Keach is known to television audiences for his portrayal of private detective Mike Hammer on the television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (1984–1987), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe, as Ken Titus on the sitcom Titus (2000–2002) and as the narrator of the crime documentary series American Greed (2007–present). He also had recurring roles on series such as Prison Break (2005–2007), Two and a Half Men (2010) and Blue Bloods (2016–). He won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for playing Ernest Hemingway on the television miniseries Hemingway (1988).
Keach was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Mary Cain (née Peckham), an actress, and Stacy Keach Sr., a theatre director, drama teacher, and actor with dozens of television and theatrical film credits billed as "Stacy Keach."[5] The younger Keach was born with a cleft lip and a partial cleft of the hard palate, and he underwent numerous operations as a child. Throughout his adult life he has usually worn a mustache to hide the scars. He is now the honorary chairman of the Cleft Palate Foundation and advocates for insurance coverage for surgeries.[6]
On December 16, 2010, Keach began performances as patriarch Lyman Wyeth in the off-Broadway premiere of Jon Robin Baitz' acclaimed new play Other Desert Cities. The production transferred to Broadway's Booth Theatre, where it opened November 3, 2011.
He was scheduled to return to Broadway in December 2014 in the revival of Love Letters at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre alongside Diana Rigg, but the production closed before Keach and Rigg began their runs.[17]
Keach was scheduled to play Ernest Hemingway in Jim McGrath's one-man play Pamplona at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago from May 30 to June 25, 2017. Keach appeared in previews of Pamplona, May 19 through May 28, and was well received by audiences. On opening night, he suffered a mild heart attack on stage and the next day, Keach had bypass surgery.[18] On June 2, the Goodman Theatre announced that the entire run would be canceled after Keach's doctors advised a period of rest and recuperation.[19]
Keach returned to the role at The Goodman one year later, July 10 through August 18, 2018. Keach said it would fulfill an obligation "to the play, to the city and to myself".[20][21]
Keach also starred in the TV film Ring of Death playing a sadistic prison warden who runs an underground fight club where prisoners compete for their lives. He had also starred in the movie Planes as Skipper Riley, main character Dusty Crophopper's flight instructor. He reprised the role in Planes: Fire & Rescue.
In 2000, he played Ken Titus, the sarcastic, chain-smoking, five-times-divorced functional alcoholic father of the title character in Fox's sitcom Titus. Cast members of Titus have commented they enjoyed working with Keach because he would find a way to make even the driest line funny.[24]
In November 2013, Keach appeared on the Fox comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, in the episode "Old School".[26] In February 2015, Keach started guest appearing in NCIS: New Orleans as Cassius Pride, father of NCIS Agent Dwayne Pride.[27] He played the elderly father Bob on the 2016 sitcom Crowded. Beginning in 2016, Keach occasionally appears on CBS's drama Blue Bloods as Archbishop Kevin Kearns. In 2017, Keach started guest appearing in Man with a Plan as Joe Burns, father of Adam Burns (played by co-star Matt LeBlanc) and was later promoted to series regular status for season three. He played the role of Robert Vesco, Raymond Reddington's former mentor and criminal muse, on the TV series The Blacklist.
Narrator
Keach narrated several episodes of Nova, National Geographic, and various other informational series. From 1989 to 1992, he was host of the syndicated informational reenactment show, Missing Reward, which had a similar format to the popular Unsolved Mysteries at the time. From 1992 to 1995, he became the voice-over narrator for the paranormal series Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories.[citation needed]
In 2008, Keach once again reprised his famous role as Mike Hammer in a series of full-cast radio dramatizations for Blackstone Audio. (He also arranged and performed the music for the audio dramas. His wife, Malgosia Tomassi, also starred in the dramas, playing Maya Ricci, a yoga instructor.) Keach has also read many of Mickey Spillane's original Mike Hammer novels as Audiobooks.
Keach played the role of John in The Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible, a 22-hour audio version of the RSV-CE translation of the New Testament.[28] He also voiced both Job and Paul the Apostle in The Word of Promise, a 2007 dramatic audio presentation based on the New King James Version.[29]
On January 6, 2014, Keach became the official voice of The Opie and Anthony Channel on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Sirius Channel 206, XM Channel 103).[citation needed] Keach is the voice of CNBC's American Greed, now on their thirteenth season.
Music
Keach is an accomplished pianist and composer. He sang backing vocals on the Judy Collins hit song "Amazing Grace". He is also credited with co-writing a song, "Easy Times", on the Judy Collins live album Living.
He provided music for the film Imbued, directed by Rob Nilssen. He has also completed composing the music for the Mike Hammer audio radio series, "Encore For Murder", written by Max Collins, directed by Carl Amari, and produced by Blackstone Audio.
Personal life
Keach has been married four times: to Kathryn Baker in 1964, to Marilyn Aiken in 1975, to Jill Donahue in 1981, and to Małgorzata Tomassi in 1986.[30] He has two children with Małgorzata: son Shannon Keach and daughter Karolina Keach. In 2015, Keach became a Polish citizen.[31]
His brother James is an actor and television director.
In 1984, Customs & Excise officers arrested Keach at Heathrow Airport for importation of cocaine. Keach pleaded guilty, and served six months at Reading Prison.[32] Keach stated that his time in prison, which he described as the lowest point of his life, and the friendship he formed with a priest during that time led to his conversion to Catholicism. Subsequently, he and his wife met Pope John Paul II. His wife, Małgorzata Tomassi, had attended the same school in Warsaw as the pope.[33]
^"The Plays - Production Details". The Shakespeare Theatre Company. Archived from the original on July 8, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2009. King Lear by William Shakespeare, directed by Robert Falls, 6/16/2009 - 7/26/2009
^ abcdef"Stacy Keach (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 19, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.