Theatre Keach played the title role in
MacBird!, an
Off-Broadway anti-war satire by
Barbara Garson staged at the
Village Gate in 1966. In 1967, he was cast, again Off-Broadway, in
George Tabori's
The Niggerlovers with
Morgan Freeman in his acting debut. To this day, Freeman credits Keach with teaching him the most about acting. In 1967, Keach also starred in
We Bombed in New Haven, a play by
Joseph Heller that premiered in New Haven at the
Yale Repertory Theatre and later was produced on Broadway. Keach first appeared on
Broadway in 1969 as
Buffalo Bill in
Indians by
Arthur Kopit. Early in his career, he was credited as Stacy Keach Jr. to distinguish himself from his father. He played the lead actor in
The Nude Paper Sermon, an
avant-garde musical theatre piece for media presentation, commissioned by
Nonesuch Records by composer
Eric Salzman. Keach has won numerous awards, including
Obie Awards,
Drama Desk Awards and
Vernon Rice Awards. In the early 1980s, he starred in the title role of the national touring company of the musical
Barnum, composed by
Cy Coleman. In 1991 and 1996 he won
Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Actor for his work in
Richard III and
Macbeth with the
Shakespeare Theatre Company. In 1998, he was one of the three characters in a London West End production of ''
'Art''' with
David Dukes and
George Wendt. In 2006, Keach performed the lead role in
Shakespeare's
King Lear at the
Goodman Theatre in Chicago. In 2008, he played
Merlin in
Lerner and Loewe's
Camelot, done with the
New York Philharmonic. In the summer of 2009,
Shakespeare Theatre Company remounted the production of
King Lear at
Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, D.C., for which Keach won another
Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actor. He has played the
title role in two separate productions of
Hamlet. In 2008 and 2009, Keach portrayed
Richard M. Nixon in the U.S. touring company of the play
Frost/Nixon. 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. 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. 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. 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".
Film Keach's early roles included
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968),
Brewster McCloud (1970),
Doc (1971), and
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972). He played a rookie policeman in
The New Centurions (1972), opposite
George C. Scott. That year he also starred in
Fat City, a boxing film directed by
John Huston. He was the first choice for the role of
Damien Karras in the 1973 movie
The Exorcist; after a few screen tests the role was given to
Jason Miller. He went on to play Kane in the 1980 movie
The Ninth Configuration, written and directed by
Exorcist author
William Peter Blatty; this role was itself intended for
Nicol Williamson. Keach was narrator of the 1973 Formula One racing documentary
Champions Forever, The Quick and the Dead by Claude du Boc. He portrayed
Martin Luther in the 1974 film
Luther. He played
Cheech & Chong's police department nemesis Sgt. Stedenko in
Up in Smoke (1978) and
Nice Dreams (1981). In 1978, he played a role of explorer and scientist in
Slave of the Cannibal God, co-starring former
Bond girl Ursula Andress. He played
Barabbas in 1977's
Jesus of Nazareth, and portrayed Jonas Steele, a
psychic and Scout of the
United States Army in the 1982
CBS miniseries,
The Blue and the Gray. He later portrayed and is best known as
Mike Hammer in the
CBS television series ''
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer and The New Mike Hammer from 1984 to 1987. He returned to the role of Hammer in Mike Hammer, Private Eye, a new syndicated series that aired from 1997 to 1998. In 1988, he starred as Ernest Hemingway in the made-for-TV movie Hemingway''. He also hosted segments for the Encore Mystery premium cable network in the late 1990s and 2000s. 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. Keach lent his voice to
The Simpsons episodes "
Hungry, Hungry Homer", "
Old Yeller-Belly", "
Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play", and "
Waiting for Duffman", portraying Duff Brewery President Howard K. Duff VIII, and the
Batman Beyond episode "Lost Soul" as Robert Vance, a deceased businessman resurrected as an
artificial intelligence. He also guest starred in a 2005 episode of the sitcom
Will & Grace, and had a recurring role as Warden Henry Pope in the
Fox drama
Prison Break. Keach was in an episode of Perry Mason. In 2006, Keach acted in the mini-series
Blackbeard, made for the Hallmark Channel. It was directed by
Kevin Connor, and starred
Angus Macfadyen, with
Richard Chamberlain,
David Winters, and
Jessica Chastain. In 2010, he appeared as a recurring character in the comedy series
Two and a Half Men. In 2011, Keach co-starred as "Pops", the father of the main character in the short lived boxing drama series
Lights Out. In November 2013, Keach appeared on the
Fox comedy series
Brooklyn Nine-Nine, in the episode "Old School". In February 2015, Keach started guest appearing in
NCIS: New Orleans as Cassius Pride, father of NCIS Agent Dwayne Pride. He played the elderly father Bob on the 2016 sitcom
Crowded. Beginning in 2016, Keach appeared occasionally 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 and narrator 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. From 1999 to 2007, he served as the narrator for the
NBC video clip show ''
World's Most Amazing Videos, which was later seen on Spike TV. For the PBS series American Experience, he narrated The Kennedys
, among others. Keach could also be heard narrating the CNBC series American Greed, from its 2007 inception to the 2022-23 season. He currently hosts The Twilight Zone'' radio series. 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. 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. 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).
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 ==