Brian Keith

Keith was the stepson of two actresses, first, Peg Entwistle, who committed suicide, jumping from the "H" of the famous Hollywood Sign in 1932. His second stepmother, Dorothy Tierney, remained wed to his father until the latter's death.

He graduated from East Rockaway High School in East Rockaway, New York, in 1939.

In 1945, seeking a commission as an officer in the Merchant Marine after four years' service in the Marine Corps, Keith was rejected due his poor scores in algebra.

He was disgusted in his role on Crusader (1955), because he thought the character was too much a souped-up action hero, not enough a regular guy.

Had boasted of telling CBS executives 'to go fly a kite' when they suggested toning down the content of his series The Westerner (1960) to make it more appealing to children.

Keith was predeceased by two of his children: his first son, Michael, who died in childhood in 1963, and his daughter, Daisy Keith, who committed suicide at age 27.

Keith was the younger of two children, both sons, born to actors Robert Keith (died December 22, 1966) and Helena Shipman (died October 26, 1983), who married in 1919 and divorced in 1925.

Was offered the role of Deke Thornton in The Wild Bunch (1969), but turned it down, because he was under contract working on Family Affair (1966).

Commuted from Los Angeles to Hawaii to film The Brian Keith Show (1972), every week for 2 seasons.

Plays the role of a real president of the United States in both of John Milius's films featuring Theodore Roosevelt. In The Wind and the Lion (1975) he co-starred as Roosevelt, himself. In Rough Riders (1997), Keith had a bit part as Theodore Roosevelt's predecessor, William McKinley (duing the period when Roosevelt served as President McKinley's Assistant Secretary of the Navy).

Keith's third wife and widow, artist Victoria Young, was almost 23 years his junior. A native of Hawaii, she guest-starred with him on two episodes of Hardcastle and McCormick (1983). On The Brian Keith Show (1972), she played a nurse. She and Keith had two children, Bobby (an artist) and Daisy Keith (who committed suicide, predeceasing both her parents).

Guest starred on the first episode of Murder, She Wrote (1984).

At the time of his death, Keith was suffering from emphysema and terminal lung cancer. He had been a heavy smoker until 1986, quitting a decade before his diagnoses. He was also mourning the death of his 27-year-old daughter, Daisy Keith, who had committed suicide 10 weeks earlier. He also had financial problems. All of these were contributing factors to Keith's own suicide on June 24, 1997. His last work appeared after his death: voice-over work in the final episode of Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994), and an on-screen appearance in Follow Your Heart (1999). He is interred in Westwood Village Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California.