Harvey Keitel

Harvey Keitel (/kaɪˈtɛl/ ky-TEL; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor and producer. He has played in such films as Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976),The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Thelma & Louise (1991), Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Cop Land (1997), National Treasure (2004), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and The Irishman (2019).[2]

Harvey Keitel
Keitel at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Born	(1939-05-13) May 13, 1939 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Citizenship	United States Romania (honorary)[1]
Occupation	Actor, producer
Years active	1967–present
Spouse(s)	Daphna Kastner ​ ( m. 2001)
Partner(s)	Lorraine Bracco (1982-1993)
Children	3

Keitel has been nominated for a number of accolades in his career, including Academy and Golden Globe awards for his work in Bugsy (1991), and won an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role in The Piano (1993).[3] From 1995 to 2017, he was a co-president of the Actors Studio, along with actors Al Pacino and Ellen Burstyn.[4]

Early life

Keitel was born in Brooklyn, New York, on May 13, 1939,[2][5] the son of Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants; his mother, Miriam (née Klein), was from Romania, and his father, Harry Keitel, was from Poland.[6] His parents owned and ran a luncheonette, while his father worked as a hat maker. He grew up in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn,[7] with his sister, Renee, and brother, Jerry. He attended Abraham Lincoln High School. He enlisted in the Marines at the age of 16, a decision that took him to Lebanon during Operation Blue Bat.[7] After his return, he worked as a court reporter for several years before beginning his acting career.[7]

Career

Keitel in November 2009

Keitel studied under both Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg and at the HB Studio,[8] eventually landing roles in some Off-Broadway productions.[7] During this time, Keitel auditioned for filmmaker Martin Scorsese and gained a starring role as "J.R.", in Scorsese's first feature film, Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967).[7] Since then, Scorsese and Keitel have worked together on several projects.[7] Keitel had the starring role in Scorsese's Mean Streets, which also proved to be Robert De Niro's breakthrough film. Keitel re-teamed with Scorsese for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), in which he had a villainous supporting role, and appeared with Robert De Niro again in Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), playing the role of Jodie Foster's character's pimp.[7]

In 1977 and 1978, Keitel starred in the directorial debuts of Paul Schrader (Blue Collar, co-starring Richard Pryor and Yaphet Kotto), Ridley Scott (The Duellists, co-starring Keith Carradine), and James Toback (Fingers, in which Keitel played a street hood with aspirations of being a pianist – a role Toback wrote for Robert De Niro to play).

Cast as Captain Willard in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), Keitel was involved with the first week of principal photography in the Philippines. Coppola was not happy with Keitel's take on Willard, stating that the actor "found it difficult to play him as a passive onlooker".[9] After viewing the first week's footage, Coppola replaced Keitel with a casting session favorite, Martin Sheen.

Keitel drifted into obscurity through most of the 1980s.[7] He continued to do work on both stage and screen, but usually in the stereotypical role of a thug. Keitel played a corrupt police officer in the 1983 thriller Copkiller (co-starring musician John Lydon), before taking a supporting role in the romantic drama Falling in Love (1984), starring Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep. Between 1985 and 1988, he was the busiest character actor around appearing in 16 films and telefilms,[10] including Brian De Palma's mobster comedy Wise Guys (1986), starring Danny DeVito and Joe Piscopo and as Judas in Martin Scorsese's controversial The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).

Keitel with singer Harry Belafonte in New York, April 2011

He co-starred with Jack Nicholson in the Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes (1990), directed by Jack Nicholson. Ridley Scott cast Keitel as the sympathetic policeman in Thelma & Louise in 1991; that same year, Keitel landed a role in Barry Levinson's Bugsy, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The following year, Keitel played another mobster in the Whoopi Goldberg-starring comedy Sister Act.

Keitel starred in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (which he co-produced) in 1992,[7] where his performance as "Mr. White" took his career to a different level. Since then, Keitel has chosen his roles with care, seeking to change his image and show a broader acting range.[7] One of those roles was the title character in Bad Lieutenant, about a self-loathing, drug-addicted police lieutenant trying to redeem himself.[7] He co-starred in the movie The Piano in 1993,[7] and played an efficient cleanup expert, Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Keitel starred as a police detective in Spike Lee's Clockers (an adaptation of Richard Price's novel, co-produced by Martin Scorsese). In 1996, Keitel had a major role in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's film From Dusk till Dawn, and in 1997, he starred in the crime drama Cop Land, which also starred Sylvester Stallone, Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro.

His later roles include the fatherly Satan in Little Nicky, a wise Navy man in U-571, diligent FBI Special agent Sadusky in National Treasure and the latter's sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets. In 1999, Keitel was replaced by Sydney Pollack on the set of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, due to shooting conflicts, and appeared in Tony Bui's award-winning directorial debut, Three Seasons (which Keitel also executive produced). Keitel also re-teamed with Jane Campion for Holy Smoke! (co-starring Kate Winslet).

In 2001 Keitel played opposite roles: as a U.S. Army denazification investigator in the film Taking Sides and as SS-Oberscharführer Erich Muhsfeldt in the film The Grey Zone.

In 2002, at the 24th Moscow International Film Festival, Keitel was honored with the Stanislavsky Award for his outstanding achievement in the career of acting and devotion to the principles of Stanislavsky's school.[11]

He also appeared in the Steinlager Pure commercials in New Zealand in 2007. Unlike many American male actors, Keitel has appeared nude in several films, including full frontal nudity in Bad Lieutenant and The Piano.

In January 2008, Keitel played Jerry Springer in the New York City premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera at Carnegie Hall.[7] In 2008, Keitel was cast in the role of Detective Gene Hunt in ABC's short-lived US remake of the successful British time-travel police drama series Life on Mars.[12]

In June 2009, he made a cameo appearance in the Jay-Z video for "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)", a nod to his Brooklyn origins. In 2013, he appeared in a music video for "Pretty Hurts" by Beyoncé.[13]

In 2013, he starred in the independent film A Farewell to Fools.[14]

Since 2014, he has reprised his role of Winston Wolfe from Pulp Fiction as part of a £40 million television advertising campaign for British insurance company Direct Line.[15][16]

Personal life

Keitel and wife Daphna Kastner in 2010

Keitel was in a long-term relationship with American actress Lorraine Bracco from 1982 to 1993,[17] but the relationship ended acrimoniously and included a prolonged custody battle over their daughter, Stella (born 1985).[18] He married Canadian actress Daphna Kastner in 2001.[19] He had two more children after Stella: a son named Hudson (born 2001) from his relationship with Lisa Karmazin, and a son named Roman (born 2004) from his marriage to Kastner. He is the godfather of Michael Madsen's son Max.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Reflections in a Golden Eye	Soldier	Uncredited
	Who's That Knocking at My Door	J.R.
1970	Brewster McCloud	Photographer	Uncredited
1973	Mean Streets	Charlie
1974	Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore	Ben
1975	That's the Way of the World	Coleman Buckmaster
1976	Taxi Driver	Charles 'Sport' Rain, ("Matthew Higgins")	Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor (2nd place) Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor (2nd place)
	Mother, Jugs & Speed	Tony "Speed" Malatesta
	Buffalo Bill and the Indians	Ed Goodman
	Welcome to L.A.	Ken Hood
1977	The Duellists	Feraud
1978	Blue Collar	Jerry Bartowski
	Fingers	Jimmy Fingers
1979	Eagle's Wing	Henry
1980	Death Watch	Roddy
	Saturn 3	Benson	Voice dubbed by Roy Dotrice
	Bad Timing	Inspector Netusil
1982	The Border	Cat
	That Night in Varennes	Thomas Paine
1983	Copkiller	Lt. Fred O'Connor
	Exposed	Rivas
1984	Falling in Love	Ed Lasky
	Nemo	Mr. Legend
1985	Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women and Crime)	Frankie
	El caballero del dragon (The Knight of the Dragon)	Clever
1986	Off Beat	Mickey
	Wise Guys	Bobby DiLea
	The Men's Club	Solly Berliner
1987	The Inquiry	Pontius Pilate
	Blindside	Penfield Gruber
	The Pick-up Artist	Alonzo Scolara
1988	The Last Temptation of Christ	Judas Iscariot	Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor
	Dear Gorbachev	Nikolaj Bucharin
1989	The January Man	Police Commissioner Frank Starkey
1990	Two Evil Eyes	Roderick Usher	Segment: "The Black Cat"
	The Two Jakes	Julius "Jake" Berman
	Grandi cacciatori	Thomas
1991	Mortal Thoughts	Det. John Woods	National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Thelma & Louise	Det. Hal Slocumb	National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Bugsy	Mickey Cohen	Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
1992	Reservoir Dogs	"Mr. White" Larry Dimmick	Also co-producer Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor
	Bad Lieutenant	The Lieutenant	Fantasporto's International Fantasy Film Award for Best Actor Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (2nd place)
	Sister Act	Vince LaRocca
1993	Point of No Return	Victor the Cleaner
	The Piano	George Baines	Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
	Rising Sun	Lt. Tom Graham
	Dangerous Game	Eddie Israel	Venice Film Festival – Golden Ciak for Best Actor
	The Young Americans	John Harris
1994	Monkey Trouble	Azro
	Pulp Fiction	Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe
	Imaginary Crimes	Ray Weiler
1995	Smoke	Augustus "Auggie" Wren	Berlin International Film Festival's Special Jury Prize (shared with Wayne Wang) David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor
	Blue in the Face	Auggie Wren	Also executive producer
	Ulysses' Gaze	A
	Clockers	Det. Rocco Klein
	Get Shorty	Himself	Uncredited cameo
1996	From Dusk till Dawn	Jacob Fuller	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Head Above Water	George
1997	City of Industry	Roy Egan
	Cop Land	Ray Donlan
	FairyTale: A True Story	Harry Houdini
1998	Shadrach	Vernon
	Lulu on the Bridge	Izzy Maurer
	Finding Graceland	Elvis
	Sweets of Roses	Hubie	Voice
	Gunslinger's Revenge (Il mio West)	Johnny Lowen
1999	Three Seasons	James Hager	Also executive producer
	Holy Smoke!	PJ Waters
	Presence of Mind	The Master
2000	U-571	CPO Henry Klough	Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor – Action
	Prince of Central Park	The Guardian
	Little Nicky	Satan
	Viper	Leone
2001	Nailed	Tony Romano
	The Grey Zone	SS-Oberscharführer Eric Muhsfeldt	Also executive producer
	Taking Sides	Major Steve Arnold
2002	Ginostra	Matt Benson
	Red Dragon	Jack Crawford
2003	Crime Spree	Frankie Zammeti
	The Galíndez File	Edward Robards
	Who Killed the Idea?	Private Investigator	Short film
	Dreaming of Julia	Che	Also producer
	Chasing the Elephant	The Mystery Man	Short film
2004	Puerto Vallarta Squeeze	Walter McGrane
	National Treasure	Agent Peter Sadusky
	The Bridge of San Luis Rey	Uncle Pio
2005	Be Cool	Nick Carr
	Shadows in the Sun	Weldon Parish
2006	One Last Dance	Terrtano
	A Crime	Roger Culkin
	The Stone Merchant	The Merchant Ludovico Vicedomini
	Arthur and the Minimoys	Miro	Voice
2007	My Sexiest Year	Zowie
	National Treasure: Book of Secrets	Agent Peter Sadusky
2009	Chaos
	Inglourious Basterds	Allied Commanding Officer	Uncredited voice
	The Ministers	Detective Joseph Bruno
	Wrong Turn at Tahoe	Nino
2010	A Beginner's Guide to Endings	Duke White
	Little Fockers	Randy Weir
	The Last Godfather	Don Carini
2012	Moonrise Kingdom	Commander Pierce
2013	A Farewell to Fools	Father Johanis
	The Power Inside	O'Mansky
	The Congress	Al
2014	Two Men in Town	Bill Agati
	The Grand Budapest Hotel	Ludvig	Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
	Rio, I Love You	Himself	Segment: "O Milagre"
	By the Gun[20]	Salvatore Vitaglia
	Gandhi of the Month	Edward Baker
2015	Youth	Mick Boyle
	Outlaws	The Director	Short film
	The Ridiculous 6	Smiley Harris
2016	Chosen	Papi
	The Comedian	Mac
2017	Madame	Bob Fredericks
	Lies We Tell	Demi
2018	Isle of Dogs	Gondo	Voice
	First We Take Brooklyn	Anatoly
	The Last Man	Noe
2019	Esau	Abraham
	See You Soon	Billy
	The Painted Bird	Priest
	The Irishman	Angelo Bruno
2020	Fatima	Professor Nichols	Post-production
TBA	Lansky	Meyer Lansky	Post-production

Key

	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1966	Hogan's Heroes	German Soldier	Uncredited Episode: "The Great Impersonation"
1966	Dark Shadows	Blue Whale customer	Uncredited 2 episodes
1968	N.Y.P.D.	Ramby	Episode: "Case of the Shady Lady"
1971	Great Performances	Jerry	Episode: "A Memory of Two Mondays"
1973	Kojak	Jerry Talaba	Episode: "Siege of Terror"
1974	The F.B.I.	Ernie	Episode: "Deadly Ambition"
1974	A Memory of Two Mondays	Jerry	Television film
1984	La bella Otero	Ernest Jurgens	Television film
1985	Amazing Stories	Byron Sullivan	Episode: "Vanessa in the Garden"
1986	The Ellen Burstyn Show	Frank Tanner	Episode: "Reading Between the Lines"
1988	The Play on One	Carl	Episode: "Down Where The Buffalo Go"
1989	This Ain't Bebop		Television short
2000	Fail Safe	Brig Gen Warren A. Black	Television film
2002	Saturday Night Live	Siegfried	Episode: "Robert De Niro/Norah Jones"
2006	The Path to 9/11	John O'Neill	2 episodes
2008–2009	Life on Mars (U.S.)	Lieutenant Gene Hunt	17 episodes Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2012	Fatal Honeymoon	Tommy Thomas	Television film
2016	Inside Amy Schumer	Proposition Man	Episode: "Fame"

See also

References

1. https://2mnews.ro/distinctie-actorul-american-harvey-keitel-a-venit-in-leordina-pentru-a-primi-titlul-de-cetatean-de-onoare-al-comunei-maramuresene/
2. "Harvey Keitel". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 27, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
3. "AFI Past Winners - 1993 Winners & Nominees". AFI-AACTA. Archived from the original on October 27, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
4. Lipton, James (October 18, 2007). Inside Inside. Dutton. p. 14. ISBN 9780525950356.
5. "Person details for Harvey Kutel". familyserarch.org. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
6. Schoemer, Karen (November 7, 1993). "Harvey Keitel Tries A Little Tenderness". The New York Times. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
7. Inside the Actors Studio. The Actors Studio, Bravo Network, Betelgeuse Productions. 1998. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
8. HB Studio Alumni
9. Cowie, Peter (1994). Coppola: A Biography. New York: Scribner. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-306-80598-1.
10. Cohn, Lawrence (October 5, 1988). "Acting Jobs Steadiest Since Studio Era". Variety. p. 1.
11. "24th Moscow International Film Festival (2002)". MIFF. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
12. Mitovich, Matt (July 24, 2008). "Scoop! Keitel Lands on Mars as Homicide Boss". TV Guide. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
13. Dolan, Jon (December 13, 2013). "'Beyonce' Breakdown: The Ultimate Guide to Bey's Surprise New Album". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
14. "Monterey Media Acquires Three Films, Including Works Starring Gerard Depardieu and Harvey Keitel". indiewire.com. October 17, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
15. "Direct Line challenges rivals with Harvey Keitel 'fixer' ads". marketingmagazine.co.uk. August 29, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
16. "Meet Winston Wolfe". directline.com. August 30, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
17. John Lombardi (January 12, 1998). "Scenes From a Bad Movie Marriage". New York Magazine.
18. "Scenes from a Bad Barriage". The Independent. March 7, 1998. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
19. Pinto, Goel (October 7, 2001). "American-Jewish Actor Harvey Keitel Gets Married in Jerusalem". Haaretz. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
20. Mottern, James (November 29, 2012). "Slate for 'God Only Knows'". jamesmottern.com. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2013.

External links

• Harvey Keitel at the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Harvey Keitel on IMDb
• Harvey Keitel at the TCM Movie Database
• Harvey Keitel at the Internet Broadway Database
• Harvey Keitel at the Internet Off-Broadway Database

Preceded by Paul Newman	President of the Actors Studio 1994–present With: Al Pacino and Ellen Burstyn	Succeeded by Incumbent