Came to prominence in the early films of Martin Scorsese after working in theatre for around ten years, particularly Mean Streets and Taxi Driver. Faded into anonymity in the eighties even though he turned in some impressive performances in films by some of America's leading directors. He re-emergered into star status with his role as Mr. White in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant, The Piano 0110912.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#95). [1995] Served in the U. S. Marines. Worked as a court stenographer in NYC for about 10 years while he was a struggling actor. Worked as a salesman in a women's shoestore. Dated Andie MacDowell. [1999] Ranked #37 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Has demonstrated extraordinary enthusiasm for working with first-time directors, from Martin Scorsese in 1968 to Ridley Scott, Paul Schrader, James Toback, Quentin Tarantino, and in 1999, Vietnamese-American Tony Bui. His last name is pronounced (kuh-taal). Listed as one of Entertainment Weekly's 25 Best Actors. [1998] Daughter, Stella Keitel, with Lorraine Bracco. Met second wife, Daphna Kastner at the Toronto film festival on 11 September 2001 and married her in a secret ceremony in Jerusalem, Israel three weeks later (7 October). Has a son, Hudson, born to then girlfriend Lisa Karmazin, a potter in California, in the summer of 2001. Married Israeli-born wife Daphna Kastner in Jerusalem. A member of The Actors Studio, had studied with Frank Corsaro, Lee Strasberg & Stella Adler. Operates his own film production company, The Goatsingers, with partner Peggy Gormley. Shares two roles with Dennis Farina. At the end of Get Shorty, he plays the Dennis Farina character in the movie-within-a-movie. Farina also originated the role of Jack Crawford in Manhunter, a role that Keitel played in the remake Red Dragon. He was originally cast as Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now. He was let go from the film, just two weeks into filming due to creative differences with director Francis Ford Coppola. Martin Sheen replaced him. Appears in Get Shorty and its sequel, Be Cool, but in two completely different parts. Like his good friend Robert De Niro, Keitel is usually very uncomfortable during interviews, often nervously laughing through them. Although he frequently plays Italian-American characters, Keitel is of fully Jewish- Polish heritage. Is one of three actors to play Jack Crawford in the Hannibal Lecter films. He played the role in Red Dragon, while Scott Glenn played the role in The Silence of the Lambs, and Dennis Farina played the role in Manhunter. Played Jodie Foster's pimp in Taxi Driver, and her future mentor in Red Dragon, the prequel to The Silence of the Lambs. Graduated from the BFA program at the prestigious Actors Studio, New School University in New York city, under Dean James Lipton. He was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 24th Istanbul Film Festival. (16 April 2005) Son, Roman, with wife Daphna Kastner. [August 2004] Apocalypse Now, from which he was fired, was loosely based on Joseph Conrad's novel, "Heart of Darkness". Although Keitel didn't appear in the final film, he does appear in The Duellists, which is based on another Conrad story. Presented good friend and fellow actor Michael Madsen with the inaugural Rebel Award for his past, present and ongoing commitment to independent film at Rebelfest 2005, Toronto. He is Godfather to Michael Madsen's son Max. Played a "cleaner" in both The Assassin (Victor the Cleaner) and in Pulp Fiction (Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe").