Brian Keith (November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
,
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
, and
stageTheatre is a branch of the performing arts. While any performance may be considered theatre, as a performing art, it focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self contained drama. A performance qualifies as dramatic by creating a representational illusion...
actor, who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney film,
The Parent TrapThe Parent Trap is a Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith in a story about teenage twins and their divorced parents. The screenplay by the film's director David Swift was based upon the book Lottie and Lisa by Erich Kästner...
, the 1966 movie,
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are ComingThe Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming is a 1966 American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley juvenile novel, The Off-Islanders, it was adapted for the screen by William Rose...
, and the 1975 movie,
The Wind and the LionThe Wind and the Lion is a 1975 adventure film. It was directed by John Milius and starred Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith and John Huston...
. On television, two of his best known roles were that of a widowed uncle turned bachelor, Bill Davis, in the 1960s sitcom,
Family AffairFamily Affair is a situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment....
, and the title character of a tough judge, in the 1980s
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
,
Hardcastle and McCormickHardcastle and McCormick is a 1980s action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions and Columbia Pictures Television, shown on ABC from 1983-1986, starring Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and race car driver Mark "Skid" McCormick.The...
. He also starred in his own sitcom which featured actresses
Shelley FabaresMichele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares is an American actress and singer. Fabares is known for her roles as Donna Reed's oldest child, Mary Stone, on The Donna Reed Show , and as Craig T. Nelson's love interest and eventual wife, Christine Armstrong Fox, on the sitcom Coach...
and Victoria Young, his real-life ex-wife.
Early life
Keith was born
Robert Alba Keith in
Bayonne, New JerseyBayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, south of Jersey City. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 61,842. The Census Bureau's 2006 population estimate for Bayonne is 57,886, a decrease of 6.4% from 2000.According to tradition, the city...
, to actor Robert Keith and stage actress
Helena ShipmanHelena Shipman was an American stage actress. She was the wife of actor Robert Keith and mother of his son, Brian Keith who went on to become a famous actor on screen and television. Her marriage to Robert Keith was a tumultuous one, and she divorced him some time after Brian was born...
, a native of
Aberdeen, WashingtonAberdeen is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States, founded by Samuel Benn in 1884. Aberdeen was officially incorporated on May 12, 1890. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis...
. His parents divorced, and he moved to Hollywood and started his acting career, at the tender age of 2. He made his acting debut in the silent film
Pied Piper Malone (1924) at the age of 3. His mother continued to perform on stage and radio, while Robert's grandmother Apker helped to raise him in Long Island, New York. She taught young Brian to read books over his age level. Prior to learning to read, he spent a lot of hours back stage while his parents performed, being quiet for hours. Helena fondly recalled keeping little Brian in the dressing room in one of her dressingroom drawers. He remained calm and was quiet and would sleep through the entire show. From 1927 through 1929, Keith's stepmother was
Peg EntwistlePeg Entwistle was a Welsh-born English actress of stage and screen, who gained notoriety after she killed herself by jumping from the Hollywood sign, shortly following her appearance in the RKO film Thirteen Women.-Life and career :Entwistle was born Millicent Lilian Entwistle in Port Talbot,...
, a well-known Broadway actress who committed suicide by jumping from the "H" of the famous Hollywood sign in 1932.
Military service
After graduation from
East Rockaway High SchoolEast Rockaway Junior-Senior High School is a co-educational six-year secondary school in East Rockaway, New York, and the sole high school in Nassau County, New York, School District 41, the smallest school district in Nassau County...
in 1939, in
East Rockaway, New YorkEast Rockaway is a village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population was 10,414 at the 2000 census.The Incorporated Village of East Rockaway is in the Town of Hempstead, at the base of the Rockaway Peninsula. The majority of the town is of Italian and Irish descent with...
, he joined the
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
(1942-1945). He served during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as an
air gunnerAn air gunner is a member of an air force aircrew who operates flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or autocannons in an aircraft...
and received an
Air MedalThe Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States which was established by Executive Order 9158, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, on 11 May 1942...
.
Acting career
After the war, Keith became a stage actor, branching out into films and then television. A strong and capable actor, Keith spent many years playing second leads and gruff sidekicks. He returned to the
box officeA box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to a venue. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall, or at a wicket...
in 1953, after having spent eight years in the military, with
ArrowheadArrowhead is a 1953 western film directed by Charles Marquis Warren and starring Charlton Heston and Jack Palance. The film is based on the novel Adobe Walls by W.R.Burnett. The screenplay was also by Charles Marquis Warren.-Plot Synopsis:...
, co-starring
Charlton HestonCharlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television.Heston is known for having played heroic roles, such as Moses in The Ten Commandments, Colonel George Taylor in Planet of the Apes, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar in El Cid, and Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur, for which he won the Academy...
. He guest starred in
Harbor CommandHarbor Command is a syndicated adventure/drama television series starring Wendell Corey as Captain Ralph Baxter, a fictitious officer of the United States Coast Guard. The 39-episode Ziv program aired in black and white from October 11, 1957, to July 4, 1958. Casey Walters appeared in all episodes...
,
Wendell CoreyWendell Corey was an American actor and politician.He was born Wendell Reid Corey in Dracut, Massachusetts, the son of Milton Rothwell Corey and Julia Etta McKenney . His father was a Congregationalist clergyman...
's 1950s
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
about the
United States Coast GuardThe United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of seven uniformed services. It is unique among the military branches in that it has a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its mission set...
and starred in his own first series,
CrusaderA crusader is someone who participates in a crusade.Crusader may also refer to:In the military:* Crusader tank, a British cruiser tank of World War II* Operation Crusader, a British attack in North African campaign in World War II...
, as the fictional journalist Matt Anders, who tries to free captive peoples from communist countries. He won much acclaim for his starring role in Sam Peckinpah's short-lived
The WesternerThe Westerner is a 1940 film directed by William Wyler, and written by Niven Busch, Stuart N. Lake, and Jo Swerling. It stars Gary Cooper as fictional interloper Cole Harden and is often remembered for one of Walter Brennan's best performances, as Judge Roy Bean, which led to him winning his...
(1960).
He is also fondly remembered for his role as the father of twins in the 1961 film
The Parent TrapThe Parent Trap is a Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith in a story about teenage twins and their divorced parents. The screenplay by the film's director David Swift was based upon the book Lottie and Lisa by Erich Kästner...
, co-starring
Hayley MillsHayley Mills is an English actress. The daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and sister of actress Juliet Mills, Mills began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising newcomer, winning the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Tiger Bay , the Academy Juvenile Award...
and
Maureen O'HaraMaureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude...
. His performance as
Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. He is well remembered for his energetic persona, his range of interests and achievements, his model of masculinity, and his "cowboy" image. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the short-lived Bull Moose Party...
in
The Wind and the LionThe Wind and the Lion is a 1975 adventure film. It was directed by John Milius and starred Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith and John Huston...
(1975) is also particularly well-remembered and regarded, being considered among the best portrayals of an American president on film. Keith later portrayed Roosevelt's predecessor,
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office....
, in
Rough RidersRough Riders is a 1997 three hour television miniseries about Theodore Roosevelt and the regiment . The series chronicles the major land battles of the Spanish-American War of 1898. It was released on DVD in 2006.-Cast:*Tom Berenger - Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt*Sam Elliott - Capt. Bucky O'Neill...
, his final film.
Gruff, but likable character actor
In 1952, he made his debut on 3 episodes of
Tales of TomorrowTales of Tomorrow is an American anthology science fiction series that aired live on ABC from 1951 to 1953. The series covered such stories as Frankenstein, starring Lon Chaney, Jr., 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea starring Thomas Mitchell as Captain Nemo, and many others featuring such performers as...
. These three episodes had led him to other roles such as
Police Story, a 1950s anthology show,
Eye Witness,
The United States Steel HourThe United States Steel Hour is an anthology series which brought hour-long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation.-Radio:...
,
Robert Montgomery PresentsRobert Montgomery Presents is a dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950 until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its seven-year run, and the title was altered to feature the sponsor, usually Lucky Strike cigarettes, for example, Robert...
,
The Motorola Television HourThe Motorola Television Hour was an hour-long anthology series which alternated bi-weekly with The United States Steel Hour on ABC. The show premiered on November 3, 1953 and was last aired on June 1, 1954....
,
Campbell Playhouse, 2 episodes of
The MaskThe Mask is a famous Dark Horse comic book series created by writer John Arcudi and artist Doug Mahnke, and based on a concept by publisher Mike Richardson. The series follows a magical mask which imbues the wearer with reality-bending power and physical imperviousness, as well as bypassing the...
,
The Pepsi-Cola PlayhouseThe Pepsi-Cola Playhouse is an dramatic anthology series that aired on ABC from 1953 to 1955, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. An online search reveals that the UCLA Film and Television Archive has 3 episodes of this forgotten program in its collection....
,
The Elgin Hour,
The Adventures of Ellery QueenThe Adventures of Ellery Queen is the title of a radio series and four separate television series made from the 1950s through the 1970s. They were based on the fictional character and pseudonymous writer Ellery Queen.-Radio:...
, 3 episodes of
Studio 57,
Jane Wyman Presents: The Fireside Theatre,
The Ford Television Theatre,
Wire ServiceWire Service is an American drama series that aired on ABC as part of its 1956-57 season lineup.-Synopsis:Wire Service focused on three reporters for the fictional Trans-Globe wire service, which was similar to real-life news wire services such as the Associated Press and United Press International...
,
Climax!,
Zane Grey Theater,
RawhideRawhide is a hide or animal skin that has not been exposed to tanning. It is much lighter in color than leather made by traditional vegetable tanning....
,
Laramie-Entertainment:* The Man from Laramie, a 1955 American western movie directed by Anthony Mann*The Laramie Project, a 2000 play written and directed by Moisés Kaufman*The Laramie Project , a 2002 film based on the play...
,
The Untouchables,
The AmericansThe Americans may refer to:*"The Americans ", a 1973 commentary by Gordon Sinclair on CFRB radio that became a hit recording in more than one form, and has been replayed and reprinted widely since...
,
Outlaws,
The VirginianThe Virginian is a western-themed television series which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. It was the first western to air in 90-minute installments each week...
,
The Fugitive, 2 episodes of
Wagon TrainWagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957-1962 and then on ABC from 1962-1965...
, 5 episodes of
77 Sunset Strip77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
, 2 episodes of
Major DadMajor Dad was an American sitcom television series created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens that originally ran from 1989 to 1993 on CBS, starring Gerald McRaney as Major John D. McGillis and Shanna Reed as his wife Polly...
,
Touched By An AngelTouched by an Angel is an American Fantasy drama television series that chronicles the missions of a group of angels sent by God. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson , it ran on CBS for nine seasons, from September 21, 1994 to April 27, 2003, and aired in many countries all...
,
Walker, Texas RangerWalker, Texas Ranger is an American television police drama/Action, created by Lesie Grief and Paul Haggis. It aired on CBS with three pilot episodes followed by eight full seasons, from April 21, 1993 to May 19, 2001, was broadcast in over 100 countries, and has since spawned at least one...
, among many others. His final guest-starring role was on 3 episodes of
Spider-ManSpider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer and editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
.
Family Affair
The movies Keith led in the
box officeA box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to a venue. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall, or at a wicket...
, including,
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are ComingThe Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming is a 1966 American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley juvenile novel, The Off-Islanders, it was adapted for the screen by William Rose...
(1966), led him to his biggest break in 1966, the role of Uncle Bill Davis on CBS's popular television situation comedy
Family AffairFamily Affair is a situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment....
. This role that earned him three
Emmy AwardThe Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards , Grammy Awards and Tony Awards .They are presented in various...
nominations for
Best Actor in A Comedy Series. The show made him a household name. It was also the answer to such successful 1960s and 1970s sitcoms that dealt with
widowA widow is a woman whose spouse has died. A man whose spouse has died is a widower. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or viduity. The adjective is widowed.-Economic position of widows:...
hood and/or many
single parentA single parent is a parent who cares for one or more children without the assistance of another parent in the home. "Single parenthood" may vary according to the local laws of different nations or regions....
issues such as:
The Andy Griffith ShowThe Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in a fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
,
My Three SonsMy Three Sons is a situation comedy about a Scots/Irish-American family , that ran from September 29, 1960, to August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of an aeronautical engineer and widower Steve Douglas, played by Fred MacMurray, and his three sons. The series was a cornerstone of the...
,
The Beverly HillbilliesThe Beverly Hillbillies is an American television sitcom. It ranked among the top 12 most watched series on television for seven of its nine seasons, twice ranking as the #1 series of the year, with a number of episodes that remain among the most-watched television episodes of all time...
,
Petticoat Junction Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on the CBS network from 1963 to 1970. The series is part of a triad of interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning, the other two being The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The...
,
Here's LucyHere's Lucy is Lucille Ball's third network television sitcom. It ran on CBS from 1968 to 1974.-Background:Though The Lucy Show was still hugely popular during the previous season, finishing in the top five of the Nielsen Ratings , Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season and create...
,
JuliaJulia is an American sitcom best remembered as being one of the first weekly series to depict an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role. Previous television series featured African American lead characters, but the characters were usually servants...
,
The Courtship of Eddie's FatherThe Courtship of Eddie's Father is a American television comedy-drama based on the 1963 movie of the same name, based on a book written by Mark Toby, which had gained some respect in theaters...
,
The Brady BunchThe Brady Bunch is an American television sitcom. starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis, which revolves around a large blended family...
,
The Partridge FamilyThe Partridge Family was an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embarked on a music career. The family lived in San Pueblo, a small fictional town in Northern California...
and
Sanford And SonSanford and Son was an American sitcom that premiered on the NBC television network on January 14, 1972, and was broadcast for six seasons. The final original episode aired on March 25, 1977. The show was based on the BBC sitcom Steptoe and Son....
. When
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
requested that he pose for Christmas publicity shots connected with
Family Affair, Keith refused on the basis that this was exploitative of the holiday. During its first season in 1966, the show was an immediate hit, ranking #15 in the Nielsen Ratings, and became an overnight sensation.
Also starring on the show was an already established
BritishThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, one of the Channel Islands, or of one of the British overseas territories, and their descendants. In a historical context, the term refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the...
character actor,
Sebastian CabotSebastian Cabot may refer to:*Sebastian Cabot , Italian explorer*Sebastian Cabot , British actor...
, as Mr. Giles French. The show also brought in several unfamiliar actresses and/or actors (who became Brian Keith lifelong fans):
Kathy GarverKathleen Marie Allison "Kathy" Garver is an American television, screen, voice-over and character actress of stage, most widely known for playing Brian Keith's teenaged niece, Catherine "Cissy" Davis, on the popular 1960s sitcom, Family Affair...
as older niece Catherine "Cissy" Patterson-Davis, the late
Anissa JonesMary Anissa Jones was an American child actress most widely known for playing "Buffy" on the CBS sitcom Family Affair. She died of a drug overdose at the age of 18.-Early years:...
as Ava Elizabeth "Buffy" Paterson-Davis and
Johnny WhitakerJohnny Whitaker is an American actor best known for several notable television and film performances during his childhood...
as Jonathan "Jody" Patterson-Davis. Most of the relative newcomers got along well with the veteran star, esp. Garver, to whom Keith became a "second uncle", both on and off the set.
Keith was offered the role of Deke Thornton in
The Wild BunchThe Wild Bunch directed by Sam Peckinpah, is a Western film about an aging outlaw gang at the Texas-Mexico border trying to exist in the modern world of supposedly 1913...
also by Sam Peckinpah, but he turned it down because of Family Affair. This led to a dispute between the two friends.
By the end of its 5th season in 1971,
Family Affair was still the most popular show, but
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
decided to end the show, after 138 episodes. The reason for the cancellation was because of the infamous
rural purgeThe "rural purge" of American television networks was a series of cancellations in 1971, of still popular rural-themed shows and shows with demographically-skewed audiences...
-- which cancelled all
Southern-Education:* Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States* Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States* Southern High School, various schools-Organizations:* Southern Railway, various railways...
shows to make room for adult-oriented sitcoms such as the already #1 sitcom,
All in the FamilyAll in the Family is an American situation comedy that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971 to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, the show was revamped, and given a new title, Archie Bunker's Place...
.
Kathy Garver said of the show where it was meant to be an over 40 program where Brian played a bachelor when instead he played the role of bachelor uncle, "But originally, it was supposed to be a grown-up show, and Brian Keith was supposed to be this bachelor with his manny or his valet, at that time, Mr. French, and the shows were supposed to revolve around him on different dates, and the kids were supposed to be on the background." Garver and Keith stayed in touch until Keith's death.
Brian Keith's friendship with Johnny Whitaker's family began in the mid-1960s, when Whitaker was guest-starring in one of Keith's mentor's movies, which eventually led him to a co-starring role on
Family Affair. He said, "I had done
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are ComingThe Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming is a 1966 American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley juvenile novel, The Off-Islanders, it was adapted for the screen by William Rose...
(1966) with Brian Keith; and he and I got along real well. We never had any scenes together in
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming. But his hotel room was right down the hall from mine, and he would always come right after work, and say, 'Can Johnny Whitaker come out to play?' And so, we did, and at the time he had 1 daughter, 1 on the way and had just adopted another child, I believe, cause he love kids and was feeling homesick and saw me in the play, you know?" Whitaker said of the show
Family Affair was supposed to have another child actor that Keith's character had wanted to come to fruition, "So, the original role of Jody was set for a 10-year-old boy. Cissy was supposed to be a 16-year-old girl, and Buffy was a 6-year-old girl. So, Jody was the middle child, and when Brian had suggested that they take a look at this little kid, that he just was on a series with, you know, but, he was sick, and he said 'Oh you're a handful of teams.'" The last thing Johnny said was about Brian being exhausted from all the hard work, coming through an apartment on the set, "Take a look a him, just for a next-door neighbor or something, but he's got a lot of talent and he was cute, and all this, so I went on the set, I was one of the only 6-year-old boys, but they had Anissa & Pamela [voice of Lucy], as I remember and lots of other shows, and a couple of other girls, and they just had me talk and read some lines with them, and then, when Anissa and I got together, the producers said, 'You know what? This is it! Magic for television twins." Years after the show's cancellation, both Keith and Whitaker each had successful careers, but had not kept in touch. The death of Keith's daughter Daisy in 1997 drew both Keith and Whitaker close while Keith was battling cancer. According to a 1997 interview on
Entertainment TonightEntertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid-like television entertainment news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Kaylee Stacey is the producer...
with Brian Keith, he said Whitaker looked his name up in the phone book and called his home, which questioned Whitaker, which almost led to a misunderstanding with each other, but had enjoyed a wonderful reunion together [over the phone], for the last time, before Keith took his own life.
In 2007, a decade after Keith's passing, Whitaker and co-star Kathy Garver were both invited to the TV Land Awards to pay respects to Keith. Posthumously, Keith was given a star on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, that serves as an entertainment museum...
, where Garver was one of the presenters.
Hardcastle & McCormick
Keith once again returned to series television in 1983 with,
Hardcastle and McCormickHardcastle and McCormick is a 1980s action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions and Columbia Pictures Television, shown on ABC from 1983-1986, starring Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and race car driver Mark "Skid" McCormick.The...
, the latter in the role of a cranky retired
judgeA judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is like an umpire in a game and...
named Milton C. Hardcastle. Familiar actor
Daniel Hugh KellyDaniel Hugh Kelly , also known as Daniel Hugh-Kelly, is an American stage, film and television actor. He may be best known for his role on the 1980s ABC TV series Hardcastle and McCormick from 1983-1986 for which he also wrote and directed...
co-starred as ex-con Mark McCormick in the
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
crime drama with elements of comedy. The chemistry of Keith & Kelly were both a hit in the 1980s. Keith continued playing the role until its cancellation in 1986.
Other roles
Keith went on to star as the pediatrician Dr. Sean Jamison in the NBC sitcom
The Brian Keith ShowThe Brian Keith Show, originally entitled The Little People, is an NBC television series starring Brian Keith and Shelley Fabares as Sean and Anne Jamison, father-and-daughter pediatricians living in Hawaii who operate a health clinic and also engage in private practice. The sitcom aired from...
, filmed in
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
but set in
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
and also known as
The Little People. Co-star
Shelley FabaresMichele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares is an American actress and singer. Fabares is known for her roles as Donna Reed's oldest child, Mary Stone, on The Donna Reed Show , and as Craig T. Nelson's love interest and eventual wife, Christine Armstrong Fox, on the sitcom Coach...
played his daughter, Dr. Anne Jamison.
Michael GrayMichael Gray is a retired American actor, best known for his portrayal of Billy Batson in the 1970s Shazam! TV series...
played Ronnie Collins, a student doctor in the first season.
Nancy KulpNancy Jane Kulp was an American actress best known as "Miss Jane Hathaway" on the popular television series The Beverly Hillbillies.-Early life:...
and
Roger BowenRoger Bowen was an American comedic actor and novelist, known for his portrayal of Lt. Col Henry Braymore Blake in the 1970 film MASH. He often portrayed roles as a stuffy defender of the upper class and had regular roles on a number of television series...
appeared in the second season. Keith's third and last wife, the former Victoria Young, appeared in the role of
NurseA nurse is a healthcare professional who, in collaboration with other members of a health care team, is responsible for: treatment, safety, and recovery of acutely or chronically ill individuals; health promotion and maintenance within families, communities and populations; and, treatment of...
Puni.
Keith had lead roles in
ArcherArcher is a new half-hour animated comedy series created by Adam Reed for the FX network. A sneak peak of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season will premiere January 2010.-Cast:* H. Jon Benjamin as Sterling Archer...
, and his final TV role,
Heartland.
Keith also starred in the role of Steven "The Fox" Halliday in the six-part television
miniseriesA miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a pre-planned limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
,
The Zoo GangThe Zoo Gang was a 1974 ITC Entertainment drama series that ran for six one-hour colour episodes.Five resistance fighters, known only by their animal-based code names, fought during World War II. Thirty years later they are reunited by the death of one of their number, Claude Roget, the husband of...
, about a group of former underground freedom fighters from
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The show also starred Sir
John MillsSir John Mills, CBE was an English actor, who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
,
Lilli PalmerLilli Palmer, born Lillie Marie Peiser, was a German actress. She won the Volpi Cup, the Deutscher Filmpreis three times, and was nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award.-Life:...
, and
Barry MorseHerbert "Barry" Morse was an Anglo-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio best known for his roles in the ABC television series The Fugitive and Space: 1999...
.
Keith spoke fluent
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
, which led to his casting as a Russian in two roles: the Soviet Premier in
World War III
World War III is a miniseries that aired on the NBC network television in 1982.-Plot:The miniseries begins with a Soviet invasion of Alaska due to a grain embargo enacted against the Soviet Union by the United States...
with
Rock HudsonRock Hudson was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1960s and 1970s, most notably in several romantic comedies with his most famous co-star, Doris Day...
; and as a Soviet scientist in
MeteorMeteor is a 1979 disaster film in which scientists detect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth and struggle with international, cold war politics in their efforts to prevent disaster. The movie starred Sean Connery and Natalie Wood....
with
Natalie WoodNatalie Wood was an American actress....
. In
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are ComingThe Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming is a 1966 American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley juvenile novel, The Off-Islanders, it was adapted for the screen by William Rose...
, where he played the unexcitable police chief of an island where a
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
submarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability...
runs aground, however, his character had to have Russian translated to him by
Alan ArkinAlan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, and musician. He is best-known for starring in such films as: Catch-22; The In-Laws; Edward Scissorhands; The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming; Glengarry Glen Ross; and Little Miss Sunshine, for which he won an Academy Award for Best...
's character.In his last film, Keith played President
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office....
in
Rough RidersRough Riders is a 1997 three hour television miniseries about Theodore Roosevelt and the regiment . The series chronicles the major land battles of the Spanish-American War of 1898. It was released on DVD in 2006.-Cast:*Tom Berenger - Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt*Sam Elliott - Capt. Bucky O'Neill...
(1997). Director
John MiliusJohn Frederick Milius is an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures.-Life:Milius was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elizabeth and William Styx Milius, who was a shoe manufacturer. Milius attempted to join the Marine Corps in the late 1960's, but was rejected due...
dedicated
Rough Riders to "Brian Keith, Actor, Marine, Raconteur."
On June 26, 2008, the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, that serves as an entertainment museum...
installed a star in Brian Keith's honor on the world famous sidewalk in California.
Personal life
Keith married three times, first to Frances Helm; then, in 1955, to Judith Landon; and finally, in 1970, to Hawaiian actress Victoria Young (née Leialoha), who later appeared on
The Brian Keith ShowThe Brian Keith Show, originally entitled The Little People, is an NBC television series starring Brian Keith and Shelley Fabares as Sean and Anne Jamison, father-and-daughter pediatricians living in Hawaii who operate a health clinic and also engage in private practice. The sitcom aired from...
(1972–1974) as Nurse Puni. Keith fathered four children but also adopted three others with Judith Landon. Daisy Keith, one of his children with Victoria Young, became an actress and appeared with her father in the short-lived series
Heartland in 1989.
He attended the funeral of longtime friend
Michael LandonMichael Landon was an American actor, writer, director, and producer, who starred in three popular NBC TV series that spanned three decades...
in 1991.
Illness and suicide
During the later part of his life, Keith suffered from
emphysemaEmphysema is a lung disease, characterized by an abnormal, permanent enlargement of air spaces distal to the terminal bronchioles. The disease is coupled with the destruction of walls, but without obvious fibrosis...
and
lung cancerLung cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. This growth may lead to metastasis, which is the invasion of adjacent tissue and infiltration beyond the lungs. The vast majority of primary lung cancers are carcinomas of the lung, derived from epithelial cells...
despite having quit
smokingSmoking is a practice where a substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for...
ten years earlier (he appeared in an
endorsementEndorsement may refer to:*Political endorsement*Endorsement terrorism*Endorsement test, a U.S. Supreme Court test for Church-State separation...
campaign for
CamelCamel is a brand of cigarettes that was introduced by American company R.J. Reynolds Tobacco in the summer of 1913. Most current Camel cigarettes contain a blend of Turkish and Virginia tobacco. Early in 2008 the blend was changed as was the package design....
cigarettes in 1955). He was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in
Malibu, CaliforniaMalibu is an incorporated city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population is 12,575....
on June 24, 1997, two months after his daughter Daisy committed
suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
. It was also reported that he had financial problems and suffered from depression throughout his final days. Keith's family were joined by many mourners at a private funeral, including
Family AffairFamily Affair is a situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment....
co-stars
Johnny WhitakerJohnny Whitaker is an American actor best known for several notable television and film performances during his childhood...
and
Kathy GarverKathleen Marie Allison "Kathy" Garver is an American television, screen, voice-over and character actress of stage, most widely known for playing Brian Keith's teenaged niece, Catherine "Cissy" Davis, on the popular 1960s sitcom, Family Affair...
, and
Hardcastle & McCormick co-star
Daniel Hugh KellyDaniel Hugh Kelly , also known as Daniel Hugh-Kelly, is an American stage, film and television actor. He may be best known for his role on the 1980s ABC TV series Hardcastle and McCormick from 1983-1986 for which he also wrote and directed...
.
His remains are buried next to those of his daughter Daisy at
Westwood Village Memorial Park CemeteryThe Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California....
in
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
.
Quotes
Brian: “In other words...you can't be a misogynist and expect women to appreciate you.” (Source: Born-Today.com)
Brian: “It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. You like to see two teams compete like that, but you like to see your team execute better down the stretch. Give credit to Chapel Hill, they made a great 3-point shot to get us into overtime, and I wasn't sure how we were going to pull it out. We had people on both sides fouling out of the game, but we hung in there and somehow pulled this out.” (Source: QuoteDaddy.com)
Brian who said in 1968 about starring his own movies: "I've made I don't know how many pictures. Forty, I guess. I've seen only about a half dozen of them. We made Reflections in a Golden Eye in Rome last spring. I really enjoyed working with Liz and Brando and that great director, John Huston. But the kind of picture I enjoy seeing is something like The Parent Trap. That was a charming thing with Hayley Mills playing my twin daughters. I saw that four times. I even took my wife's parents to see it. I like it so much I forgot I was in it, as a matter of fact." (Source: PhotoplayMagazine.com)
Brian on trying to live a long life: "If I live to be a hundred--and I hope I do--I won't have time to read all the books I want to read, or talk to the people I want to know. Not party talk. That's a waste of time. Real talk." (Source: PhotoplayMagazine.com)
Brian on his handsomeness: “What for? I don't go to the Daisy or any of that. We don't give parties under a striped awning out over the lawn for two hundred people, four of whom we like." (Source: PhotoplayMagazine.com)
Brian who said in 1969 on playing the role of an on-screen uncle, as he played the role of a real-life father: "This is the type of show I love, because it reminds me of what happiness I have with my wife and our children." (Source: PhotoplayMagazine.com)
Brian who said in 1984 about leaving
Family AffairFamily Affair is a situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment....
, to spend time with his family in
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
, before casting as
Hardcastle: "I get tired of sitting home and doin' nothing. If I'm doing something eight months of the year, I don't mind loafing the other four. But, lately, I've been finding fewer and fewer movies I'd like to do. And when that happens, I get hard to live with. Then this thing came along. I read it. I liked it. This character Hardcastle: I figured I could live with him for five years if I had to. There was something going on there. You don't get a helluva lot of character in series TV. They're more likely to star the car." (Source: TVGuide.com)
Brian who became very antsy about the car that was needed in every script: "I don't pay any attention. The stunt people take care of all that. All I do is get in and out of the Coyote [the car Skid drove, which required anyone riding in it to enter and exit through the window], which is no mean trick. You can't get into the S.O.B. without bending yourself into a pretzel. Me, I'd rather drive a pickup." (Source: TVGuide.com)
Brian on beating out 3 others actors for the role of
Hardcastle: "I never heard of these guys. Of course, I can be talking to 40 Academy Award winners and never know the difference. People in
Muncie, IndianaMuncie is a city in Center Township, Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University and the birthplace of the Ball Corporation. It is the principal city of the Muncie, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 118,769...
, probably know more about them than I do. But I figure what the hell, if they're smart enough to hire me, they must have something." (Source: TVGuide.com)
Brian: “The only attraction is the time. I work just 70 days a year on the show. I can still make two, three movies a year if I want to... If it were
BonanzaBonanza is an American television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons, it is among the longest running Western television series and continues to air in syndication....
, walking around the Ponderosa, tied up nearly all year, no-o-o chance. That's a fate worse than death." (Source: TVGuide.com)
Stage
- Heyday (1946)
- Mister Roberts
Mister Roberts is a 1948 Tony Award-winning play based on the 1946 Thomas Heggen novel of the same name.The novel began as a collection of short stories about Heggen's experiences aboard the USS Virgo in the South Pacific during World War II...
(1948)
- Darkness at Noon
Darkness at Noon is the most famous novel by Hungarian-born British novelist Arthur Koestler. Published in 1940, it tells the tale of Rubashov, a Bolshevik old guard and 1917 revolutionary who is first cast out and then imprisoned and tried for treason by the Soviet government he once helped...
(1951)
- Da
Da is a 1978 comedy play by Irish playwright Hugh Leonard.The play had its New York City premiere at the off-off-Broadway Hudson Guild Theatre in 1978, and this production transferred to Broadway shortly after it closed. It was directed by Melvin Bernhardt and produced on Broadway by Lester...
(1978)
Television
- Target: The Corruptors!
Target: The Corruptors! is a 35-episode crime drama starring Stephen McNally as newspaper reporter Paul Marino, which aired on ABC from September 29, 1961 to June 8, 1962. The character Jack Flood, Marino's undercover agent, was portrayed by Robert Harland...
(ABC, guest star)
- Sam Benedict
Sam Benedict is a legal drama from MGM Television, starring a 47-year-old Edmond O'Brien, which ran on NBC during the 1962–1963 television season. O'Brien played the experienced, flamboyant San Francisco attorney Sam Benedict. Richard Rust portrayed his 24-year-old understudy, Hank Tabor...
(NBC, guest star)
- Crusader
Crusader is a half-hour black-and-white American adventure/drama series that aired on CBS for two seasons from October 7, 1955 to December 28, 1956.-Synopsis:...
(CBS, 1955–1956, 52 episodes in title role)
- The Westerner
The Westerner is a 1960 Four Star Television Western series on NBC created by Sam Peckinpah. The series stars Brian Keith as Dave Blassingame and features John Dehner as semi-regular Burgundy Smith...
(NBC, 1960)
- Outlaws (NBC, 1961-1962, 2 episodes as guest star)
- Alfred Hitchcock Hour: "Night of the Owl" (CBS, 1962)
- Fear in a Desert City (Pilot for The Fugitive) (1963)
- Family Affair
Family Affair is a situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment....
(CBS, 1966–1971)
- The Brian Keith Show
The Brian Keith Show, originally entitled The Little People, is an NBC television series starring Brian Keith and Shelley Fabares as Sean and Anne Jamison, father-and-daughter pediatricians living in Hawaii who operate a health clinic and also engage in private practice. The sitcom aired from...
(NBC, 1972–1974).
- The Zoo Gang
The Zoo Gang was a 1974 ITC Entertainment drama series that ran for six one-hour colour episodes.Five resistance fighters, known only by their animal-based code names, fought during World War II. Thirty years later they are reunited by the death of one of their number, Claude Roget, the husband of...
(ITVITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK...
, 1974)
- Archer
Archer is a new half-hour animated comedy series created by Adam Reed for the FX network. A sneak peak of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season will premiere January 2010.-Cast:* H. Jon Benjamin as Sterling Archer...
(NBC, six episodes, 1975)
- How the West Was Won
How the West Was Won is an American western television series starring James Arness, Fionnula Flanagan, and Bruce Boxleitner. A spin-off of the 1962 Cinerama film, it aired as a mini-series in 1977, and as a regular series in 1978 and 1979, preceded by a 2,5 hours long pilot episode, The Macahans,...
(originally titled The Macahans) (ABC, 1977) as General Stonecipher
- The Chisholms
The Chisholms is a CBS western miniseries starring Robert Preston, which aired thirteen episodes from March 29, 1979, to April 19, 1979, and from January 19, 1980, to March 15, 1980. The 1979 episodes showed the family moving from Virginia to Wyoming...
(CBS, 1979) as Andrew Blake
- Hardcastle and McCormick
Hardcastle and McCormick is a 1980s action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions and Columbia Pictures Television, shown on ABC from 1983-1986, starring Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and race car driver Mark "Skid" McCormick.The...
(ABC, 1983–1986)
- The Murder of Sherlock Holmes (Pilot for Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote was an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for twelve seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series, The Law & Harry McGraw...
) (CBS, 1984)
- Pursuit of Happiness
Pursuit of Happiness is the thirteenth album from Arthur Loves Plastic and was released in 2006.Amazon.com initially refused to stock the album because the "cover art goes beyond what willing to accept"...
(ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
, 1987)
- Heartland
- Titled expressive works :Moving-image works* Heartland , a 1994 Australian television series starring Cate Blanchett* Heartland with John Kasich a.k.a...
(CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
, 1989)
- Walter and Emily (NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
, 1991–1992)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television program that premiered in 1993 and ran for seven seasons, ending in 1999. Rooted in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe, it was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, at the request of Brandon Tartikoff, and produced by Paramount...
: "Progress" (Syndicated, 1993)
- Spider-Man (1994 TV series) - Uncle Ben
- Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel is an American Fantasy drama television series that chronicles the missions of a group of angels sent by God. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson , it ran on CBS for nine seasons, from September 21, 1994 to April 27, 2003, and aired in many countries all...
(CBS, 1996)
Film
- Pied Piper Malone (1924)
- The Other Kind of Love (1924)
- Arrowhead
Arrowhead is a 1953 western film directed by Charles Marquis Warren and starring Charlton Heston and Jack Palance. The film is based on the novel Adobe Walls by W.R.Burnett. The screenplay was also by Charles Marquis Warren.-Plot Synopsis:...
(1953)
- Alaska Seas
Alaska Seas is a 1954 crime drama film directed by Jerry Hopper and starring Robert Ryan and Brian Keith.-Plot Synopsis:Matt Kelly is released from jail and skips town in his boat without paying outstanding storage fees...
(1954)
- Jivaro (1954)
- The Bamboo Prison (1954)
- The Violent Men
The Violent Men is a Western film drama from 1955. It was directed by Rudolph Maté, and starred Glenn Ford along with Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson as a bickering married couple at odds with cattlemen in their small town. Brian Keith and Diane Foster co-starred. Based on the novel Smoky...
(1955)
- Tight Spot
Tight Spot is an American film noir directed by Phil Karlson and written by William Bowers, based on the play Dead Pigeon, by Leonard Kantor. It stars Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson and Brian Keith...
(1955)
- 5 Against the House (1955)
- Storm Center
Storm Center is a American drama film directed by Daniel Taradash. The screenplay by Taradash and Elick Moll focuses on what were at the time two very controversial subjects, Communism and book banning, and took a strong stance against censorship....
(1956)
- Nightfall
Nightfall is a black-and-white film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur. The film features Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, Anne Bancroft, among others. The low-budget film is remembered today for camera work by cinematographer Burnett Guffey...
(1957)
- Dino (1957)
- Run of the Arrow
Run of the Arrow is a 1957 western film starring Rod Steiger, Brian Keith, Ralph Meeker, Jay C. Flippen and a young Charles Bronson. Set at the end of the American Civil War, the movie was directed by Samuel Fuller and filmed in technicolor.- Plot :...
(1957)
- Chicago Confidential (1957)
- Hell Canyon Outlaws (1957)
- Fort Dobbs
Fort Dobbs is the first of three westerns, directed by Gordon Douglas, which starred Clint Walker. Based on a screenplay by George W. George and Burt Kennedy, with black-and-white photography provided by William H...
(1958)
- Desert Hell (1958)
- Sierra Baron (1958)
- Violent Road (1958)
- Villa! (1958)
- Appointment with a Shadow (1959)
- The Young Philadelphians
The Young Philadelphians is a 1959 film starring Paul Newman and Barbara Rush, and directed by Vincent Sherman.-Awards and nominations:* Nominated: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor - Robert Vaughn...
(1959)
- Ten Who Dared
For the 1976 American reworking of the BBC series of the same name, see The Explorers.Ten Who Dared is a movie made by Disney in 1960...
(1960)
- The Parent Trap (1961)
- The Deadly Companions
The Deadly Companions is a 1961 Western. It was directed by Sam Peckinpah and starred Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Steve Cochran and Chill Wills. The film was Peckinpah's motion picture directorial debut...
(1961)
- Moon Pilot
Moon Pilot is a 98 minute Techicolor science fiction satirical comedy released in 1962 by Walt Disney's Buena Vista Pictures. Based on Robert Buckner's 1960 novel Starfire, it was directed by James Neilson and reflects Disney's interest in America's early space program during the John F. Kennedy...
(1962)
- Savage Sam
The novel Savage Sam was the 1962 sequel to Old Yeller written by Fred Gipson. It was inspired by the story of former Apache captive Herman Lehmann, whom Gipson had seen give an exhibition when he was a child....
(1963)
- The Raiders (1964)
- The Pleasure Seekers
The Pleasure Seekers is a 1964 20th Century Fox motion picture starring Ann-Margret, Anthony Franciosa, and Carol Lynley, with Gardner McKay, Pamela Tiffin, Brian Keith, and Gene Tierney....
(1964)
- Those Calloways (1965)
- A Tiger Walks
A Tiger Walks is a 1964 family film, directed by Norman Tokar and produced by Disney. It is based on a novel of the same name by Ian Niall. It was Indian actor Sabu's last film which released only a few months after his death.-Plot:...
(1964)
- The Hallelujah Trail
The Hallelujah Trail is a 1965 Western spoof directed by John Sturges and starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Brian Keith, Donald Pleasence, and Martin Landau, amongst others.-Plot synopsis:...
(1965)
- The Rare Breed
The Rare Breed is a 1966 American western film starring James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Juliet Mills and Ben Johnson and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Loosely based on the life of rancher William Burgess, the film follows Martha Price's quest to fulfill her deceased husband's dream...
(1966)
- The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming is a 1966 American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley juvenile novel, The Off-Islanders, it was adapted for the screen by William Rose...
(1966)
- Nevada Smith
Nevada Smith is a 1966 American Western film made by Embassy Pictures and Solar Productions, in association with and released by Paramount Pictures. It was produced and directed by Henry Hathaway with Joseph E. Levine as executive producer, from a story and screenplay by John Michael Hayes based on...
(1966)
- Way… Way Out (1966)
- Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
- With Six You Get Eggroll
With Six You Get Eggroll is a family comedy, starring Doris Day and Brian Keith. Other cast members include George Carlin, Jamie Farr, William Christopher, Barbara Hershey, Alice Ghostley and Pat Carroll....
(1968)
- Krakatoa, East of Java
Krakatoa, East of Java is a movie starring Maximilian Schell and Brian Keith.-Plot:The story attempts to base events around the 1883 eruption of the volcano on the island of Krakatoa...
(1969)
- Gaily, Gaily
Gaily, Gaily is a 1969 comedy film directed by Norman Jewison and starring Beau Bridges.-Cast:* Beau Bridges - Ben Harvey* Melina Mercouri - Lil* Brian Keith - Sullivan* George Kennedy - Johanson* Hume Cronyn - Grogan* Margot Kidder - Adeline...
(1969)
- Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970)
- The McKenzie Break
The McKenzie Break is a 1970 British war drama film directed by Lamont Johnson, starring Brian Keith as Jack Connor, an intelligence officer investigating recent disturbances at a German P.O.W. camp in Scotland...
(1970)
- Something Big
Something Big is a 1971 American motion picture produced by Andrew V. McLaglen and James Lee Barrett . It stars Dean Martin and Brian Keith.-Description:...
(1971)
- Scandalous John (1971)
- The Yakuza
The Yakuza is a 1975 neo-noir gangster film directed by Sydney Pollack, written by Leonard Schrader, Paul Schrader, and Robert Towne.The Yakuza portrays the clash of traditional Japanese values during Japan's transition from the US occupation to economic success in the early 1970s...
(1975)
- The Wind and the Lion
The Wind and the Lion is a 1975 adventure film. It was directed by John Milius and starred Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith and John Huston...
(1975)
- Joe Panther (1976)
- Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon is a 1976 comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, and Tatum O'Neal. The film is allegedly based on the career of Cecil B. DeMille.-Plot:...
(1976)
- Hooper
Hooper is a 1978 action-comedy motion picture starring Burt Reynolds, based loosely on the experiences of director Hal Needham, a one-time stuntman in his own right...
(1978)
- Centennial
Centennial is a 12-episode American television miniseriesthat aired on NBC from October 1978 to February 1979. It was based on the novel of the same name by James A. Michener. The miniseries was produced by John Wilder....
(1978)
- Meteor
Meteor is a 1979 disaster film in which scientists detect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth and struggle with international, cold war politics in their efforts to prevent disaster. The movie starred Sean Connery and Natalie Wood....
(1979)
- The Mountain Men
The Mountain Men is a 1980 Adventure/Western film starring Charlton Heston and Brian Keith.-Plot:Brian Keith stars as an argumentative, curmudgeonly mountain man by the name of Henry Frapp. His co-star, Charlton Heston, in the role of Bill Tyler, is Henry's good friend and fellow trapper...
(1980)
- Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981)
- Sharky's Machine
Sharky's Machine is a 1981 motion picture directed by Burt Reynolds, who stars in the title role. The movie is an adaptation of William Diehl's first novel Sharky's Machine , with a screenplay by Gerald Di Pego....
(1981)
- Cry for the Strangers (1982)
- Death Before Dishonor
Death Before Dishonor is a 1987 film written by John Gatliff, directed by Terry Leonard and starring Fred Dryer.-Plot:Gunnery Sergeant Burns is in charge of the Marine Security Guard detachment at a United States embassy in the Middle East...
(1987)
- After the Rain (1988)
- Young Guns
Young Guns is a 1988 action/western film, directed by Christopher Cain and written by John Fusco. The film stars Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, Casey Siemaszko, Terence Stamp, Terry O'Quinn, Brian Keith, and Jack Palance.Young Guns is a...
(1988)
- Welcome Home (1989)
- Wind Dancer (1993)
- Under a Killing Moon
Under a Killing Moon is the third installment in the Tex Murphy series of adventure games produced by Access Software. In Under a Killing Moon Tex again fights the forces of evil as he tries to stop a dangerous cult from destroying the world. Under a Killing Moon combined full motion video ...
(1994)
- Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story
Entertaining Angels: the Dorothy Day Story is a 1996 independent film about the life of Dorothy Day, the journalist turned social activist and founder of the Catholic Worker newspaper. The film stars Moira Kelly as Dorothy, Heather Graham, Lenny Von Dohlen and Martin Sheen.Both Kelly and Sheen are...
(1996)
- The Second Civil War
The Second Civil War is a drama film made for the HBO cable television network and first shown on March 15, 1997.Directed by Joe Dante, the film is a satire about anti-immigrant sentiment in the melting pot that is the United States....
(1997)
- Rough Riders
Rough Riders is a 1997 three hour television miniseries about Theodore Roosevelt and the regiment . The series chronicles the major land battles of the Spanish-American War of 1898. It was released on DVD in 2006.-Cast:*Tom Berenger - Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt*Sam Elliott - Capt. Bucky O'Neill...
(1997)
External links
Retrieved on 2009-5-14 Retrieved on 2009-5-14 Retrieved on 2009-5-14