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Keith David

Headshot of Keith David. He is an older Black man with short white goatee-style facial hair and streaks of white hair at his temples and on the top of his short curly hair. He is smiling warmly, with twinkling eyes.

© Jonny Marlow / CPi Syndication

Appearing Thursday, July 4th only!

Keith David is a classically trained, multiple Emmy award winning actor. He is currently shooting a new series for producer JJ Abrams and HBO Max entitled Duster. He recently shot The Gray House, a drama series produced by Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman. Previously Keith starred alongside Zoe Saldana in the Netflix limited series From Scratch, for which he won the NAACP Image Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series. Keith was featured in Jordan Peele’s latest film Nope. He starred in the TV series Greenleaf for Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network for 5 seasons. He also recently starred in Black As Night for Blumhouse / Amazon.

In Greenleaf Keith portrayed Bishop James Greenleaf, the charismatic and God-fearing leader of the Calvary Fellowship and the patriarch of the family. The series followed the unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family, their scandalous secrets and lies, and their sprawling Memphis megachurch. The series was praised for its push and pull dynamic, its hypocrisy, and its compelling characters. Keith’s stellar performance was best stated by The Hollywood Reporter, “… Keith David …is perfectly cast as Bishop Greenleaf. Whether he’s playing to the congregation at the altar or getting conspiratorial in a smaller venue, this is an unusually great and meaty role for David.”

Other big screen credits include Keith co-starring in Chadwick Boseman’s last film 21 Bridges. Prior appearances include Night School with Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish and Tales from the Hood 2. Other highlights from Keith’s movie career include the Academy award-winning films Crash and Platoon. He is widely recognized for appearing in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, Requiem for a Dream, Men at Work, They Live, There’s Something About Mary, and The Thing.

Other recent TV credits include Leverage: Redemption, Creepshow, NCIS: New Orleans, Blackish, and MacGyver. Earlier credits include Community, Enlisted, ER, and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. On Broadway, Keith starred in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars and Jelly’s Last Jam, for which he garnered a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.

Keith’s work as a voice actor has made him a household name. His rich and powerful voice has been featured in national commercials, award shows, documentaries, video games, and animation. By virtue of his long collaboration with award winning documentarian Ken Burns, Keith has earned three Emmys for narrating Jackie Robinson, The War, and Unforgivable Blackness – The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. His most recent narration was for Muhammad Ali: A Documentary by Ken Burns. Other voice acting credits include countless fan favorites such as Adventure Time, Bojack Horseman, Rick & Morty, Spawn, and Gargoyles. Keith has lent his voice to many videogame titles. Recently he portrayed the character “Spawn” in the reboot of Mortal Kombat. Other appearances include the Halo series (games 2, 3, and 5), the Saint’s Row series (games 1, 2, and 4), as well as the Mass Effect series (games 1,2, and 3).

Born and raised in New York by his parents Lester and Dolores, Keith became interested in the arts at a very young age. After appearing in his school’s production of The Wizard of Oz, he knew this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He enrolled in New York’s High School of the Performing Arts and continued his studies at The Juilliard School. After graduation, he was immediately hired by Joseph Papp as an understudy for the role of Tullus Aufidius in William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. His work with Mr. Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival launched his incredible career.

In addition to his versatile acting and voiceover work, Keith is also a remarkable singer. He has presented Too Marvelous for Words, in which he portrays the legendary singer Nat King Cole, at venues around the country. He is developing a show about the legendary Blues singer Joe Williams, Here’s to Life.

You can learn more about Keith David him on IMDB, and follow him on his Facebook Page, or on Instagram as @SilverThroat or X (formerly Twitter) as @ImKeithDavid

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