Keith David is an Emmy-award-winning American actor and producer. He has over 150 film, television and stage credits to his name. He is known for his work as King in Platoon and Childs in The Thing. He has acted in mainstream films, such as Dead Presidents, Crash, There's Something About Mary, Barbershop, and Men at Work. He portrays Mister Bones, in The CW and former DC Universe series Stargirl.
Biography[]
David was born in Harlem, New York City, and raised in Corona, Queens. His mother, Dolores (née Dickenson), was a manager at New York Telephone, and his father, Lester Williams, worked as a director of payroll operations. He initially intended to become an actor after playing the Cowardly Lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz and went on to study at Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts. He attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division (1975–1979, Group 8) where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1979.
Career[]
In 1980–81, David toured the country with John Houseman's The Acting Company in productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Less than two years later, he went on to star as Childs, opposite Kurt Russell in John Carpenter's The Thing, and his lengthy on-screen career had begun. In the 1980s run of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, he portrayed Keith the Southwood Carpenter in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segments. He also played Keith, the game coin collector in an episode where Rogers and a small child learn to play the arcade game Donkey Kong.
He went on to appear in films such as Oliver Stone's Platoon, They Live, Men at Work, Marked for Death, and Stars and Bars. He played Kirby in the 1995 film Dead Presidents, and he appeared in the 1995 Spike Lee film Clockers. He followed this up with roles in other films such as Volcano, There's Something About Mary, Pitch Black, Barbershop, Agent Cody Banks, Head of State, Hollywood Homicide, Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, The Chronicles of Riddick, Crash, ATL, Delta Farce and First Sunday.
He portrayed "Father" in the romantic comedy action film Mr. & Mrs. Smith. At the same time, he has appeared in numerous independent films including the critically acclaimed Requiem for a Dream, playing the role of Big Tim. He has also appeared extensively in television productions since the 1980s and as a regular character Lieutenant Williams on the short-lived television series The Job. He was a regular on another shoot made for ABC entitled The Big House in 2004. David portrayed Detective Jim Crenshaw in the 2010 horror film Chain Letter.
In 2010, David was cast as Max Malini for the NBC television series The Cape. On April 18, 2011, Keith appeared in the 21st episode of season one of Hawaii Five-0 as criminal tycoon Jimmy Cannon. In 2012, he appeared in the horror film Smiley and the science-fiction drama Cloud Atlas. In 2013, David appeared in the controversial drama Boiling Pot which is based on true events of racism. In 2014, David portrayed Command Sergeant Major Donald Cody in the Fox comedy series Enlisted. Later in 2014, David was cast as Elroy Patashnik in the sixth season of the sitcom Community.
In 2015, David was cast in the leading role alongside Lynn Whitfield in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series Greenleaf.
In 2021, He was cast for Mister Bones in The CW series Stargirl.
Trivia[]
- Keith David previously voiced Despero in the "Hearts and Minds" episode of the Justice League animated series. The character was later voiced in Batman The Brave and the Bold by Kevin Michael Richardson. Other DC/Marvel productions David took part in included:
- Atlas in Teen Titans (2003) episode "Only Human".
- The Centre in Justice League: The New Frontier.
- Mongol in Young Justice (2011) episode "War".
- David provided the voice of Solovar in The Flash (CW Series).
- Other comic based productions that Keith David took part in included:
- T'Challa/Black Panther in the Fantastic Four (1994) episode "Prey of the Black Panther".
- Albert Francis Simmons/Spawn in the HBO animated series Spawn (1997).
- FBI Agent Mosely in Spider-Man The New Animated Series (2003) episode "Royal Scam".
- The Big Man in The Spectacular Spider-Man premiere. The role was continued by Kevin Michael Richardson.
- G'Throkka The Sal Commander in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012).
- T'Chaka in Avengers Assemble (2013) episode "Bashenga".
- David voiced the lead character, Goliath in Disney 1994 animated series Gargoyles. The show included Salli Richardson-Whitfield as a regular, plus recurring performances by Clancy Brown, Tom Wilson, Michael Dorn, Xander Berkeley, Ian Buchanan and Sarah Douglas.
- A native New Yorker, the accomplished singer/songwriter has his own band, which currently performs with symphonies and orchestras across the country.
- David previously worked with Joel McHale in NBC/Yahoo series Community.