Stacy Keach Biography

STACY KEACH

Date of Birth: June 2, 1941

Stacy Keach was born Walter Stacy Keach Jr. in Savannah, Georgia to actress Mary Kain and Walter Stacy Keach, actor, drama teacher and theater director respectively. Although surrounded by people with enough experience and connections to set him up for life in the acting game, Keach decided to pursue as much education as he could. After graduating from Van Nuys High School as class president in 1959, Keach was off to the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a BA in English and another in Dramatic Art. Even with two degrees pocketed, Keach was not yet satisfied, attending Yale School of Drama to attain a Master of the Fine Arts degree to add to his recognition as a Fulbright Scholar from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Keach was determined to follow in his parents' footsteps, but to do it on his own terms and by his own merit.

With over 70 movies under his belt so far, Keach has been a strong presence in the acting community for over half a century. Gaining attention for his KCFCC Award-winning role as Billy Tully in Fat City (1972), Keach had previously appeared in movies including The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968), The Traveling Executioner (1970) and Doc (1971). Once Keach got started, he became a workaholic and on more than one occasion, appeared in four movies in a single year. An example of this dedication was in the year 2000 when he was seen in Militia (2000), Mercy Streets (2000), Unshackled (2000) and Icebreaker (2000). It is this unbelievable level of dedication, as well as his well-trained talent, that earned Keach the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2003 San Diego Film Festival as well as the 2010 St. Louis International Film Festival.

Before he became famous on the big screen, he was famous in the theater, playing the title role in MacBird! Off Broadway in 1966 and Buffalo Bill in Arthur Kopit's Indians on Broadway in 1969. This was not the last the theatre would see of Stacy Keach, as he went on to appear in many other productions including King Lear at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2006 and a travelling, on-stage version of Frost/Nixon in 2008 and 2009. Keach has also dabbled in television, appearing as a guest star on Will & Grace and as Warden Henry Pope on Prison Break.

Keach based his character on Prison Break on the governor of UK's Reading Prison, whom he encountered when he was convicted of smuggling cocaine in 1984. Keach's latest TV role is on FX's Lights Out, bringing Keach back to the world of boxing which kick started his career in Fat City back in 1972.

Keach can also be seen in The Bourne Legacy (2012) and heard on The Twilight Zone radio series. He recently lent his voice to the animated film Planes (2013), and acted in the news drama Truth (2015) alongside Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett.

He can now be seen in the thriller Cell (2016), the dramas Periphery (2016) and Girlfriend's Day (2016), as well as the drama thriller Gold (2017) alongside Matthew McConaughey.

Keach has been married four times, first to Kathryn Baker in 1964, then to Marilyn Aiken in 1975, Jill Donahue in 1981, and finally Malgosia Tomassi to whom he is still married. They have two children together.

FILMOGRAPHY

Gold (2017)
Girlfriend's Day (2016)
Periphery (2016)
Cell (2016)
Truth (2015)
Planes (2013)
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Storm War (2011)
Jerusalem Countdown (2011)
Cellmates (2011)
A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures (2010)
The Portal (2010)
Imbued (2009)
The Boxer (2009)
Chicago Overcoat (2009)
The Assistants (2009)
W. (2008)
Honeydripper (2007)
Come Early Morning (2006)
Jesus, Mary and Joey (2006)
Keep Your Distance (2005)
Man with the Screaming Brain (2005)
El Padrino: The Latin Godfather (2004)
The Hollow (2004)
Caught in the Headlights (2004)
Galaxy Hunter (2004)
Operation Balikatan (2003)
When Eagles Strike (2003)
Birds of Passage (2001)
Sunstorm (2001)
Militia (2000)
Mercy Streets (2000)
Unshackled (2000)
Icebreaker (2000)
Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return (1999)
Fear Runs Silent (1999)
American History X (1998)
Future Fear (1998)
The Sea Wolf (1997)
Escape From L.A (1996)
Prey of the Jaguar (1996)
Raw Justice (1994)
Trust in Me (1994)
New Crime City (1994)
Sunset Grill (1993)
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
The Lover (1991)
False Identity (1990)
Class of 1999 (1990)
Butterfly (1982)
That Championship Season (1982)
Nice Dreams (1981)
Roadgames (1981)
The Ninth Configuration (1980)
The Long Riders (1980)
Mountain of the Cannibal God (1979)
Up in Smoke (1978)
Gray Lady Down (1978)
The Greatest Battle (1978)
Two Solitudes (1978)
The Squeeze (1977)
The Duellists (1977)
Street People (1976)
The Killer Inside Me (1976)
Conduct Unbecoming (1975)
The Dion Brothers (1974)
Watched! (1974)
Luther (1973)
Wilbur and Orville: The First to Fly (1973)
Oklahoma Crude (1973)
Fat City (1972)
The New Centurions (1972)
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
Doc (1971)
The Traveling Executioner (1970)
Brewster McCloud (1970)
End of The Road (1970)
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)