Steven Keats

Steven Keats, born Steven Paul Keitz on February 6, 1945, in the Bronx, New York, was an American actor whose career spanned Broadway, film, and television. His father, Daniel David Keitz, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Polish Jewish parents originally from Warsaw, and worked as the proprietor of a camera store. His mother, Francis (née Rebold), was born in New York to a Polish Jewish family as well. The family resided on Bryant Avenue in the South Bronx during Keats's childhood before he grew up in Canarsie, Brooklyn. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1962, at which time he was living in Bay View Houses, a public housing project in Brooklyn.

Before pursuing his acting career, Keats served a tour of duty in Vietnam with the United States Air Force between 1965 and 1966. He subsequently enrolled at the Yale School of Drama, attending from 1969 to 1970. His Broadway debut came when he joined the second cast of Oh! Calcutta! in 1969, the production that would mark his sole credited Broadway appearance.

Keats went on to accumulate credits in more than 80 films and television productions. Among his notable film roles was Jake Podkovnik in the 1975 period drama Hester Street, set on New York City's Lower East Side in the 1890s, in which he portrayed a Russian-born immigrant who had become thoroughly assimilated into American life. He appeared alongside Charles Bronson in Death Wish (1974), playing Bronson's character's son-in-law, and also had roles in The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), The Gambler (1974), Black Sunday (1977), The Gumball Rally (1976), The Last Dinosaur (1977), The Ivory Ape (1980), Hangar 18 (1980), the Chuck Norris thriller Silent Rage (1982), Turk 182 (1985), and Badge of the Assassin (1985). In 1982 he appeared in the television film adaptation of Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song.

On television, Keats received an Emmy Award nomination in 1977 for his portrayal of Jay Blackman in the miniseries Seventh Avenue, a Great Depression-era entrepreneur who rises through the clothing industry. He played Thomas Edison on the verge of inventing the electric light bulb in the science fiction series Voyagers!, and took on the role of a deranged bomber in the 1974 Kojak episode "Therapy in Dynamite." His television work also included the role of Bobby Nelson in a third-season episode of The Streets of San Francisco, a guest appearance on The A-Team in the episode "Harder Than It Looks," and recurring roles as Ed McClain on the soap opera Another World and Alf Gresham on All My Children. In 1983 he appeared in the premiere episode of Automan as Collins, and from 1987 he played Detective Penzickis during the final season of Hill Street Blues. That same year he appeared in a Miami Vice episode titled "Contempt in Court." In 1990 he played television reporter Jake Baron in the MacGyver episode "Rush to Judgement," which aired on April 6 of that year.

Keats is the father of photographer and actor Thatcher Keats and of Shane Keats. He was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on May 8, 1994, at the age of 49. His son stated that he died by suicide.