Keith William Richards (born April 11, 1963) is an American actor, best known for playing Phil in the 2019 film ''

Uncut Gems ''Uncut Gems'' is a 2019 American crime thriller film directed by Josh and Benny Safdie, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bronstein. It stars Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, and Eric Bogosian ...

''.

Early life

Keith Williams Richards was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to

Stuyvesant Town Stuyvesant may refer to: People * Stuyvesant family * Peter Stuyvesant (1592–1672), the last governor of New Netherland * Peter Stuyvesant (1727–1805), New York landowner and merchant * Peter Gerard Stuyvesant (1778–1847), lawyer, landown ...

in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Richards spent his early childhood in Stuyvesant Town until the age of 10. His family then relocated to

South Brooklyn South Brooklyn is a historic term for a section of the former City of Brooklyn – now the New York City borough of Brooklyn – encompassing what are now the Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Park Slope, Winds ...

, where he grew up. During the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, Richards was in Manhattan, where he and his colleagues hurried to help the victims.

Career

Keith at howard ratner lookalike contest

Richards began his career as a

longshoreman A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockworke ...

, working on the Red Hook Piers for American Stevedore. After several years, he transitioned into the Carpenters Union, a family tradition. His appearance into acting came about in unexpected manner. One day, while walking toward the L train Street in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, he was approached by Michele Mansoor, an associate of casting director Jennifer Venditti. She inquired about his acting experience, and Richards, having been previously approached but never pursued acting, replied that he had none. Despite his initial reluctance, Mansoor persuaded him to attend an audition. This chance encounter eventually led to his debut role in the film

in 2019 and the film was nominated for multiple awards and won seven of them. Following his debut, he started appearing in a variety of films In 2024, Richards played his first lead role, in the sports film Eephus. In 2025, Richards starred in 8:48, a short film and music video directed by Kevin Lombardo. The project, featuring lyrics by attorney and songwriter Matthew Baione, was produced in collaboration with Pitta & Baione LLP and Keep Good Company Records. 8:48 premiered at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum on January 30, 2025, and was filmed at the historic St. George Theatre on Staten Island.

Personal life

In an interview with

Uproxx Uproxx Studios (stylized as ''UPROXX'') is an American music, entertainment and popular culture website and content studio. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater. The website was acquired in 2014 by Woven Digital (which later ...

, Richards revealed that he was diagnosed with

throat cancer Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...

. Richards explained in the same interview that his cancer came from being exposed to

Ground Zero A hypocenter or hypocentre (), also called ground zero or surface zero, is the point on the Earth's surface directly below a nuclear explosion, meteor air burst, or other mid-air explosion. In seismology, the hypocenter of an earthquake is its p ...

toxic dust. He has since been able to seek medical treatment through benefits of the World Trade Center Health Program.

Filmography

Film

Music Videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Keith William Living people 1963 births American male actors