Stacy Keach Biography

Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) 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 (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.

Early life

Keach was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of Mary Cain (née Peckham), an actress, and Walter Stacy Keach, a theater director, drama teacher, and actor. 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, then earned two BA degrees at the University of California, Berkeley (1963), one in English, the other in Dramatic Art. He earned an M.F.A. at the Yale School of Drama and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career

Theater

Keach played the title role in MacBird!, an Off Broadway anti-war satire by Barbara Garson staged at the Village Gate in 1966. Then, 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. 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 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 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 NY 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.

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

In 2008 and 2009, Keach played Richard M. Nixon in the U.S. traveling version of the play Frost/Nixon.

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.

Films

He played 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.

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 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 former Bond girl Ursula Andress. 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). 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.. Long Riders included brothers playing brothers and Stacey's brother James Keach played Jesse James; the Carradine and Quaid brothers also starred in the film. 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.

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. 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 2000, he played the cantankerous father Ken Titus in the title family of Fox's 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.

Fans of The Simpsons may also recognize Keach's voice in the recurring role of Duff Brewery President, Howard K. Duff VIII, beginning with the 12th season episode, "Hungry, Hungry Homer", wherein Homer attempts to stop Howard K. Duff from moving the Springfield Isotopes baseball team to Albuquerque by staging a hunger strike.

Keach guest starred in the sitcom Will & Grace. He had a recurring role as Warden Henry Pope in the Fox drama Prison Break. He starred in the fourth episode of the second season in 'Batman Beyond' in the episode 'Lost Soul' as the voice of an A.I computer program that was simulated through the neural impulses of a deceased computer company CEO named Robert Vance.

Narrator

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

Keach plays the role of "John" in "The Truth & Life Dramatized audio New Testament Bible," a 22-hour celebrity-voiced, fully dramatized audio version of the RSV-CE New Testament translation.

Personal life

Keach was born with a cleft lip and a partial cleft of the hard palate and 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. In the 1971 film Doc, Keach played the title character, John "Doc" Holliday, who may have been born with a cleft palate.

In 1984, London police arrested Keach at Heathrow Airport for carrying cocaine. Keach pleaded guilty, and served six months at Reading Prison.

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.

He had a mild stroke in March 2009 and has made a full recovery.

Filmography

Films

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Joy Ride	1958	Wechsler
'	1968	Blount
Brewster McCloud	1970	Abraham Wright
End of The Road	1970	Jacob Horner
'	1970	Jonas Candide
Doc	1971	Doc Holliday
'	1972	Roy Fehler
Fat City	1972	Billy Tully	KCFCC Award for Best Actor (tied with Marlon Brando forThe Godfather)
'	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
'	1976	Lou Ford
'	1977	Jim Naboth
'	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
'	1980	Col. Vincent Kane
'	1980	Frank James
Roadgames	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
	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
'	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

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
'	1980	Maj. Ball	Mini series
'	1982	Jonas Steele	Mini series
Princess Daisy	1983	Prince Alexander "Stash" Valensky	Mini series
Yes, Dear	2000	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
'	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
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
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
'	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	Capt. Benjamin Hornigold	Television film
Death Row (a.k.a. Haunted Prison)	2006	John Elias	Television film
ER	2007	Mike Gates	Television series
Meteor	2007	Television film
Lone Rider	2008	Robert Hattaway	Television film
Ring of Death	2008	Warden Golan	Television film
'	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
30 Rock	2012	Himself	Television Series
The Great Chameleon	2012		Film
Anything For Money	2012	Narrator	Song written to promote CNBC's series "American Greed"
The Neighbors	2012–2013	Dominick Weaver	Television Series