Brian Keith
Encyclopedia
Brian Keith was an American film, television, and stage
actor who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney family film The Parent Trap, the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
, and the 1975 adventure saga The Wind and the Lion
, in which he portrayed Theodore Roosevelt
.
On television, two of his best known roles were that of a widowed uncle turned bachelor: Bill Davis, in the 1960s sitcom Family Affair
, and a tough judge in the 1980s drama Hardcastle and McCormick
. He also starred in the The Brian Keith Show
that aired on NBC from 1972 to 1974 where he portrayed a pediatrician who operated a free clinic on Oahu
.
's suburb of Bayonne, New Jersey
, to actor Robert Keith and stage actress Helena Shipman, a native of Aberdeen, Washington
. Some sources also list his full name as Brian Robert Keith. He was raised Roman Catholic. His parents divorced, and he moved to Hollywood and started his acting career, at the 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 on Long Island, New York, just 37 miles east of where he was born. 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 dressing room drawers. He remained calm and was quiet and would sleep through the entire show. From 1927 through 1929, Keith's stepmother was Peg Entwistle
, a well-known Broadway actress who committed suicide by jumping from the "H" of the famous Hollywood Sign
in 1932.
After graduation from East Rockaway High School
in 1939, in East Rockaway, New York
, he joined the United States Marine Corps
(1942–1945). He served during World War II
as an air gunner
(he was a Radio-Gunner in the rear cockpit of a two-man Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bomber in a U.S. Marine squadron), and received an Air Medal
.
. These three episodes had led him to other roles such as Police Story, a 1950s anthology show, Eye Witness, The United States Steel Hour
, Robert Montgomery Presents
, The Motorola Television Hour
, Campbell Playhouse, The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse
, The Elgin Hour, The Adventures of Ellery Queen
, and Jane Wyman Presents: The Fireside Theatre
. In 1955, Keith starred in his own series, Crusader
, as the fictional journalist Matt Anders, who tries to free captive peoples from communist countries.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Keith also had guest roles on The Ford Television Theatre, Wire Service
, Climax!, Zane Grey Theater, Rawhide
, Laramie
, The Untouchables
, The Americans
, Outlaws, The Virginian
, The Fugitive
, two episodes of Wagon Train
, five episodes of 77 Sunset Strip
, among many others.
In 1960, he won acclaim for his starring role in Sam Peckinpah
's short-lived series The Westerner
(1960). The following year, Keith appeared as the father of twins in the 1961 film The Parent Trap, co-starring Hayley Mills
and Maureen O'Hara
. In 1966, Keith co-starred with Steve McQueen
as traveling gunsmith Jonas Cord in the western Nevada Smith
.
's popular television situation comedy Family Affair
. This role earned him three Emmy Award
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 widowhood and/or many single parent
issues such as: The Andy Griffith Show
, My Three Sons
, The Beverly Hillbillies
, Petticoat Junction
, Here's Lucy
, Julia
, The Courtship of Eddie's Father
, The Brady Bunch
, The Partridge Family
and Sanford And Son
. During its first season in 1966, the show was an immediate hit, ranking #15 in the Nielsen ratings.
By the end of its fifth season in 1971, Family Affair still had high ratings, but was canceled after 138 episodes.
, filmed in Hawaii
on an estate at the foot of Diamond Head and also known as The Little People. The series was canceled after two seasons in 1974.
Keith once again returned to series television in 1983 with, Hardcastle and McCormick
, the latter in the role of a cranky retired judge named Milton C. Hardcastle. Daniel Hugh Kelly
co-starred as ex-con Mark McCormick in the ABC
crime drama with elements of comedy. The chemistry of Keith & Kelly were both a hit and the series lasted three years until its cancellation in 1986.
Keith also starred in the role of Steven "The Fox" Halliday in the six-part television miniseries
, The Zoo Gang
, about a group of former underground freedom fighters from World War II
. The show also starred Sir John Mills
, Lilli Palmer
, and Barry Morse
.
Keith spoke fluent Russian
, which led to his casting as a Russian in two roles: the Soviet Premier in World War III
with Rock Hudson
; and as a Soviet scientist in Meteor
with Natalie Wood
. In The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
, where he played the unexcitable police chief of an island where a Soviet
submarine
runs aground, however, his character had to have Russian translated to him by Alan Arkin
's character.
In his last film, Keith played President William McKinley
in Rough Riders
(1997). Director John Milius
dedicated Rough Riders to "Brian Keith, Actor, Marine, Raconteur."
(who made a guest appearance on his show); and finally, in 1970, to Hawaiian actress Victoria Young (née Leialoha), who later appeared on The Brian Keith Show as Nurse Puni.
Keith fathered four children with Judy Landon (Barbara, Betty, Mimi, and Rory) and together they adopted three others. 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.
and lung cancer
despite having quit smoking ten years earlier (he appeared in an endorsement campaign for Camel cigarettes
in 1955). On June 24, 1997, he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Malibu, California, two months after his daughter Daisy committed suicide
. It was also reported that he had financial problems and suffered from depression throughout his final days. Keith's family was joined by many mourners at a private funeral, including Family Affair
co-stars Johnny Whitaker
and Kathy Garver
, and Hardcastle & McCormick co-star Daniel Hugh Kelly
.
His remains are buried next to those of his daughter Daisy at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
in Los Angeles, California
.
On June 26, 2008, Brian Keith received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
.
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)
Keith who said in 1984 about leaving Family Affair
, to spend time with his family in Hawaii
, 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, Indiana
, 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 Bonanza
, walking around the Ponderosa, tied up nearly all year, no-o-o chance. That's a fate worse than death." (Source: TVGuide.com)
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
actor who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney family film The Parent Trap, the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is an American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and adapted for the screen by William Rose....
, and the 1975 adventure saga The Wind and the Lion
The Wind and the Lion
The Wind and the Lion is a 1975 adventure film. It was written and directed by John Milius and starred Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith and John Huston...
, in which he portrayed Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
.
On television, two of his best known roles were that of a widowed uncle turned bachelor: Bill Davis, in the 1960s sitcom Family Affair
Family Affair
Family Affair is an American sitcom 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. Davis' traditional...
, and a tough judge in the 1980s drama Hardcastle and McCormick
Hardcastle and McCormick
Hardcastle and McCormick is a 1980s action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions, 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 show's premise involves the...
. He also starred in the The Brian Keith Show
The Brian Keith Show
The Brian Keith Show is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1972 to March 1974. The series stars Brian Keith and Shelley Fabares.-Synopsis:...
that aired on NBC from 1972 to 1974 where he portrayed a pediatrician who operated a free clinic on Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
.
Early life
Keith was born Robert Alba Keith in NewarkNewark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
's suburb of Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is a peninsula that is situated between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east...
, to actor Robert Keith and stage actress Helena Shipman, a native of Aberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States, founded by Samuel Benn in 1884. Aberdeen was incorporated on May 12, 1890. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis...
. Some sources also list his full name as Brian Robert Keith. He was raised Roman Catholic. His parents divorced, and he moved to Hollywood and started his acting career, at the 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 on Long Island, New York, just 37 miles east of where he was born. 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 dressing room drawers. He remained calm and was quiet and would sleep through the entire show. From 1927 through 1929, Keith's stepmother was Peg Entwistle
Peg Entwistle
Peg Entwistle was an English stage and screen actress who gained notoriety after her suicide at the age of 24 by leaping off of the Hollywood Sign.-Early life:...
, a well-known Broadway actress who committed suicide by jumping from the "H" of the famous Hollywood Sign
Hollywood Sign
The Hollywood Sign is a landmark and American cultural icon in the Hollywood Hills area of Mount Lee, Santa Monica Mountains, in Los Angeles, California. The sign spells out the name of the area in and white letters. It was created as an advertisement in 1923, but garnered increasing recognition...
in 1932.
After graduation from East Rockaway High School
East Rockaway High School
East 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 York
East Rockaway, New York
East Rockaway is a village in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. The population was 9,818 at the 2010 census.The Incorporated Village of East Rockaway is in the town Hempstead, adjacent to Lynbrook, Hewlett and Oceanside. The primary ethnicities are mainly Italian and Irish...
, he joined the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
(1942–1945). He served during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as an air gunner
Air gunner
An air gunner a.k.a. aerial gunner is a member of an air force aircrew who operates flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or autocannons in an aircraft...
(he was a Radio-Gunner in the rear cockpit of a two-man Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bomber in a U.S. Marine squadron), and received an Air Medal
Air Medal
The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...
.
Career
After the war, Keith became a stage actor, branching out into films and then television. In 1952, he made his debut on three episodes of Tales of TomorrowTales of Tomorrow
Tales of Tomorrow is an American anthology science fiction series that was performed and broadcast 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...
. These three episodes had led him to other roles such as Police Story, a 1950s anthology show, Eye Witness, The United States Steel Hour
The United States Steel Hour
The 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....
, Robert Montgomery Presents
Robert Montgomery Presents
Robert Montgomery Presents is an American 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,...
, The Motorola Television Hour
The Motorola Television Hour
The 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. It was sponsored by Motorola.-External links:...
, Campbell Playhouse, The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse
The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse
The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse is an American dramatic anthology series that aired on ABC from 1953 to 1955, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. The show was hosted by Arlene Dahl , Anita Colby , and, finally, Polly Bergen -Guest stars:* Claude Akins...
, The Elgin Hour, The Adventures of Ellery Queen
The Adventures of Ellery Queen
The 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:...
, and Jane Wyman Presents: The Fireside Theatre
Fireside Theater
Fireside Theater is an American anthology drama series that ran from on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. Stories were low budget and often based on public domain stories or written by freelance writers such as Rod Serling. While it was panned...
. In 1955, Keith starred in his own series, Crusader
Crusader (TV series)
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:...
, as the fictional journalist Matt Anders, who tries to free captive peoples from communist countries.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Keith also had guest roles on The Ford Television Theatre, Wire Service
Wire Service
Wire Service is an American drama series that aired on ABC as part of its 1956-57 season lineup.-Synopsis:Wire Service focuses 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, Rawhide
Rawhide (TV series)
Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
, Laramie
Laramie (TV series)
Laramie is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1959 to 1963. Laramie was a Revue Studios production which originally starred John Smith as Slim Sherman, Robert Fuller as Jess Harper, Hoagy Carmichael as Jonesy and Robert Crawford, Jr...
, The Untouchables
The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
, The Americans
The Americans (TV series)
The Americans was a television series broadcast in the United States by NBC-TV in 1961, about the American Civil War as seen through the eyes of brothers on opposite sides of the conflict.- Background :...
, Outlaws, The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
, The Fugitive
The Fugitive (TV series)
The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
, two episodes of Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, five episodes of 77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
77 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....
, among many others.
In 1960, he won acclaim for his starring role in Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
's short-lived series The Westerner
The Westerner (TV series)
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...
(1960). The following year, Keith appeared as the father of twins in the 1961 film The Parent Trap, co-starring Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills
Hayley 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'Hara
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen 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. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...
. In 1966, Keith co-starred with Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
as traveling gunsmith Jonas Cord in the western Nevada Smith
Nevada Smith
Nevada Smith is a 1966 American Western film starring Steve McQueen and made by Embassy Pictures and Solar Productions, in association with and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie was produced and directed by Henry Hathaway with Joseph E...
.
Family Affair
Also in 1966, Keith landed the role of Uncle Bill Davis on CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's popular television situation comedy Family Affair
Family Affair
Family Affair is an American sitcom 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. Davis' traditional...
. This role earned him three Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An 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 and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys 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 widowhood and/or many single parent
Single parent
Single parent is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver...
issues such as: The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The 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 the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
, My Three Sons
My Three Sons
My Three Sons is an American situation comedy. The series ran from 1960 to 1965 on ABC, and moved to CBS until its end on August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of a widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas , raising his three sons.The series was a cornerstone of the CBS...
, The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
, Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction
Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning; the others are The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The setting for the series...
, Here's Lucy
Here's Lucy
Here'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...
, Julia
Julia (TV series)
Julia is an American sitcom notable for 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 show starred actress and singer Diahann...
, The Courtship of Eddie's Father
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
The Courtship of Eddie's Father is an American television sitcom based on the 1963 movie of the same name, which was based on the book written by Mark Toby...
, The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
, The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
and Sanford And Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
. During its first season in 1966, the show was an immediate hit, ranking #15 in the Nielsen ratings.
By the end of its fifth season in 1971, Family Affair still had high ratings, but was canceled after 138 episodes.
Other roles
Keith went on to star as the pediatrician Dr. Sean Jamison in the NBC sitcom The Brian Keith ShowThe Brian Keith Show
The Brian Keith Show is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1972 to March 1974. The series stars Brian Keith and Shelley Fabares.-Synopsis:...
, filmed in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
on an estate at the foot of Diamond Head and also known as The Little People. The series was canceled after two seasons in 1974.
Keith once again returned to series television in 1983 with, Hardcastle and McCormick
Hardcastle and McCormick
Hardcastle and McCormick is a 1980s action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions, 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 show's premise involves the...
, the latter in the role of a cranky retired judge named Milton C. Hardcastle. Daniel Hugh Kelly
Daniel Hugh Kelly
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 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting 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. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
crime drama with elements of comedy. The chemistry of Keith & Kelly were both a hit and the series lasted three years until its cancellation in 1986.
Keith also starred in the role of Steven "The Fox" Halliday in the six-part television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a 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 Gang
The Zoo Gang
The Zoo Gang was a 1974 ITC Entertainment drama series that ran for six one-hour colour episodes, based on the 1971 book of the same name by Paul Gallico....
, about a group of former underground freedom fighters from World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The show also starred Sir John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
, Lilli Palmer
Lilli Palmer
Lilli Palmer , born Lilli 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 career:...
, and Barry Morse
Barry Morse
Herbert "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 the British sci-fi drama Space: 1999...
.
Keith spoke fluent Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, which led to his casting as a Russian in two roles: the Soviet Premier in World War III
World War III (TV miniseries)
World War III is an Emmy Award-winning miniseries that aired on the NBC network television in January 1982.-Plot:The miniseries begins in 1987 with a Soviet invasion of Alaska...
with Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
; and as a Soviet scientist in Meteor
Meteor (film)
Meteor is a 1979 science fiction Technicolor 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.It was directed by Ronald Neame...
with Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
. In The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is an American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and adapted for the screen by William Rose....
, where he played the unexcitable police chief of an island where a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
runs aground, however, his character had to have Russian translated to him by Alan Arkin
Alan Arkin
Alan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross, Marley & Me, and...
's character.
In his last film, Keith played President William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
in Rough Riders
Rough Riders (film)
Rough Riders is a 1997 three hour television miniseries about future President Theodore Roosevelt and the regiment . The series prominently shows the bravery of the volunteers at the Battle of San Juan Hill, part of the Spanish-American War of 1898. It was released on DVD in 2006...
(1997). Director John Milius
John Milius
John Frederick Milius is an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures.-Early 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 1960s, but was rejected...
dedicated Rough Riders to "Brian Keith, Actor, Marine, Raconteur."
Personal life
Keith married three times, first to Frances Helm; then, in 1954, to actress Judy LandonJudy Landon
Judith "Judy" B. Landon was an actress and dancer who primarily played uncredited bit parts in films in the early '50s, particularly a background dancer in movie musicals. Particularly notable roles include Eras in the film Prehistoric Women and an uncredited but recognizable performance as the...
(who made a guest appearance on his show); and finally, in 1970, to Hawaiian actress Victoria Young (née Leialoha), who later appeared on The Brian Keith Show as Nurse Puni.
Keith fathered four children with Judy Landon (Barbara, Betty, Mimi, and Rory) and together they adopted three others. 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.
Death
During the later part of his life, Keith suffered from emphysemaEmphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
and lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
despite having quit smoking ten years earlier (he appeared in an endorsement campaign for Camel cigarettes
Camel (cigarette)
Camel 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 tobacco and Virginia tobacco. Early in 2008 the blend was changed as was the package design.-History:In 1913, R.J...
in 1955). On June 24, 1997, he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Malibu, California, two months after his daughter Daisy committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. It was also reported that he had financial problems and suffered from depression throughout his final days. Keith's family was joined by many mourners at a private funeral, including Family Affair
Family Affair
Family Affair is an American sitcom 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. Davis' traditional...
co-stars Johnny Whitaker
Johnny Whitaker
Johnny Whitaker is an American actor and singer notable for several performances for film and television during his childhood...
and Kathy Garver
Kathy Garver
Kathleen Marie "Kathy" Garver is an American film, television, voice-over and character actress of stage, most widely known for playing Uncle Bill Davis's teenaged niece, Catherine "Cissy" Davis, on the popular 1960s sitcom, Family Affair. Before that, she played a slave in The Ten Commandments...
, and Hardcastle & McCormick co-star Daniel Hugh Kelly
Daniel Hugh Kelly
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 Cemetery
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
On June 26, 2008, Brian Keith received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, 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)
Keith who said in 1984 about leaving Family Affair
Family Affair
Family Affair is an American sitcom 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. Davis' traditional...
, to spend time with his family in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, 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, Indiana
Muncie, Indiana
Muncie 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 Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, 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 RobertsMister Roberts (play)Mister Roberts is a 1948 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 NoonDarkness at NoonDarkness at Noon is a novel by the Hungarian-born British novelist Arthur Koestler, first published in 1940...
(1951) - DaDa (play)Da is a 1978 comedy play by Irish playwright Hugh Leonard.NOTE: Performed by the Queensland Theatre Company in Brisbane Australia in 1975....
(1978)
Television
- Target: The Corruptors!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 BenedictSam BenedictSam Benedict is an American legal drama that aired on NBC from September 1962 to March 1963. The series was created and executive produced by E. Jack Neuman....
(NBC, guest star) - CrusaderCrusader (TV series)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 WesternerThe Westerner (TV series)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)
- The VirginianThe Virginian (TV series)The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
("Duel at Shiloh") (1963) - Fear in a Desert City (Pilot for The FugitiveThe Fugitive (TV series)The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
) (1963) - The TenderfootThe Tenderfoot (1964)The Tenderfoot is a three-part live action television miniseries comedy Western film produced in 1964 for Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. It is based on James H. Tevis' book Arizona in the 50s. It was directed by Robert L...
(1964), a three-part television miniseries comedy WesternWestern (genre)The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
for Walt DisneyWalt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's Wonderful World of Color - Family AffairFamily AffairFamily Affair is an American sitcom 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. Davis' traditional...
(CBS, 1966–1971) - The Brian Keith ShowThe Brian Keith ShowThe Brian Keith Show is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1972 to March 1974. The series stars Brian Keith and Shelley Fabares.-Synopsis:...
(NBC, 1972–1974). - The Zoo GangThe Zoo GangThe Zoo Gang was a 1974 ITC Entertainment drama series that ran for six one-hour colour episodes, based on the 1971 book of the same name by Paul Gallico....
(ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, 1974) - Archer (NBC, six episodes, 1975)
- How the West Was WonHow the West Was Won (TV series)How the West Was Won is an American western television series that featured an all star cast that included: James Arness, Eva Marie Saint, Fionnula Flanagan, Bruce Boxleitner, G. W. Bailey, Trisha Noble, William Shatner, Jack Elam, Woody Strode, Anthony Zerbe, Richard Kiley, Lloyd Bridges,...
(originally titled The Macahans) (ABC, 1977) as General Stonecipher - The ChisholmsThe ChisholmsThe 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 McCormickHardcastle and McCormickHardcastle and McCormick is a 1980s action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions, 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 show's premise involves the...
(ABC, 1983–1986) - The Murder of Sherlock Holmes (Pilot for Murder, She WroteMurder, She WroteMurder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
) (CBS, 1984) - The B.R.A.T. Patrol (Disney Made for TV movie ABC, 1984)
- Pursuit of Happiness (ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting 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. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, 1987) - Heartland (CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, 1989) - Walter and Emily (NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, 1991–1992) - Star Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
: "Progress" (Syndicated, 1993) - Spider-Man (1994 TV series)Spider-Man (1994 TV series)Spider-Man, also known as Spider-Man: The Animated Series, is an American animated series starring the Marvel Comics superhero, Spider-Man. The show ran on Fox Kids from November 19, 1994, to January 31, 1998. The producer/story editor was John Semper, Jr. and production company was Marvel Films...
- Uncle Ben - Touched by an AngelTouched by an AngelTouched by an Angel is an American drama series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for 211 episodes and nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson, the series stars Roma Downey, as an angel named Monica, and Della...
(CBS, 1996) - The CommishThe CommishThe Commish is a television series that aired on ABC in the United States from 1991 to 1996. The series focused on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in upstate New York....
(ABC 1994) Episode - "The Iceman Commeth"
Film
- Pied Piper Malone (1924)
- The Other Kind of Love (1924)
- ArrowheadArrowhead (film)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 SeasAlaska SeasAlaska Seas is a 1954 crime drama film directed by Jerry Hopper and starring Robert Ryan and Brian Keith.-Plot:Matt Kelly is released from jail and skips town in his boat without paying outstanding storage fees. Back in his home town he is hired by his old friend Jim Kimmerly , the head of the...
(1954) - Jivaro (1954)
- The Bamboo Prison (1954)
- The Violent MenThe Violent MenThe Violent Men is a CinemaScope 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...
(1955) - Tight SpotTight SpotTight 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, Brian Keith, Lorne Greene, and Eve McVeagh...
(1955) - 5 Against the House5 Against the House5 Against the House is a 1955 American heist film starring Kim Novak, Guy Madison and Brian Keith, directed by Phil Karlson and based on a story by Jack Finney...
(1955) - Storm CenterStorm CenterStorm Center is an 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) - NightfallNightfall (1957 film)Nightfall is a film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur. It features Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, and Anne Bancroft. The low-budget film is remembered today for camera work by cinematographer Burnett Guffey...
(1957) - Dino (1957)
- Run of the ArrowRun of the ArrowRun 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 DobbsFort DobbsFort 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 PhiladelphiansThe Young PhiladelphiansThe Young Philadelphians is a 1959 drama film starring Paul Newman, Barbara Rush and Alexis Smith, and directed by Vincent Sherman. Robert Vaughn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film is based on the novel The Philadelphian by Richard P...
(1959) - Ten Who DaredTen Who DaredTen Who Dared is a movie made by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution in 1960. It tells the story of United States Army officer John Wesley Powell, who was the first to travel down the Colorado River, and the dangers that he and nine other men had to face while making a...
(1960) - The Parent Trap (1961)
- The Deadly CompanionsThe Deadly CompanionsThe 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 is based on A.S. Fleischman's novel of the same name. The film was Peckinpah's motion picture directorial debut...
(1961) - Moon PilotMoon PilotMoon Pilot is a 98 minute Techicolor science fiction satirical comedy released in 1962 by Buena Vista Distribution. 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 SamSavage SamSavage Sam is the 1963 film 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 SeekersThe Pleasure SeekersThe 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 CallowaysThose CallowaysThose Calloways is a 1965 American film adaption of a book by Paul Annixter. Annixter and his wife Jane were writers of books for young readers. The film was produced by Disney and directed by Norman Tokar...
(1965) - A Tiger WalksA Tiger WalksA Tiger Walks is a 1964 family drama film, directed by Norman Tokar and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is based on a novel of the same name by Ian Niall...
(1964) - The Hallelujah TrailThe Hallelujah TrailThe 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 BreedThe Rare BreedThe 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 ComingThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are ComingThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is an American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and adapted for the screen by William Rose....
(1966) - Nevada SmithNevada SmithNevada Smith is a 1966 American Western film starring Steve McQueen and made by Embassy Pictures and Solar Productions, in association with and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie was produced and directed by Henry Hathaway with Joseph E...
(1966) - Way...Way OutWay...Way OutWay...Way Out is a 1966 American film comedy starring Jerry Lewis and released by 20th Century Fox on October 21, 1966.-Plot:The year is 1989, and the United States decides to send a married couple to live on the moon and operate a U.S. weather station...
(1966) - Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
- With Six You Get EggrollWith Six You Get EggrollWith 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 JavaKrakatoa, East of JavaKrakatoa, East of Java is a movie starring Maximilian Schell and Brian Keith. This film was nominated for Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.-Plot:...
(1969) - Gaily, GailyGaily, GailyGaily, Gaily is a 1969 comedy film directed by Norman Jewison. It is based on the Autobiographical novel by Ben Hecht and stars Beau Bridges, Melina Mercouri, Brian Keith, and George Kennedy....
(1969) - Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970)
- The McKenzie BreakThe McKenzie BreakThe 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 prisoner of war camp in Scotland...
(1970) - Something BigSomething BigSomething Big is a 1971 American motion picture produced by Andrew V. McLaglen and James Lee Barrett . The film stars Dean Martin and Brian Keith.-Description:...
(1971) - Scandalous JohnScandalous JohnScandalous John is a 1971 film directed by Robert Butler. It stars Brian Keith and Alfonso Arau.-Synopsis:John McCanless was once a gunslinger and has become a cranky old rancher. There is a plan to build a dam which would flood his property...
(1971) - The YakuzaThe YakuzaThe Yakuza is a 1974 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 LionThe Wind and the LionThe Wind and the Lion is a 1975 adventure film. It was written and directed by John Milius and starred Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith and John Huston...
(1975) - Joe Panther (1976)
- NickelodeonNickelodeon (film)Nickelodeon is a 1976 comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, and Tatum O'Neal. According to Bogdanovich, the film was based on true stories told to him by silent movie directors Alan Dwan and Raoul Walsh...
(1976) - HooperHooper (film)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) - CentennialCentennial (miniseries)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) - MeteorMeteor (film)Meteor is a 1979 science fiction Technicolor 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.It was directed by Ronald Neame...
(1979) - The Mountain MenThe Mountain MenThe Mountain Men is a 1980 Adventure/Western film starring Charlton Heston and Brian Keith.-Plot:Charlton Heston stars as an argumentative, curmudgeonly mountain man by the name of Bill Tyler. His co-star, Brian Keith, in the role of Henry Frapp, is Bill's good friend and fellow trapper...
(1980) - Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon QueenCharlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon QueenCharlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen is a 1981 film directed by Clive Donner. It stars Peter Ustinov and Lee Grant.-Plot:Retired detective Charlie Chan is asked for his help by the San Francisco police to solve a new series of murders...
(1981) - Sharky's MachineSharky's Machine (film)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 DishonorDeath Before DishonorDeath Before Dishonor is a 1987 American action film directed by Terry Leonard.-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 GunsYoung GunsYoung Guns is a 1988 action/western film, directed by Christopher Cain and written by John Fusco. The film was the first to be produced by Morgan Creek Productions...
(1988) - Welcome Home (1989)
- Wind Dancer (1993)
- Life With MikeyLife with MikeyLife with Mikey is a 1993 comedy film starring Michael J. Fox, Christina Vidal, Nathan Lane, Cyndi Lauper and David Krumholtz....
(1993) - Under a Killing MoonUnder a Killing MoonUnder 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...
(1994) - Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day StoryEntertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day StoryEntertaining 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 Day, Heather Graham, Lenny Von Dohlen and Martin Sheen.Both Kelly and Sheen are also...
(1996) - The Second Civil WarThe Second Civil WarThe Second Civil War is a satirical/comedy 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 RidersRough Riders (film)Rough Riders is a 1997 three hour television miniseries about future President Theodore Roosevelt and the regiment . The series prominently shows the bravery of the volunteers at the Battle of San Juan Hill, part of the Spanish-American War of 1898. It was released on DVD in 2006...
(1997)