Keith Larsen (born Keith Larsen Burt, June 17, 1924 – December 13, 2006) was an American actor who starred in three short-lived television series between 1955 and 1961.

Background

Larsen was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

in 1924. He was of Norwegian descent. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. After he was demobilized he became involved in stage acting in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

Career

Larsen was tapped by a talent scout to play a small uncredited role in 1951 movie '' Operation Pacific''. In 1952, Larsen played Ens. Barney Smith, an aircraft carrier fighter pilot, in the film '' Flat Top''. In 1953, Larsen played the title role of Ed Reed, the Kid in the film '' Son of Belle Starr'', in which his character tries to live an upright life despite the heritage of his two lawless parents, Belle Starr and Jim Reed. Larsen's career was most notable for his work in four weekly television series, including playing Bart Adams in The Hunter (1954), '' Brave Eagle'' (1955), ''

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

'' (1958) (in which he starred as Major Robert Rogers), and ''

The Aquanauts ''The Aquanauts'' (later known as ''Malibu Run'') is an American adventure/ drama series that aired on CBS September 14, 1960 - February 22, 1961 (or September 14, 1960 - September 27, 1961). The series stars Keith Larsen, Jeremy Slate and Ro ...

'' (1960). In the 1955–1956 television season, Larsen starred in the 26-week

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

'' Brave Eagle''. Larsen portrayed Brave Eagle, a peaceful young

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

chief. The program was unusual in that it reflected the Native American viewpoint in the settlement of the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

. Larsen's principal co-stars were Kim Winona (1930–1978) as Morning Star, Anthony Numkena, a

Hopi The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado ...

Indian then using the stage name Keena Nomkeena, as Keena, Brave Eagle's foster son, and

Bert Wheeler Bert Wheeler (April 7, 1895 – January 18, 1968) was an American comedian who performed in vaudeville acts, Broadway theatre, American comedy feature films, and television. He was teamed with Broadway comic Robert Woolsey, and they went on to ...

(1895–1968) as Smokey Joe. He guest starred in 1957 on three CBS programs, as Paul in the "Anitra Dellano Story" of '' The Millionaire'', and in two

anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and ge ...

, as Howard in "The Blackwell Story" on ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 134 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of t ...

'', and as Eddie Seabord in the episode "Father and Son Night" on ''

General Electric Theater ''General Electric Theater'' is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations. Radio After an audition show ...

'', hosted by future U.S. President

Ronald W. Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party and became an important figure in ...

. In the 1958–1959 season, Larsen starred in the M-G-M/

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

series ''

'', the story of

Major Robert Rogers Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Rogers (7 November 1731 – 18 May 1795) was a British Army officer and frontiersman. Born in Methuen, Massachusetts, he fought in King George's War, the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. During ...

, an American soldier in upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

Buddy Ebsen Buddy Ebsen (born Christian Ludolf Ebsen Jr.; April 2, 1908 – July 6, 2003), also known as Frank "Buddy" Ebsen, was an American actor and dancer. One of his most famous roles was as Jed Clampett in the CBS television sitcom ''The Beverly Hillb ...

co-starred as

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

Hunk Marriner and Don Burnett as Ensign Towne. In 1959, Larsen guest starred on the CBS series '' Men into Space'' in the role of Jim Nichols in the episode " Christmas on the Moon". Also in 1959 Larsen played Major Rogers in the film Mission of Danger co-starring Buddy Ebsen. In 1960–1961, Larsen appeared as 36-year-old former Navy diver Drake Andrews in the CBS adventure series ''

'', an

Ivan Tors Ivan Tors (born Iván Törzs; June 12, 1916 – June 4, 1983) was a Hungary, Hungarian playwright, film director, screenwriter, and Film producer, film and television producer with an emphasis on non-violent but exciting science fiction, underwat ...

Production renamed in March 1961 as Malibu Run. His co-star was

Jeremy Slate Jeremy Slate (born Robert Bullard Perham; February 17, 1926 – November 19, 2006) was an American film and television actor, and songwriter. He is best known for portraying Larry Lahr in ''The Aquanauts'' (1960–1961), Chuck Wilson in ''One ...

(1926–2006). A sinus operation required Larsen to withdraw from the show, and he was replaced by

Ron Ely Ronald Pierce Ely (June 21, 1938 – September 29, 2024) was an American actor and novelist, best known for portraying Tarzan in the 1966–1968 NBC series ''Tarzan (1966 TV series), Tarzan'' and playing the lead role in the film ''Doc Savage: ...

as Mike Madison. The script line indicated that the character Andrews had rejoined the Navy. After ''The Aquanauts'', Larsen appeared as Jack Bennett in the 1961 episode "Blondes Prefer Gentlemen" of the ABC series '' The Roaring Twenties'', with

Donald May Donald Adam May (February 22, 1929 – January 28, 2022) was an American actor who was known for his roles in ''Colt .45 (TV series), Colt .45'' (1957–1960) and ''The Edge of Night''. Early years May was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son o ...

, Rex Reason, and Dorothy Provine. His other television roles, all in 1960, were as John Edwards in "The Hostage" episode of the ABC and syndicated western series, ''

Tombstone Territory ''Tombstone Territory'' is an American Western television series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959. The first season was sponsored by Bristol-Myers (consumer products) and the seco ...

'', as John Napier in "Nightmare Crossing" episode of NBC's ''

The Man and the Challenge ''The Man and the Challenge'' is an American adventure fiction television series about a scientist who tests problems of human survival. It stars George Nader and aired on NBC during the 1959–60 television season. Synopsis Dr. Glenn Barton i ...

'', and as the Indian, Blue Raven, in the episode "Seed of Hate" in NBC's western '' Wichita Town''. Larsen's later acting work was in '' Women of the Prehistoric Planet'' (1966), three films made in the Philippines, Caxambu!, (1967) ''Mission Batangas'', where he began a new phase as a director as well as an actor and '' The Omegans'' (1968) with

Ingrid Pitt Ingrid Pitt (born Ingoushka Petrov; 21 November 193723 November 2010) was a Polish-British actress and writer, best known for her work in British horror cinema of the 1970s. Early life Ingoushka Petrov was born in Warsaw, Poland, one of two ...

. He travelled to Japan to direct and co-star in ''The Walking Major'', ''Mission Batanagas'' as Colonel Turner (1968), then did ''Night of the Witches'' as Reverend Ezra Jackson (1970), ''The Trap on Cougar Mountain'' (1972), ''Whitewater Sam'' in the title role (1977), and his last appearance, ''Young and Free'' (1979). He also directed and produced some of these same films.

Personal life

Larsen was married three times. In 1953, he wed actress Susan Cummings. They had one child. After their divorce, he married actress Vera Miles on July 16, 1960. He was married to Vera Miles until 1971. Their son, Erik Larsen, was born in April 1961. After Larsen and Miles divorced, he married Trang Thu Nguyen in 1983. The couple had one child. The marriage ended when Larsen died, aged 82, in Santa Barbara, California. Larsen adhered to

Mormonism Mormonism is the theology and religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationism, Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to va ...

Filmography

References

External links