Steven Keats (born Steven Paul Keitz; February 6, 1945 – May 8, 1994) was an American actor who appeared in such films as '' Death Wish'' (as

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, Western, and wa ...

's character's son-in-law), '' Black Sunday'' and the

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championsh ...

thriller '' Silent Rage''.

Early life and education

Keats was born in the Bronx to Francis (née Rebold) and Daniel David Keitz. His father was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to Polish Jewish parents from Warsaw. His mother was born in New York, also to a Polish Jewish family. As a small child his father was the proprietor of a camera store and the family lived on Bryant Avenue in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris. In the early 1900s, the South Bronx was or ...

. He grew up in Canarsie, Brooklyn, New York. At the time of his graduation from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1962 he was living in

Bay View Houses The Bay View Houses is a housing project of the New York City Housing Authority in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn. It has twenty-three, 8-story buildings with 1,609 apartments. The 34.02-acre complex is bordered by Seaview Avenue, East ...

, a

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...

project.Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016 atabase on-line Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. After serving a tour of duty in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

with the United States Air Force from 1965 to 1966, Keats attended the Yale School of Drama in 1969–1970. He is the father of photographer and actor Thatcher Keats and of Shane Keats.

Career

Keats debuted on Broadway in the second cast of ''

Oh! Calcutta! ''Oh! Calcutta!'' is an avant-garde, risque theatrical revue created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in the West End in 1970. It ran in London ...

'' and appeared in over 80 films and TV shows. He was nominated for an Emmy in 1977 for his role as the ruthless, Great Depression-era entrepreneur Jay Blackman, who clawed his way to the top of the "rag trade", or clothing business, in the 1977 miniseries '' Seventh Avenue''. He also portrayed

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invent ...

on the brink of inventing the electric light bulb in the science fiction TV series ''

Voyagers! ''Voyagers!'' is an American science fiction television series about time travel that aired on NBC from October 3, 1982, to July 10, 1983, during the 1982–1983 season. The series starred Jon-Erik Hexum and Meeno Peluce. Opening narration P ...

''. His film career included roles in ''

The Friends of Eddie Coyle ''The Friends of Eddie Coyle'' is a 1973 American neo-noir crime film starring Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle and directed by Peter Yates. The screenplay by Paul Monash was adapted from the 1970 novel ''The Friends of Eddie Coyle'' by Georg ...

'' (1973), '' Death Wish'' (1974), '' The Gambler'' (1974), '' The Gumball Rally'' (1976), ''

The Last Dinosaur is a 1977 Japanese/American tokusatsu co-production, co-directed by Alexander Grasshoff and Tsununobu Kotani (the latter billed as Tom Kotani),Galbraith IV, Stuart (1994). ''Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films''. McFarland, p. 379 ...

'' (1977), '' Black Sunday'' (1977), '' The Ivory Ape'' (1980), '' Hangar 18'' (1980), '' Silent Rage'' (1982), ''

Turk 182 ''Turk 182'' is a 1985 American action comedy-drama film directed by Bob Clark and starring Timothy Hutton, Robert Urich, Kim Cattrall, Robert Culp, and Peter Boyle. It is also one of the first movies to receive a PG-13 rating. Plot 34- ...

'' (1985), ''

Badge of the Assassin ''Badge of the Assassin'' is a 1985 television film starring James Woods, Yaphet Kotto and Alex Rocco. It was directed by Mel Damski. The film first aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System network on November 2, 1985. The film's production c ...

'' (1985), and the 1982 TV movie of the

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...

book '' The Executioner's Song''. Keats appeared in the 1975 film '' Hester Street''. Set on New York City's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally ...

of the 1890s, Keats played Jake Podkovnik (late of Russia), an assimilated "Amerikaner". He played a deranged bomber in the 1974 ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American Action film, action Crime film, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Tak ...

'' episode "Therapy in Dynamite", and guest-starred on an episode of ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court m ...

'', "Harder Than It Looks". He played Ed McClain on '' Another World'' and guest-starred as Alf Gresham on ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...

''. In 1983 he appeared in the first episode of '' Automan'' as Collins. In 1987, in the final season of Hill Street Blues, he played detective Penzickis. He also played TV reporter Jake Baron on the April 6, 1990 episode of ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the 2016 reboot. In both po ...

'', titled "Rush to Judgement".

Death

On May 8, 1994, Keats was found dead in his apartment in Manhattan. His son said that he committed suicide.

Filmography

References

External links

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Obituary
nytimes.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Keats, Steven 1945 births 1994 deaths American male film actors American male television actors United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War Yale University alumni Male actors from New York City People from Canarsie, Brooklyn 20th-century American male actors People from the Bronx American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Danish-Jewish descent Jewish American male actors Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni United States Air Force airmen 20th-century American Jews