American actor and producer, born May 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#95).
Served in the United States Marine Corps. In 1958, he was sent to Lebanon during a U.S. military intervention aimed at defusing a major political crisis there.
Worked as a court stenographer in New York City for about 10 years while he was a struggling actor.
Worked as a salesman in a womens shoestore.
(October 1997) Ranked #37 in Empire magazines "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
Has demonstrated extraordinary enthusiasm for working with first-time directors, from Martin Scorsese in 1968 to Ridley Scott , Paul Schrader , James Toback , Quentin Tarantino , and in 1999, Vietnamese-American Tony Bui.
His last name is pronounced "ky-tel".
Listed as one of Entertainment Weekly magazines 25 Best Actors.
Was in a long-term relationship with actress Lorraine Bracco . They had one daughter, Stella Keitel.
Met wife, Daphna Kastner at the Toronto film festival on 11 September 2001 and married her in a secret ceremony in Jerusalem, Israel three weeks later (7 October).
Has one son from his then girlfriend with Lisa Karmazin, a potter in California: Hudson Keitel.
Is a member of the Actors Studio, had studied with Frank Corsaro , Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler.
Operates his own film production company, The Goatsingers, with partner Peggy Gormley.
Shares two roles with Dennis Farina. At the end of Get Shorty , he plays the Dennis Farina character in the movie-within-a-movie. Farina also originated the role of Jack Crawford in Manhunter , a role that Keitel played in the remake Red Dragon .
He was originally cast as Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now . He was let go from the film, just two weeks into filming due to creative differences with director Francis Ford Coppola. Martin Sheen replaced him.
Has appeared in the crime drama Get Shorty and its sequel, Be Cool , but in two completely different roles.
Like his good friend Robert De Niro , Keitel is usually very uncomfortable during interviews, often nervously laughing through them.
Although he frequently plays U.S. Italian characters, Keitel is the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. His mother, Miriam (Klein), was from Romania, and his father, Harry Keitel, was from Poland.
Is one of three actors to play Jack Crawford in the Hannibal Lecter films. He played the role in Red Dragon , while Scott Glenn played the role in The Silence of the Lambs , and Dennis Farina played the role in Manhunter .
Received his Bachelors degree in Fine Arts from the prestigious Actors Studio, New School University in New York City, under Dean James Lipton.
He was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 24th Istanbul Film Festival on April 16, 2005.
(August 2004) Has one son with wife Daphna Kastner : Roman Keitel.
Apocalypse Now , from which he was fired, was loosely based on Joseph Conrad s novel, "Heart of Darkness". Although Keitel did not appear in the final film, he does appear in The Duellists , which is based on another Conrad story.
Presented good friend and fellow actor Michael Madsen with the inaugural Rebel Award for his past, present and ongoing commitment to independent film at Rebelfest 2005, Toronto.
Godfather to good friend Michael Madsen s son Max.
Has played a "cleaner" in both Point of No Return (Victor the Cleaner) and in Pulp Fiction (Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe).
Has appeared in Puerto Vallarta Squeeze opposite Scott Glenn , with whom he shared the role of Jack Crawford in the Hannibal Lecter films.
Resides in New York City. Also owns a home in California.
He studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village, New York City.
Has played both a criminal pursuing a woman who is disguised as a nun by a police lieutenant in Sister Act , and a police lieutenant pursuing two criminals who raped a nun in Bad Lieutenant .
As of 2015, has appeared in six films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Taxi Driver , Bugsy , The Piano , Pulp Fiction , Inglourious Basterds and The Grand Budapest Hotel .
His singing voice in The Bridge of San Luis Rey was dubbed by the actor and baritone Emilio Gavira.
Has starred in the debuts of two iconic directors of different generations: Martin Scorsese s I Call First and Quentin Tarantino s Reservoir Dogs . He also starred in the movies that would launch their careers: Mean Streets and Pulp Fiction .
Harveys favorite actor is Pauly Shore and he claimed in an interview with Larry King that Shores performance in Son in Law nearly made him leave the business to make way for new talent.
Has starred in the debuts of four directors: I Call First by Martin Scorsese , The Duellists by Ridley Scott , Fingers by James Toback and Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino.
As of 2017, he appeared in three films that won that Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival: Taxi Driver , The Piano and Pulp Fiction .
His mother, Miriam Klein, was born in Leordina, Maramures county, Romania.
During the shoot of See You Soon in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Harvey Keitel took some time off and visited his mothers birthplace in Maramures, Northern Romania. His mother lived in the Leordina commune until the age of 12. After visiting the house where his mother grew up, Keitel also visited the Jewish cemetery where his ancestors are buried. Keitel was welcomed with traditional food and drinks and received a traditional costume. The authorities in Leordina named him an honorary citizen of the commune, and promised to restore his mothers old house. [July 2017].
Fear is a marker I need to rise above, otherwise I would drown in my,fear of myself.
Existence is a struggle.
Violence has its own texture, and it needs to be respected, prayed to,idolized, swallowed, digested.
Then I heard this genius teacher Stella Adler - I recommend you read anything you might find about her and if you have anyone interested in theatre, you get them one of her books. .
