2006 | Jack O'Callahan | |
Haunted Prison | 2006 | TV film | |
Honeydripper | 2007 | Sheriff | |
W. | 2008 | Earle Hudd | |
Chicago Overcoat | 2009 | Ray Berkowski | |
The Boxer | 2009 | Joe | |
Weather Wars | 2011 | Marcus Grange | |
Cellmates | 2011 | Warden Merville | |
Jerusalem Countdown | 2011 | Jackson | Based on the Novel, Jerusalem Countdown |
The Bourne Legacy | 2012 | Turso | |
The Great Chameleon | 2012 | Max | |
Ooga Booga | 2013 | ||
Planes | 2013 | Skipper | Voice only |
Nebraska | 2013 | Ed Pegram | |
Planes: Fire & Rescue | 2014 | Skipper | Voice only |
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For | 2014 | Wallenquist | |
If I Stay | 2014 | Grandpa | |
Cell | 2016 | Charles Ardai | |
Gold | 2016 | Filming | |
Television
Title | Year | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
All the Kind Strangers | 1974 | Jimmy Wheeler | Television film |
Caribe | 1975 | Lieutenant Ben Logan | Television series |
Dynasty | 1976 | Matt Blackwood | Mini series |
Jesus of Nazareth | 1977 | Barabbas | Mini series |
Rumor of War, AA Rumor of War | 1980 | Maj. Ball | Mini series |
Blue and the Gray, TheThe Blue and the Gray | 1982 | Jonas Steele | Mini series |
Princess Daisy | 1983 | Prince Alexander "Stash" Valensky | Mini series |
Murder Me, Murder You | 1983 | Mike Hammer | Television film |
Mistral's Daughter | 1984 | Julien Mistral | Mini series |
More Than Murder | 1984 | Mike Hammer | Television film |
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | 1984–1985 | Mike Hammer | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama |
The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | 1986 | Mike Hammer | Television film |
Intimate Strangers | 1986 | Dr. Jeff Bierston | Television film |
New Mike Hammer, TheThe New Mike Hammer | 1986–1987 | Mike Hammer | Television series |
Hemingway | 1988 | Ernest Hemingway | Mini series Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film (tied with Michael Caine for Jack the Ripper) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie |
The Forgotten | 1989 | Adam Roth | Television film |
Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All | 1989 | Mike Hammer | Television film |
Missing: Reward | 1989-1992 | Host | Television series |
The Mysteries of the Dark Jungle | 1991 | Colonel Edward Corishant | Mini series |
Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis | 1991 | CAPT Charles Butler McVay | Television film |
Lincoln | 1992 | George McClellan (voice only) | Television film |
Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories | 1992 | Narrator (voice only) | Television series |
Revenge on the Highway | 1992 | Claude Sams | Television film |
Rio Diablo | 1993 | Kansas | Television film |
Body Bags | 1993 | Richard Coberts | Television film |
In The Heat Of The Night | 1993 | Wade Hatton | Television film |
Against Their Will: Women in Prison | 1994 | Jack Devlin | Television film |
Texas | 1994 | Sam Houston | ABC Television film |
Young Ivanhoe | 1995 | Pembrooke | Television film |
Amanda & the Alien | 1995 | Emmitt Mallory | Television film |
The Pathfinder | 1996 | Compte du Leon | Television film |
Legend of the Lost Tomb | 1997 | Dr. William Bent | Television film |
Murder in My Mind | 1997 | Cargill | Television film |
Mike Hammer, Private Eye | 1997–1998 | Mike Hammer | Television series |
The Courage to Love | 2000 | Jean Baptiste | Television film |
Titus | 2000–2002 | Ken Titus | Television series |
Lightning: Fire from the Sky | 2001 | Bart Pointdexter | Television film |
Simpsons, TheThe Simpsons | 2001, 2003, 2006 | Howard Duff (voice only) | Television series |
The Santa Trap | 2002 | Max Hurst | Television film |
Miracle Dogs | 2003 | C.W. Aldrich | Television film |
Frozen Impact | 2003 | Pete Crane | Television film |
Prison Break | 2005–2007 | Henry Pope | Television series |
George Lopez | 2005 | Blaine McNamara | Television series |
Desolation Canyon | 2006 | Samuel Kendrick | Television film |
Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America | 2006 | Secretary Collin Reed | Television film |
Blackbeard | 2006 | Captain Benjamin Hornigold | Television film |
Death Row (a.k.a. Haunted Prison) | 2006 | John Elias | Television film |
ER | 2007 | Mike Gates | Television series |
American Greed | 2007–present | Narrator (voice only) | Television series transmitted on the Consumer News-and-Business Channel |
Lone Rider | 2008 | Robert Hattaway | Television film |
Ring of Death | 2008 | Warden Golan | Television film |
Meteor | 2009 | Sheriff Crowe | Television film |
Nanny Express, TheThe Nanny Express | 2009 | Rev. McGuiness | Television film |
Two and a Half Men | 2009 | Chelsea's father | Television Series |
Lights Out | 2011 | Pops Leary | Television Series |
Bored to Death | 2011 | Bergeron | Television Series |
Hindenburg | 2011 | Edward van Zandt | Television film |
30 Rock | 2012 | Himself | Television Series |
Anything For Money | 2012 | Narrator | Song written and composed to promote CNBC's series American Greed[20] (see above) |
The Neighbors | 2012–2013 | Dominick Weaver | Television Series |
Sean Saves the World | 2013 | Lee Thompson | Television series |
1600 Penn | 2013 | Senator Frohm Thoroughgood | Television series |
Anger Management | 2013 | Ray | Television series |
Brooklyn Nine-Nine | 2013 | Jimmy Brogan | Television Series |
The Simpsons | 2015 | Don Bookner | Television series |
Hot in Cleveland | 2015 | Alex | 2 episodes |
NCIS New Orleans | 2015 | Cassius Pride | Television series |
References
- ↑ "Stacy Keach Biography (1941-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
- ↑ mentioned in http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/thomas-del-ruth
- ↑ Caryn Hannan. "Georgia Biographical Dictionary Vol.1". Somerset Publishers. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
- ↑ "James Lipton Takes on Three".Million Dollar Baby, DVD, directed by Clint Eastwood
- 1 2 3 Marks, Peter (June 14, 2009). "Enter the King, With New Rules". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
- ↑ "The Plays - Production Details". The Shakespeare Theatre Company. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
King Lear by William Shakespeare, directed by Robert Falls, 6/16/2009 - 7/26/2009
- 1 2 Stacy Keach Suffers Mild Stroke Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2009
- ↑ King, Susan (2002-03-31). "Much to Do in a Few Short Radio Days". L.A. Times. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
- ↑ http://brooksatkinsontheater.com/index.php
- ↑ "Henderson, Kathy. "His Practical Approach: Stacy Keach's Heart is With the Stage But TV Suits His Life and Family Fine," ''Los Angeles Times'', Sunday, December 6, 1992". Articles.latimes.com. 1992-12-06. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
- ↑ http://gostacykeach.com/stacy-as-hemingway/
- ↑ Commentary found in Titus Season 1&2 DVD.
- ↑ http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/brooklyn-nine-nine-2013/episode-8-season-1/old-school/555483
- ↑ http://truthandlifebible.com/
- ↑ "Stacy Keach - Links". Retrieved 2009-07-16. stacykeach.com
- ↑ "Keach Appeal Rejected On Cocaine Sentence". New York Times. Associated Press. December 19, 1984. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
- ↑ Interview with Raymond Arroyo on the TV show "The World Over" aired on EWTN on 12/07/2014.
- ↑ "Star Keach recovering from stroke". BBC. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
- ↑ Dobuzinskis, Alex; Bob Tourtellotte; Paul Simao (March 18, 2009). "Stacy Keach had mild stroke: spokesman". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
- ↑ "American Greed: "Anything For Money"". YouTube. 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stacy Keach. |
- Stacy Keach - official website
- Stacy Keach at the Internet Movie Database
- Stacy Keach at the Internet Broadway Database
- Stacy Keach at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Cleft Palate Foundation
- BroadwayWorld.com interview with Stacy Keach, September 23, 2008
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