Уолтер Кич: Американский актер и театральный деятель

American actor (born 1941)

Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor, active in theatre, film and television since the 1960s. Keach first distinguished himself in Off Broadway productions and remained a prominent figure in American theatre across his career, particularly as a noted Shakespearean. In film, he garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of a washed up boxer in the John Huston film Fat City (1972) and appeared as Sergeant Stedenko in Cheech & Chong's films Up in Smoke (1978) and Nice Dreams (1981). His other notable film credits include Brewster McCloud (1970), Doc (1971), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), Luther (1973), Slave of the Cannibal God (1979), The Ninth Configuration (1980), The Long Riders (1980), Escape from L. A. (1996), American History X (1998), The Bourne Legacy (2012) and Nebraska (2013). Keach is known to television audiences for his portrayal of private detective Mike Hammer on the television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (1984–1987), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe, as Ken Titus on the sitcom Titus (2000–2002) and as the narrator of the crime documentary series American Greed (2007–present). He also had recurring roles on series such as Prison Break (2005–2007), Two and a Half Men (2010) and Blue Bloods (2016–). He won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for playing Ernest Hemingway on the television miniseries Hemingway (1988). He is an inductee of the Theatre Hall of Fame and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019. He is the son of theatre director Stacy Keach Sr., and the older brother of actor James Keach.

Keach was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Mary Cain , an actress, and Stacy Keach Sr., a theatre director, drama teacher, and actor with dozens of television and theatrical film credits billed as "Stacy Keach." The younger Keach was born with a cleft lip and a partial cleft of the hard palate, and he underwent numerous operations as a child. Throughout his adult life he has usually worn a mustache to hide the scars. He is now the honorary chairman of the Cleft Palate Foundation and advocates for insurance coverage for surgeries. He graduated from Van Nuys High School in June 1959, where he was class president, then earned two BA degrees at the University of California, Berkeley (1963): one in English, the other in Dramatic Art. He earned a Master of Fine Arts at the Yale School of Drama in 1966 and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. While studying in London, Keach met Laurence Olivier, his acting hero.

Keach played the title role in MacBird!, an Off Broadway anti war satire by Barbara Garson staged at the Village Gate in 1966. In 1967, he was cast, again Off Broadway, in George Tabori's The Niggerlovers with Morgan Freeman in his acting debut. To this day, Freeman credits Keach with teaching him the most about acting. In 1967, Keach also starred in We Bombed in New Haven, a play by Joseph Heller that premiered in New Haven at the Yale Repertory Theatre and later was produced on Broadway. Keach first appeared on Broadway in 1969 as Buffalo Bill in Indians by Arthur Kopit. Early in his career, he was credited as Stacy Keach Jr. to distinguish himself from his father. He played the lead actor in The Nude Paper Sermon, an avant garde musical theatre piece for media presentation, commissioned by Nonesuch Records by composer Eric Salzman. Keach has won numerous awards, including Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards and Vernon Rice Awards. In the early 1980s, he starred in the title role of the national touring company of the musical Barnum, composed by Cy Coleman. In 1991 and 1996 he won Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Actor for his work in Richard III and Macbeth with the Shakespeare Theatre Company. In 1998, he was one of the three characters in a London West End production of 'Art' with David Dukes and George Wendt. In 2006, Keach performed the lead role in Shakespeare's King Lear at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. In 2008, he played Merlin in Lerner and Loewe's Camelot, done with the New York Philharmonic. In the summer of 2009, Shakespeare Theatre Company remounted the production of King Lear at Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, D. C., for which Keach won another Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actor. He has played the title role in two separate productions of Hamlet. In 2008 and 2009, Keach portrayed Richard M. Nixon in the U. S. touring company of the play Frost/Nixon. He was scheduled to return to Broadway in December 2014 in the revival of Love Letters at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre alongside Diana Rigg, but the production closed before Keach and Rigg began their runs. Keach was scheduled to play Ernest Hemingway in Jim McGrath's one man play Pamplona at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago from May 30 to June 25, 2017. Keach appeared in previews of Pamplona, May 19 through May 28, and was well received by audiences. On opening night, he suffered a mild heart attack on stage and the next day, Keach had bypass surgery. On June 2, the Goodman Theatre announced that the entire run would be canceled after Keach's doctors advised a period of rest and recuperation. Keach returned to the role at The Goodman one year later, July 10 through August 18, 2018. Keach said it would fulfill an obligation "to the play, to the city and to myself".

Keach played a rookie policeman in The New Centurions (1972), opposite George C. Scott. That year he also starred in Fat City, a boxing film directed by John Huston. He was the first choice for the role of Damien Karras in the 1973 movie The Exorcist, but he did not accept the role. He went on to play Kane in the 1980 movie The Ninth Configuration, written and directed by Exorcist author William Peter Blatty; this role was itself intended for Nicol Williamson. Keach was narrator of the 1973 Formula One racing documentary Champions Forever, The Quick and the Dead by Claude du Boc. He played Cheech & Chong's police department nemesis Sgt. Stedenko in Up in Smoke and Nice Dreams. He also appeared as Barabbas in Jesus of Nazareth. In 1978, he played a role of explorer and scientist in Slave of the Cannibal God, co starring former Bond girl Ursula Andress. He played Barabbas in 1977's Jesus of Nazareth, and portrayed Jonas Steele, a psychic and Scout of the United States Army in the 1982 CBS miniseries, The Blue and the Gray. He later portrayed and is best known as Mike Hammer in the CBS television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer and The New Mike Hammer from 1984 to 1987. He returned to the role of Hammer in Mike Hammer, Private Eye, a new syndicated series that aired from 1997 to 1998. In 1988, he starred as Ernest Hemingway in the made for TV movie Hemingway. He also hosted segments for the Encore Mystery premium cable network in the late 1990s and 2000s. In 2000, he played Ken Titus, the sarcastic, chain smoking, five times divorced functional alcoholic father of the title character in Fox's sitcom Titus. Cast members of Titus have commented they enjoyed working with Keach because he would find a way to make even the driest line funny. Keach lent his voice to The Simpsons episodes "Hungry, Hungry Homer", "Old Yeller Belly", "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play", and "Waiting for Duffman", portraying Duff Brewery President Howard K. Duff VIII, and the Batman Beyond episode "Lost Soul" as Robert Vance, a deceased businessman resurrected as an artificial intelligence. He also guest starred in a 2005 episode of the sitcom Will & Grace, and had a recurring role as Warden Henry Pope in the Fox drama Prison Break. Keach was in an episode of Perry Mason. In 2006, he acted in the mini series Blackbeard, made for the Hallmark Channel. It was directed by Kevin Connor, and starred Angus Macfadyen, with Richard Chamberlain, David Winters, and Jessica Chastain. In 2011, Keach co starred as "Pops", the father of the main character in the short lived boxing drama series Lights Out. In November 2013, Keach appeared on the Fox comedy series Brooklyn Nine Nine, in the episode "Old School". In February 2015, Keach started guest appearing in NCIS: New Orleans as Cassius Pride, father of NCIS Agent Dwayne Pride. He played the elderly father Bob on the 2016 sitcom Crowded. Beginning in 2016, Keach occasionally appears on CBS's drama Blue Bloods as Archbishop Kevin Kearns. In 2017, Keach started guest appearing in Man with a Plan as Joe Burns, father of Adam Burns (played by co star Matt LeBlanc) and was later promoted to series regular status for season three. He played the role of Robert Vesco, Raymond Reddington's former mentor and criminal muse, on the TV series The Blacklist.

Keach narrated several episodes of Nova, National Geographic, and various other informational series. From 1989 to 1992, he was host of the syndicated informational reenactment show, Missing Reward, which had a similar format to the popular Unsolved Mysteries at the time. From 1992 to 1995, he became the voice over narrator for the paranormal series Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories. Beginning in 1999, he served as the narrator for the home video clip show World's Most Amazing Videos, which is now seen on Spike TV. He currently hosts The Twilight Zone radio series. Keach can also be heard narrating the CNBC series American Greed, from its 2007 inception to the 2022 23 season. For the PBS series American Experience, he narrated The Kennedys, among others. In 2008, Keach once again reprised his famous role as Mike Hammer in a series of full cast radio dramatizations for Blackstone Audio. (He also arranged and performed the music for the audio dramas. His wife, Malgosia Tomassi, also starred in the dramas, playing Maya Ricci, a yoga instructor.) Keach has also read many of Mickey Spillane's original Mike Hammer novels as Audiobooks. Keach played the role of John in The Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible, a 22 hour audio version of the RSV CE translation of the New Testament. He also voiced both Job and Paul the Apostle in The Word of Promise, a 2007 dramatic audio presentation based on the New King James Version. On January 6, 2014, Keach became the official voice of The Opie and Anthony Channel on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Sirius Channel 206, XM Channel 103). Keach is the voice of CNBC's American Greed, now on their thirteenth season.

Keach is an accomplished pianist and composer. He sang backing vocals on the Judy Collins hit song "Amazing Grace". He is also credited with co writing a song, "Easy Times", on the Judy Collins live album Living. He provided music for the film Imbued, directed by Rob Nilssen. He has also completed composing the music for the Mike Hammer audio radio series, "Encore For Murder", written by Max Collins, directed by Carl Amari, and produced by Blackstone Audio.

Keach has been married four times: to Kathryn Baker in 1964, to Marilyn Aiken in 1975, to Jill Donahue in 1981, and to Małgorzata Tomassi in 1986. He has two children with Małgorzata: son Shannon Keach and daughter Karolina Keach. In 2015, Keach became a Polish citizen. His brother James is an actor and television director. Keach is a Roman Catholic.

In 1984, Customs & Excise officers arrested Keach at Heathrow Airport for importation of cocaine. Keach pleaded guilty, and served six months at Reading Prison. Keach stated that his time in prison, which he described as the lowest point of his life, and the friendship he formed with a priest during that time led to his conversion to Catholicism. Subsequently, he and his wife met Pope John Paul II. His wife, Małgorzata Tomassi, had attended the same school in Warsaw as the pope.

In 2015, Keach was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 2019, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Year Title Role Notes 1968 BlountCredited as 'Stacy Keach Jr.'1970 End of the Road Jacob Horner Jonas Candide Brewster McCloud Abraham Wright 1971 Doc Doc Holliday1972 Fat City Billy Tully Roy Fehler Bad Bob1973 Luther Martin Luther1974 The Gravy Train Calvin Watched! Mike Mandell / 'Sonny' 1975 Conduct Unbecoming Cpt. Harper1976 Street People Charlie Hanson Lou Ford 1977 Jim NabothThe DuellistsNarratorVoice1978 Maj. Mannfred Roland Gray Lady Down Cpt. Bennett Slave of the Cannibal God Prof. Edward Foster Up in Smoke Sgt. Stedenko Two Solitudes Huntley McQueen1980 Col. Vincent "Killer" Kane Frank JamesAlso writer and executive producer1981 Roadgames Patrick Quid Nice Dreams Sergeant Stedenko1982 Butterfly Jess Tyler That Championship Season James Daley1990 Class of 1999 Dr. Bob Forest Milena Jesenski False Identity Ben Driscoll / Harlan Errickson1993 Sunset Grill Harrison Shelgrove Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Carl Beaumont, PhantasmVoice1994 Raw Justice Deputy Mayor Bob Jenkins New Crime City Wynorski1996 Escape From L. A. Cdr. Mac Malloy Prey of the Jaguar The Commander 1997 The Sea Wolf Cpt. Wolf Larsen Future Fear Gen. Wallace1998 American History X Cameron Alexander Sea Devils Cpt. Savienko1999 Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return Dr. Michaels Fear Runs Silent Mr. Hill2000 Unshackled Warden Kelso Icebreaker Bill Foster Militia George Armstrong Montgomery Mercy Streets Tom2001 Sunstorm General John Parker2003When Eagles StrikeGeneral Thurmond2004 The Hollow Claus Van Ripper Caught in the Headlights Mr. Jones Galaxy Hunter 3V3 El Padrino: The Latin Godfather Governor Lancaster2005 Man with the Screaming Brain Dr. Ivanov Keep Your Distance Brooks Voight2006 Come Early Morning Owen Allen Jesus, Mary and Joey Jack O'Callahan 2007 Honeydripper Sheriff 2008 W. Earle Hudd2009 Chicago Overcoat Ray Berkowski The Boxer Joe2011 Weather Wars Marcus Grange Cellmates Warden Merville Jerusalem Countdown Jackson2012 The Great Chameleon Max The Bourne Legacy Adm. Mark Turso2013 Ooga Booga Planes Skipper RileyVoice TBA Lost & Found in Cleveland Completed

Year Title Role Notes 1964Channing The Colleague Episode: "The Face in the Sun" 1967The Winter's Tale AutolycusTelevision film1968Macbeth Banquo 1971NET Playhouse Wilbur Wright Episode: "The Wright Brothers"1973Incident at Vichy Television play, directorThe Man of Destiny Napoleon BonaparteTelevision film1974All the Kind Strangers Jimmy WheelerGreat Performances Chorus Episode: "Antigone" 1975Caribe Lieutenant Ben Logan 13 episodes1976Dynasty Matt Blackwood Television filmSix Characters in Search of an Author Television play, directorLincoln Politician Episode: "Crossing Fox River" 1977Jesus of Nazareth Barabbas 2 episodes1978The Fitzpatricks Unnamed Character Episode: "The New Fitzpatrick"Saturday Night Live Man In Cold As Ice Episode: "Christopher Lee/Meatloaf" 1980A Rumor of War Major Ball2 episodes 1982The Blue and the Gray Jonas Steele 3 episodes1983Princess Daisy Prince Alexander 'Stash' Valensky 2 episodesMurder Me, Murder You Mike Hammer Television film1984Mistral's Daughter Julien Mistral 4 episodes More Than MurderMike Hammer Television film 1984–1987Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer48 episodes1986The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike HammerTelevision filmIntimate StrangersDr. Jeff Bierston 1988 Hemingway Ernest Hemingway 4 episodes1989 The Forgotten Adam RothTelevision filmMike Hammer: Murder Takes All Mike Hammer 1989–1992Missing: Reward Himself (host) Documentary series1991The Mysteries of the Dark Jungle Col. Edward Corishant 3 episodesMission of the Shark: The Saga of the U. S. S. Indianapolis CPT. Charles B. McVay III Television film1992Lincoln George McClellan Voice, television filmHaunted Lives: True Ghost Stories Narrator Voice, documentaryRevenge on the Highway Claude SamsTelevision film1993Rio Diablo 'Kansas'Body Bags Richard CobertsIn the Heat of the Night Wade Hatton2 episodes1994Against Their Will: Women in Prison Jack DevlinTelevision filmTexas Sam Houston1995Young Ivanhoe PembrookeAmanda & the Alien Emmitt Mallory 1996The Pathfinder Compte Du Leon1997Promised Land Ned Bernhart Episode: "Downsized"Legend of the Lost Tomb Dr. William BentTelevision filmMurder in My Mind Cargill 1997–1998Mike Hammer, Private Eye Mike Hammer 26 episodes; also executive producer 1997, 2003Touched by an Angel Ty Duncan / Maury Hoover 2 episodes 1998Planet of Life Narrator Voice, 7 episodes 1998–2001Rugrats Marvin Finster Voice, 3 episodesEnlisted Patrick Episode: "Vets"Jennifer Falls Mike Episode: "Jennifer's Song"The Exes Bill Drake Episode: "An Officer and a Dental Man"2015Hot in Cleveland Alex 2 episodesFull Circle Bud O'Rourke 8 episodes 2015–2019NCIS: New Orleans Cassius Pride 6 episodes2016Crowded Bob Moore 13 episodesBlunt Talk Arthur Bronson 2 episodesRay Donovan Marty 'The Texan' Swanbeck 2 episodes 2016–presentBlue Bloods Archbishop Kevin Kearns 10 episodes2017Tokyo TrialNarratorVoice, 4 episodes 2017–2020Man with a Plan Joe Burns 48 episodes 2019–2023The Blacklist Robert Vesco 6 episodes2020KiddingHimselfEpisode: "The Death of Fil"

FestivalsYear CategoryWorkOutcomeHorrible Imaginings Film Festival2020Best Actor in a Feature FilmSurvival SkillsOldenburg International Film Festival2007Star of ExcellenceHonorary AwardSan Diego International Film Festival2003Lifetime Achievement AwardSt. Louis International Film Festival2010Lifetime Achievement Award