Harvey Keitel

Actor

Harvey Keitel is a movie actor best known for playing streetwise toughs, notably in films by Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. Keitel grew up in Brooklyn and was in the U.S. Marines in Lebanon (1958) before becoming a member of New York's Actor's Studio. He appeared in Scorsese's first feature, Who's That Knocking At My Door (1967, also titled I Call First), and led the cast of Mean Streets (1973), a breakthrough for Keitel, Scorsese and young Robert DeNiro. Keitel then furthered his reputation as an intense portrayer of complex characters in Ridley Scott's The Duellists (1977) and James Toback's Fingers (1978). During the 1980s he made movies in Europe and stepped out of the limelight, then turned in a sturdy performance as Judas in Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). In the early 1990s his career as a reliable character actor took off, with roles in Thelma & Louise (1991, with Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon), Bugsy (1991, Oscar nomination) and The Piano (1993, starring Holly Hunter). He also played Mr. White in Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (a film he helped finance), Mr. Wolf in Pulp Fiction, and a twisted cop in Bad Lieutenant (1992). Despite a solid reputation as a dramatic actor, Keitel has had success at comedy as well, including 1992's Sister Act (with Whoopi Goldberg) and 1995's Smoke (with William Hurt). These days he's usually seen playing level-headed authority figures, such as in U-571 (2000, starring Matthew McConaughey), Red Dragon (2002, starring Ralph Fiennes) and National Treasure (2004, starring Nicolas Cage).

Extra credit: Keitel was married to actress Lorraine Bracco from 1982 until 1993.