Harvey Keitel

Biography

American actor and producer Harvey Keitel was born on May 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York City. An Oscar and Golden Globe Award nominee, he has appeared in films such as 'Martin Scorsese (I)' (qv)'s _Mean Streets (1973)_ (qv) and _Taxi Driver (1976)_ (qv), 'Ridley Scott' (qv)'s _The Duellists (1977)_ (qv) and _Thelma & Louise (1991)_ (qv), 'Peter Yates (I)' (qv)' _Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976)_ (qv), 'Quentin Tarantino' (qv)'s _Reservoir Dogs (1992)_ (qv) and _Pulp Fiction (1994)_ (qv), 'Jane Campion' (qv)'s _The Piano (1993)_ (qv), 'Abel Ferrara' (qv)'s _Bad Lieutenant (1992)_ (qv), 'Robert Rodriguez (I)' (qv)'s _From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)_ (qv), 'James Mangold' (qv)'s _Cop Land (1997)_ (qv), 'Paolo Sorrentino' (qv)'s _Youth (2015/I)_ (qv). He is regarded as one of the greatest method actors ever. Along with actors 'Al Pacino (I)' (qv) and 'Ellen Burstyn' (qv), he is the current co-president of the Actors Studio. Keitel studied under both 'Stella Adler' (qv) and 'Lee Strasberg' (qv) and at the HB Studio, eventually landing roles in some Off-Broadway productions. During this time, Keitel auditioned for filmmaker 'Martin Scorsese (I)' (qv) and gained a starring role as "J.R.", in Scorsese's first feature film, _I Call First (1967)_ (qv). Since then, Scorsese and Keitel have worked together on several projects. Keitel had the starring role in Scorsese's _Mean Streets (1973)_ (qv), which also proved to be 'Robert De Niro' (qv)'s breakthrough film. Keitel re-teamed with Scorsese for _Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)_ (qv), in which he had a villainous supporting role, and appeared with 'Robert De Niro' (qv) again in Scorsese's _Taxi Driver (1976)_ (qv), playing the role of Jodie Foster's pimp.