Occupation Actor Children Brian Keith | Name Robert Keith Years active 1924–64 | |
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Full Name Rolland Keith Richey Grandchildren Daisy Keith, Y. Robert Keith, Rory Keith, Barbra Keith, Michael Keith, Betty Keith, Mimi Keith Movies The Wild One, Men in War, Written on the Wind, Woman on the Run, Guys and Dolls Similar People Brian Keith, Laszlo Benedek, Peg Entwistle, Daisy Keith, Anthony Mann | ||
Robert Keith (born Rolland Keith Richey, February 10, 1898 – December 22, 1966) was an American stage and film actor who appeared in several dozen films, mostly in the 1950s as a character actor.
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Early life and career
Keith was born Rolland Keith Richey in Fowler, Indiana, the son of Mary Della (née Snyder) and James Haughey Richey. His first wife was Laura Anne Corinne Jackson, the daughter of a prominent Cedar Rapids, Iowa family. He is noted for the variety of his performances both as weak-willed and strong characters such as the father in Fourteen Hours (1951) and a psychopathic killer in The Lineup. His best known performances are as the ineffectual sheriff and father of biker Marlon Brando's love interest in the 1953 film The Wild One and as tougher, no-nonsense cop, this time Brando's antagonist, in the film musical, Guys And Dolls.
Keith also had a starring role in Douglas Sirk's Written on the Wind. He had roles on television, including a role as Richard Kimble's father in The Fugitive and lead roles on episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Ten O'Clock Tiger" & "Final Escape") and The Twilight Zone ("The Masks"), which was his last screen effort, in the role of Jason Foster, the rich New Orleans patriarch to a self-centered, greed-riddled family awaiting their benefactor to die.
Personal life
Keith's second wife was stage actress Helena Shipman, with whom he had a son in 1921 - actor Brian Keith. On April 18, 1927, Keith married Peg Entwistle. They were divorced in 1929. Entwistle, a well-known Broadway actress, committed suicide by jumping from the "H" of the famous Hollywoodland Sign in 1932. He remained married to his fourth wife, Dorothy Tierney, until his death on December 22, 1966.