KEITEL, HARVEY

KEITEL, HARVEY (1939– ), U.S. actor, producer. The son of a Polish mother and Romanian father, Keitel was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of 16 and served in Lebanon. Following his return to the U.S., he worked as a court reporter before being accepted at the New York Actors Studio, where he studied under legendary teachers such as lee strasberg , stella adler , and Frank Corsaro. In 1967, Keitel began his long relationship with director Martin Scorcese, as the two made their respective feature film debuts in Who's That Knocking at My Door. Five years later, Keitel and Scorcese made their breakthrough with Mean Streets (1973). Keitel's relationship with Scorcese continued throughout his career in acclaimed films such as Taxi Driver (1976), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Keitel continued to work with distinctive directors on such breakthough films as Ridley Scott's The Duellists (1977), James Toback's Fingers (1978), Paul Schrader's Blue Collar (1978), and Betrand Tavernier's La Mort en direct (1980). Keitel's stature as an actor grew with his 1991 portrayal of gangster Mickey Cohen in Bugsy, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, and continued with his role as a detective in Thelma and Louise (1991). In 1992, Keitel's performance as Mr. White in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs sustained his successful run, followed by important roles in such films as Abel Ferrara's The Bad Lieutenant (1992) and Jane Campion's The Piano (1993). Later work includes Smoke (1995), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), U-571 (2000), Little Nicky (2000), Red Dragon (2002), and National Treasure (2004). (Walter Driver (2nd ed.)