35 Facts About Harvey Keitel

1.

Harvey Keitel is an American actor known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters.

2.

Harvey Keitel rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running association with director Martin Scorsese, starring in six of his films: Who's That Knocking at My Door, Mean Streets, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ, and The Irishman.

3.

Harvey Keitel won the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Piano.

4.

Harvey Keitel has acted in the Wes Anderson films Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Isle of Dogs.

5.

Harvey Keitel played FBI Agent Peter Sadusky in both National Treasure, and National Treasure: Book of Secrets and reprised his role in the Disney+ series National Treasure: Edge of History.

6.

Harvey Keitel was born in New York City, on May 13,1939, the youngest child of Jewish immigrants.

7.

Harvey Keitel's parents owned and ran a luncheonette, and his father worked as a hat maker.

8.

Harvey Keitel grew up in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, with his elder sister, Renee, and elder brother, Jerry.

9.

Harvey Keitel enlisted in the Marines at the age of 17.

10.

Harvey Keitel studied under both Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg and at the HB Studio, eventually landing roles in some Off-Broadway productions.

11.

Since then, Scorsese and Harvey Keitel have worked together on several projects.

12.

Harvey Keitel had the starring role in Scorsese's Mean Streets, which proved to be Robert De Niro's breakthrough film.

13.

Harvey Keitel re-teamed with Scorsese for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, in which he had a villainous supporting role, and appeared with Robert De Niro again in Scorsese's Taxi Driver, playing the role of Jodie Foster's character's pimp.

14.

In 1977 and 1978, Harvey Keitel starred in the directorial debuts of Paul Schrader, Ridley Scott, and James Toback.

15.

Harvey Keitel was involved with the first week of principal photography in the Philippines.

16.

Coppola was not happy with Harvey Keitel's take on Willard, stating that the actor "found it difficult to play him as a passive onlooker".

17.

Harvey Keitel continued to do work on both stage and screen in the 1980s, often in the stereotypical role of a thug.

18.

Harvey Keitel played a corrupt police officer in the 1983 thriller Copkiller, before taking a supporting role in the romantic drama Falling in Love, starring Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep.

19.

Harvey Keitel co-starred with Jack Nicholson in the Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes, directed by Jack Nicholson.

20.

Harvey Keitel starred in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs in 1992, where his performance as "Mr White" took his career to a different level.

21.

Since then, Harvey Keitel has chosen his roles with care, seeking to change his image and show a broader acting range.

22.

Harvey Keitel co-starred in the Jane Campion film The Piano in 1993, and played Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, an apparent reprise of his Victor the Cleaner character from 1993's Point of No Return.

23.

Harvey Keitel starred as a police detective in Spike Lee's Clockers.

24.

In 1996, Harvey Keitel had a major role in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's film From Dusk till Dawn, and in 1997, he starred in the crime drama Cop Land, which starred Sylvester Stallone, Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro.

25.

In 1999, Harvey Keitel was replaced by Sydney Pollack on the set of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, due to shooting conflicts, and appeared in Tony Bui's award-winning directorial debut, Three Seasons.

26.

In 2001 Harvey Keitel played opposite roles: as a US Army denazification investigator in the film Taking Sides and as SS-Oberscharfuhrer Erich Muhsfeldt in the film The Grey Zone.

27.

In 2002, at the 24th Moscow International Film Festival, Harvey Keitel was honored with the Stanislavsky Award for his outstanding achievement in the career of acting and devotion to the principles of Stanislavsky's school.

28.

Harvey Keitel appeared in the Steinlager Pure commercials in New Zealand in 2007.

29.

Harvey Keitel has appeared nude in several films, including full frontal nudity in Bad Lieutenant and The Piano.

30.

In January 2008, Harvey Keitel played Jerry Springer in the New York City premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera at Carnegie Hall.

31.

In 2008, Harvey Keitel was cast in the role of Detective Gene Hunt in ABC's short-lived US remake of the successful British time-travel police drama series Life on Mars.

32.

In 2022, Harvey Keitel starred in Steven Brand's noir thriller Joe Baby alongside Dichen Lachman, Willa Fitzgerald and Ron Perlman.

33.

Harvey Keitel has recently collaborated with Wes Anderson acting in minor roles in his films Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Isle of Dogs.

34.

Harvey Keitel reunited with Martin Scorsese after 30 years appearing as mobster Angelo Bruno in his crime film The Irishman alongside Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.

35.

Harvey Keitel had two more children after Stella: a son from his relationship with Lisa Karmazin, and a son from his marriage to Kastner.