Brian Keith

Brian Keith, born Robert Alba Keith on November 14, 1921, in Bayonne, New Jersey, was an American actor whose career in film, television, and stage spanned six decades. He was the son of actor Robert Keith and stage actress Helena Shipman, a native of Aberdeen, Washington. He was Roman Catholic. Some sources also list his full name as Brian Robert Keith.

Keith served in the United States Marine Corps from 1942 to 1945, during which he was a radioman and tail gunner in the rear cockpit of a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber with a Marine squadron. His military decorations included the Combat Aircrew Insignia, the Air Medal, the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal with three battle stars, and the World War II Victory Medal.

His connection to the stage began early. Keith made his film debut at age three in Pied Piper Malone, and his Broadway debut came in 1948 when he appeared in the ensemble of Mister Roberts, a production in which his father played the role of Doc. He returned to Broadway in 1951, playing a guard in Sidney Kingsley's Darkness at Noon and also appearing that same year in Out West of Eighth, which had only a brief run. His Broadway work continued through 1978, when he appeared in Da.

Keith's feature film career began with the Paramount Western Arrowhead in 1953. He remained at Paramount for Alaska Seas and Jivaro, both in 1954, before moving to Columbia for a series of films including The Bamboo Prison, The Violent Men, Tight Spot, and 5 Against the House. In 1955 he starred in his own television series, Crusader, portraying fictional journalist Matt Anders. He also played Mike Hammer in a television pilot directed by Blake Edwards, though the series was not picked up. In June 1956, he announced the formation of his own production company, Michael Productions, after optioning a story by Robert Blees titled Cairo.

By the late 1950s Keith had accumulated a range of supporting and leading roles across studios. He appeared alongside Sal Mineo in Dino and with Rod Steiger in Run of the Arrow, both in 1957, and took top billing in Chicago Confidential that same year. He starred in several low-budget action films in 1958, including Violent Road, Desert Hell, Sierra Baron, and Villa!!, the last two filmed back-to-back in Mexico. He also guest starred on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and an episode of Zane Grey Theater written and directed by Sam Peckinpah, a collaboration that later led to The Westerner.

Keith supported Paul Newman in The Young Philadelphians in 1959 and took the lead in Sam Peckinpah's television series The Westerner in 1960, which ran for thirteen episodes. That same period marked the beginning of a productive relationship with Disney. He appeared in the Disney television production Elfego Baca: Move Along, Mustangers in 1959 and the feature Ten Who Dared in 1960. His second Disney feature, The Parent Trap in 1961, co-starring Hayley Mills and Maureen O'Hara, was a major commercial success. He also appeared in Peckinpah's feature directorial debut, The Deadly Companions, that same year. Additional Disney projects followed, including Moon Pilot, Savage Sam, Johnny Shiloh, Bristle Face, The Tenderfoot, A Tiger Walks, and Those Calloways.

Keith appeared in The Hallelujah Trail and The Rare Breed, the latter again opposite O'Hara, as well as Nevada Smith, in which he played traveling gunsmith Jonas Cord alongside Steve McQueen. He appeared in the Norman Jewison comedy The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! in 1966, as well as Way... Way Out with Jerry Lewis and With Six You Get Eggroll with Doris Day. In 1975 he portrayed President Theodore Roosevelt in the adventure film The Wind and the Lion.

In 1966, Keith was cast as bachelor uncle Bill Davis in the CBS situation comedy Family Affair, a role that earned him three Emmy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. The series ranked fifteenth in the Nielsen ratings during its first season and ran for 138 episodes before its cancellation in 1971. Keith also starred in The Brian Keith Show, which aired on NBC from 1972 to 1974, in which he portrayed a pediatrician running a free clinic on Oahu. He later starred in the CBS comedy series Heartland and played a retired judge in the 1980s crime drama Hardcastle and McCormick.

Throughout his television career Keith made guest appearances on numerous programs, among them Suspense, The United States Steel Hour, Robert Montgomery Presents, Rawhide, Laramie, The Untouchables, The Virginian, Dr. Kildare, The Fugitive, and Profiles in Courage, among many others. Brian Keith died on June 24, 1997.