As a younger adult in New York City, before becoming a famous actor, Harvey Keitel was a free-lance court reporter. Keitel studied under both
Stella Adler and
Lee Strasberg, eventually landing roles in some
off-Broadway productions. During this time, Keitel met another struggling filmmaker named
Martin Scorsese and gained a part in Scorsese's student production,
Who's That Knocking at My Door. Since then, Scorsese and Keitel have worked together on numerous projects. Keitel had the starring role in Scorsese's
Mean Streets but this proved to be
Robert De Niro's breakthrough film. He later appeared with De Niro in
Taxi Driver, playing the pimp Sport for
Jodie Foster's character Iris.
Originally, Keitel was to have played the role of Captain Willard in
Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now; however, he was fired early in the production and replaced by
Martin Sheen. After this, it was many years before he would be able to get anything other than minor roles. At the end of the 1970s, Keitel was mostly working in European films for directors such as
Ridley Scott, usually in sinister character parts.
Throughout the 1980s, Keitel continued to find plenty of work on both stage and screen, but was usually in the
stereotypical role of a
thug. This role reached its zenith when Keitel starred in
Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs in 1992, where his performance as "Mr. White" relaunched his semi-slumping career. Ridley Scott also helped Keitel by casting him as the sympathetic policeman in
Thelma and Louise in 1991. That same year he landed a role in
Bugsy, for which he obtained an
Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Since then, Keitel has chosen his roles with care, seeking to change his image and show off a broader acting range. One of those roles was the title character in
Bad Lieutenant, about a self-loathing police lieutenant trying to redeem himself. His decision to co-star in
Jane Campion's The Piano marks the approximate beginning of this phase of Keitel's career. He played an efficient clean-up expert Winston Wolf in
Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. In 1997 he starred in the crime drama,
Cop Land, which also starred
Sylvester Stallone, Ray Liotta, and
Robert De Niro. In 1997 he landed a major role in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's film,
From Dusk Till Dawn. Later roles include the fatherly
Satan in
Little Nicky, a wise Navy man in
U-571, and a diligent
F.B.I. agent in
National Treasure. In 1999, Keitel was replaced with
Sydney Pollack on the set of
Eyes Wide Shut, due to scheduling conflicts. He has shown a willingness to help other start-up filmmakers by appearing in their first feature film. He did this not only for Martin Scorsese and
Quentin Tarantino, but also Ridley Scott (
The Duellists),
Paul Schrader (
Blue Collar),
James Toback (
Fingers), and
Tony Bui (
Yellow Lotus).
He also appeared in the
Steinlager Pure commercials in
New Zealand in 2007. Unlike many American
male actors who either never appear
nude in film or only do so once, Keitel has appeared in several films nude, including
full frontal nudity.
In January 2008, Keitel will be playing Jerry Springer in the NY premiere of
Jerry Springer: The Opera at
Carnegie Hall.
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