Stacy Keach

Infobox_actor
name = Stacy Keach

---

birthname=Walter Stacy Keach Jr.
birthdate = birth date and age|1941|6|2
birthplace = Savannah, Georgia, United States
occupation = Actor
spouse=Malgosia Tomassi (1986-present)
Jill Donahue (1981-1986: div)
Marilyn Aiken (1975-?: div.)
Kathryn Baker (1964-?:div.)
website = http://www.stacykeach.com/

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. He is the son of actor Walter Stacy Keach (born Stacy Keach). His brother James Keach is an actor and television director.

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.

Career

Theatre

In 1966 Keach played the title role, (with his take on Lyndon Johnson being MacBeth) in "MacBird!" an off-Broadway spoof at the Village Gate. Then in 1967, he was cast, again off-Broadway, in George Tabori's "The Niggerlovers" with Morgan Freeman (in his first ever acting job). To this day, Freeman credits Keach with teaching him the most about acting. ["James Lipton Takes on Three"."Million Dollar Baby", DVD, directed by Clint Eastwood] . 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 2006.

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

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.

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. [ [http://www.monstermarketplace.com/Entertainment/Landing2515a776.html] ] 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.

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

Television

One of his 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.Fact|date=April 2008

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. [ [http://www.tvguide.com/News/Insider/?cmsGuid=%7B31EB8407-C917-4724-9661-93C8F09A4A82%7D Stacy Keach Battles Flu, Prison Fugitives] "TV Guide". May 8, 2006. Retrieved on May 13, 2006.]

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. Keach can also be heard narrating the CNBC series "American Greed".

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. [ [http://www.stacykeach.com/links.htm] "stacykeach.com". Retrieved on April 19,2007.]

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. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEFD61338F93AA25751C1A962948260] "nytimes.com" ] 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.

elected filmography

References

External links

* [http://www.stacykeach.com/ Stacy Keach] - official website
*imdb name|id=0005078|name=Stacy Keach
*tvtome person|id=1773|name=Stacy Keach
* [http://www.tvdads.com/tvdkeach.shtml Interview with Stacy Keach at TVDads.com]
* [http://www.cleftline.org Cleft Palate Foundation]

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=