Stacy Keach

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Stacy Keach

Born Walter Stacy Keach Jr.
June 2, 1941 (1941-06-02) (age 67)
Savannah, Georgia, United States
Occupation Actor
Spouse(s) Malgosia Tomassi (1986-present)
Jill Donahue (1981-1986: div)
Marilyn Aiken (1975-?: div.)
Kathryn Baker (1964-?:div.)
Official website

Stacy Keach (born Walter Stacy Keach, Jr. on June 2, 1941 in Savannah, Georgia) is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical roles. His brother James Keach is an actor and television director.

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[edit] Education

Keach graduated from Van Nuys High School in June 1959 and went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley, earning two BA degrees in 1963, one in English, the other in Dramatic Art. He received his M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

[edit] Career

[edit] Theatre

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 Stacy Keach, Sr. He played the lead actor in The Nude Paper Sermon an avant-garde musical theatre piece 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 2006, he performed the lead role in Shakespeare's King Lear at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in 2006.

He has played the title role in three separate productions of Hamlet.

[edit] Films

His first film role was as a rookie cop 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 father 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.

Keach played Cheech and Chong's Police Department arch-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 by former Bond girl Ursula Andress.[1] The film became a cult favourite as a "[Video nasty]". One of his most convincing screen performances was as Frank James (elder brother of Jesse) in The Long Riders (1980). Keach excelled in this role, portraying a character who shows maturity and perspective during the outlaws’ doomed career, but who is ultimately imprisoned by fraternal ties.

He portrayed a white supremacist in American History X, alongside Edward Norton and Edward Furlong.

[edit] Television

One of his earliest television roles was the portrayal of Jonas Steele, a psychic and member of John Brown's Army in the 1982 CBS miniseries The Blue and the Gray. He later portrayed 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 2000, he played the cantankerous father Ken Titus in the title family of Fox's short-lived sitcom Titus. Cast members of Titus have commented they enjoyed working with Keach because, even with the dryest line the writers could invent, Keach would find a way to make the line funny.[citation needed]

He has a recurring role as Warden Henry Pope in the Fox drama Prison Break. In 1984, he was convicted of smuggling cocaine into the United Kingdom and spent six months in Reading prison. The governor of that prison would serve as the basis for his character.[2]

[edit] Narrator

Stacy Keach is perhaps most familiar to younger television viewers for narrating episodes of Nova, National Geographic, and various other informational series. 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.

[edit] Personal life

Keach was born with a cleft lip and a partial cleft of the hard palate and underwent numerous operations as a child. He is now the honorary chairman of the Cleft Palate Foundation, and advocates for insurance coverage for such surgeries.[3]

In 1984, Keach was arrested by London police at Heathrow Airport for carrying cocaine. Mr. Keach pled guilty, and served a 9 month sentence at Reading Prison.[4]

He 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 third marriage. He was also romantically linked to singer Judy Collins in the early 1970s.

[edit] Selected filmography

Year Title Role More information
2008 Chicago Overcoat Ray Berkowski Movie
2006 Desolation Canyon Samuel Kendrick TV Movie
2006 Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America Unknown
2005-2006 Prison Break Henry Pope Television series
2003 Frozen Impact Pete Crane TV Movie
2000-2002 Titus Ken Titus Television series
1998 American History X Cameron Alexander
1997-1998 Mike Hammer, Private Eye Mike Hammer Television series
1997 The Sea Wolf Captain Wolf
1993 Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Carl Beaumont / Voice of Phantasm Animated movie
1989 Hemingway Ernest Hemingway Mini Series
1986-1987 The New Mike Hammer Mike Hammer Television series
1986 The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer Mike Hammer TV Movie
1984-1985 Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer Mike Hammer Television series
1984 More Than Murder Mike Hammer TV Movie
1984 Mistral's Daughter Julien Mistral Mini Series
1983 Murder Me, Murder You Mike Hammer TV Movie
1983 Princess Daisy Prince Alexander "Stash" Valensky Mini Series
1982 The Blue and the Gray Jonas Steele Mini Series
1982 That Championship Season James Daley
1981 Roadgames Patrick Quid
1980 The Long Riders Frank James
1979 Mountain of the Cannibal God Professor Edward Foster
1978 Up in Smoke Sergeant Stadanko
1977 Jesus of Nazareth Barabbas
1973 Luther Martin Luther
1972 Fat City Billy Tully
1972 The New Centurions Roy Fehler Movie

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ Stacy Keach Battles Flu, Prison Fugitives TV Guide. May 8, 2006. Retrieved on May 13, 2006.
  3. ^ [2] stacykeach.com. Retrieved on April 19,2007.
  4. ^ [3] nytimes.com

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Keach, Stacy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Keach, Walter Stacy, Jr. (birth name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Savannah, Georgia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH