Brian Keith was born Robert Keith Richey, Jr. in Bayonne, New Jersey to actor Robert Keith and actress Helen Shipman. He made his acting debut in a silent film, Pied Piper Malone (1924). After high school, he joined the U.S. Marines (1942-1945) where he served during World War II as an aerial gunner and received an Air Medal. After the war, he became a stage actor, branching into television and films in the late 1940s. During the later part of his life he suffered from emphysema and lung cancer. He was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on June 24, 1997, just two months after his daughter had committed suicide. He is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California.
Keith worked steadily in television from the 1950s until the end of his life and made numerous guest appearances. Series in which he had a starring role are listed here.
