Biography

David Keith

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Overview

Born
May 8, 1954 · Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Birth name
David Lemuel Keith
Nickname
- The Deek
Height
5′ 11″ (1.80 m)

Mini bio

David Lemuel Keith was born on May 8, 1954 in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Lemuel Grady Keith Jr. and Hilda Earle. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Theater. Keith had a supporting role in The Rose (1979) starring Bette Midler, had a supporting role in Brubaker (1980), and co-starred with Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). He played a local thug in The Great Santini (1979), starred in The Lords of Discipline (1983) and White of the Eye (1987), and held a prominent supporting role opposite Matthew McConaughey in U-571 (2000). He played opposite Drew Barrymore in the science fiction horror film Firestarter (1984), and opposite Brooke Shields and Martin Sheen in Running Wild (1995).

Keith played Elvis Presley in Chris Columbus' Heartbreak Hotel (1988), the cowboy "Boo-Hoo" Boone in Frank Oz's The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), and the leading role of Nate Springfield in the horror film Hangman's Curse (2003). He also co-starred in the sitcom The Class (2006) as Yonk Allen, a retired professional football player. He has appeared in the horror remake Carrie (2002), Daredevil (2003), Raise Your Voice (2004) starring Hilary Duff, and Expiration Date (2006). He has also appeared on the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001), CSI: Miami (2002), NCIS (2003), and Hawaii Five-0 (2010). He also co-starred as Robert Allen's father John Allen on the short-lived Fox drama series Lone Star (2010).

David Keith married realtor Nancy Clark in 2000 and the couple reside in Knoxville, Tennessee.
- IMDb mini biography by: <smonso61@maine.maine.edu>

Family

Spouse
Children
Parents

Trademarks

He often plays characters who have a strong moral core, yet who have serious internal conflicts central to the storyline and to other characters
Frequently plays military characters

Trivia

He owns a cattle ranch in Tellico Plains, Tennessee.
He is on the national advisory board for the National Association to Protect Children (http://www.protect.org) and lobbies on behalf of stronger penalties for crimes against children.
He was college friends with Bill Bates, who played sixteen years for the Dallas Cowboys. He was seen on the sidelines of many Cowboys games during Bates's career.
His father, Lemuel Grady Keith Jr., was a personnel division worker for the Tennessee Valley Authority. His mother, Hilda Earle, was a worker for the Knox County Board of Education.
Has starred in two unrelated adaptations of Stephen King novels, both focusing on girls with supernatural powers: Firestarter (1984) and the television remake Carrie (2002).