| Harvey Keitel | ||||||
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One of Hollywood's most intense performers, Harvey Keitel is the consummate screen anti-hero. His intelligence onscreen is matched only by his incredible presence. This has led many of cinema's darkest directors such as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino to continually work with him. The actor was born in Brooklyn in 1939, and overcame a childhood stuttering problem before starting acting classes. He worked in off-off Broadway coffeehouses and community theater for ten years before coming to prominence in Scorsese's early films. He made his film debut in Scorsese's first effort Who's That Knocking at My Door? (1968), but he gained recognition in 1973 for his excellent performance in Scorsese's breakthrough film Mean Streets. Keitel is regarded as Scorsese's second most important acting collaborator after Robert De Niro, though he became a regular in minor fare while former co-star De Niro went on to glory in some of the most respected films of the decade. Keitel was originally cast in the lead role in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, but he had a falling out with the director and was fired on location in the Philippines. Instead, he was featured in Ridley Scott's The Duellists which marked the beginning of a very busy but unsatisfying 10 years during which Keitel appeared in 20 films and three plays. The role of Judas in Scorsese's controversial The Last Temptation of Christ marked the beginning of Keitel's Hollywood comeback. Of course, he's best known for his violent characters in crime dramas, but he has also demonstrated remarkable talent in period pieces such as The Piano and in comedies like Mother, Jugs and Speed and Sister Act. Most recently, Keitel has become a significant figure in 90s independent filmmaking. He's partly responsible for launching Tarantino's career when he agreed to star in and co-produce Reservoir Dogs (apparently, he was enamored of the script). Working constantly for the past 30 years, Keitel has amassed a body of work far larger (more than 50 films) and more impressive than most of his contemporaries.
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