Keir Dullea
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tall, slim, remote and boyishly handsome, one of Keir Dullea's most
arresting features is his pale blue eyes, which
featured in a number of watershed films of the
1960s. His major breakthrough (providing him legendary status) was the starring role as astronaut Dave Bowman in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. After that, he persevered quite well on T.V.
and (especially) the stage in a career now surpassing five decades.
Dullea, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, is the son of two book-store
owners, and he was raised in New York's Greenwich Village section. He
graduated from George School in Pennsylvania and attended both Rutgers
and San Francisco State before deciding to pursue summer stock and
regional theatre. Attending the Neighborhood Playhouse, he made his New
York City acting debut in a production of "Sticks and Bones" in 1956.
His first big break came with the pilot program of the
Route 66 (1960) series, and he
proceeded to find other TV roles in
Naked City (1958),
Checkmate (1960) and various
dramatic programs.
Following stage work in "Season of Choice" (1959) and "A Short Happy
Life" (1961), Dullea made an auspicious film debut in a leading role
with The Hoodlum Priest (1961),
playing a troubled street gang member who crosses paths with
Don Murray's determined minister. The
young actor's characters from then on seemed to walk a dangerous
tight-rope of emotions, and his apparent versatility at such a young
age led him to a number of other psychologically scarred portrayals.
Tending to play men younger than he really was, none were more
disturbed than his haphephobic adolescent David (Dullea was twenty-six
at the time) in the deeply felt love story
David and Lisa (1962). Paired
beautifully with Janet Margolin's
schizophrenic Lisa, Dullea won the Golden Globe Award for "Most
Promising Male Newcomer."
In the World War II military drama
The Thin Red Line (1964)he
played an edgy, nervous-eyed private who is pushed to his murderous
brink by a brutal sergeant on Guadacanal. In
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)
Dullea portrayed the incestuous brother of
Carol Lynley, who may or may not figure
into the disappearance of Lynley's child. Keir also costarred as the
mysterious intruder who inserts an emotional wedge between gay lovers
Anne Heywood and
Sandy Dennis in the ground-breaking
film about homosexuals, The Fox (1967).
Topping that off, Dullea played the salacious Marquis De Sade himself
in a relatively tame, internationally flavored production of
De Sade (1969). The apex of his film
career, however, came with his lead role in
Stanley Kubrick's epic science-fiction
film,
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968),
as the astronaut Dr. David Bowman.
In the realm of stage acting, Keir made his debut on Broadway in 1967
with "Dr. Cook's Garden" costarring Burl Ives,
and Dullea won some "flower power" stardom two years later as a
sensitive young blind man who attempted to wriggle free of his
protective, overbearing mother. His character also pursues love with a
free-spirited girl, played by
Blythe Danner, in the play "Butterflies
Are Free." By the time the movie of this story was released in 1972
both stars had been replaced by Goldie Hawn
and Edward Albert.
Dullea next went abroad to seek film work in England and in Canada, but
with lukewarm results. He continued to show his odd-man-out appeal on
the Broadway stage as "Brick" in 1970, and in the Broadway revival of
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1974, acting along with
Elizabeth Ashley as "Maggie,"
and in the black comedy "P.S. Your Cat Is Dead!" one year later.
In the years since then, Dullea has acted steadily on the stage in New
York City, and in U.S. regional theatres, in productions of "Sweet
Prince," "The Seagull" and "The Little Foxes,"among others. His
cinematic roles since 1970 have included another "mysterious stranger"
in The Next One (1984), and he also
reprised his "David Bowman" role in
2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), the sequel to "2001: A Space
Odyssey." Dullea has had four wives: his first was actress
Margot Bennett, and he and his
third wife, Susie Fuller (whom he met during the British performances
of "Butterflies are Free" in London), cofounded the Theater Artists
Workshop of Westport in 1983. Dullea, Fuller and her two children
resided in London for quite a while. After Fuller's death in 1998,
Dullea married for the fourth time in 1999 to actress
Mia Dillon, who is best known for portraying
the character "Babe" in in the play, "Crimes of the Heart" in New York
City. Just a few weeks later they appeared together in the play
"Deathtrap."
Into the millennium, Keir has been featured on film, including the sci-fi adventure Alien Hunter (2003); the senator in The Good Shepherd (2006), along with Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, which was directed by Robert De Niro; the romantic comedy The Accidental Husband (2008) starring Uma Thurman; the touching Mark Ruffalo social drama Infinitely Polar Bear (2014); and a prime role in the romantic mystery April Flowers (2017). On TV he was seen in such popular programs as "Law & Order," "Castle" and "Damages." and was seen in the recurring role of a religious cult leader in the fascinating series The Path (2016).
arresting features is his pale blue eyes, which
featured in a number of watershed films of the
1960s. His major breakthrough (providing him legendary status) was the starring role as astronaut Dave Bowman in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. After that, he persevered quite well on T.V.
and (especially) the stage in a career now surpassing five decades.
Dullea, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, is the son of two book-store
owners, and he was raised in New York's Greenwich Village section. He
graduated from George School in Pennsylvania and attended both Rutgers
and San Francisco State before deciding to pursue summer stock and
regional theatre. Attending the Neighborhood Playhouse, he made his New
York City acting debut in a production of "Sticks and Bones" in 1956.
His first big break came with the pilot program of the
Route 66 (1960) series, and he
proceeded to find other TV roles in
Naked City (1958),
Checkmate (1960) and various
dramatic programs.
Following stage work in "Season of Choice" (1959) and "A Short Happy
Life" (1961), Dullea made an auspicious film debut in a leading role
with The Hoodlum Priest (1961),
playing a troubled street gang member who crosses paths with
Don Murray's determined minister. The
young actor's characters from then on seemed to walk a dangerous
tight-rope of emotions, and his apparent versatility at such a young
age led him to a number of other psychologically scarred portrayals.
Tending to play men younger than he really was, none were more
disturbed than his haphephobic adolescent David (Dullea was twenty-six
at the time) in the deeply felt love story
David and Lisa (1962). Paired
beautifully with Janet Margolin's
schizophrenic Lisa, Dullea won the Golden Globe Award for "Most
Promising Male Newcomer."
In the World War II military drama
The Thin Red Line (1964)he
played an edgy, nervous-eyed private who is pushed to his murderous
brink by a brutal sergeant on Guadacanal. In
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)
Dullea portrayed the incestuous brother of
Carol Lynley, who may or may not figure
into the disappearance of Lynley's child. Keir also costarred as the
mysterious intruder who inserts an emotional wedge between gay lovers
Anne Heywood and
Sandy Dennis in the ground-breaking
film about homosexuals, The Fox (1967).
Topping that off, Dullea played the salacious Marquis De Sade himself
in a relatively tame, internationally flavored production of
De Sade (1969). The apex of his film
career, however, came with his lead role in
Stanley Kubrick's epic science-fiction
film,
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968),
as the astronaut Dr. David Bowman.
In the realm of stage acting, Keir made his debut on Broadway in 1967
with "Dr. Cook's Garden" costarring Burl Ives,
and Dullea won some "flower power" stardom two years later as a
sensitive young blind man who attempted to wriggle free of his
protective, overbearing mother. His character also pursues love with a
free-spirited girl, played by
Blythe Danner, in the play "Butterflies
Are Free." By the time the movie of this story was released in 1972
both stars had been replaced by Goldie Hawn
and Edward Albert.
Dullea next went abroad to seek film work in England and in Canada, but
with lukewarm results. He continued to show his odd-man-out appeal on
the Broadway stage as "Brick" in 1970, and in the Broadway revival of
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1974, acting along with
Elizabeth Ashley as "Maggie,"
and in the black comedy "P.S. Your Cat Is Dead!" one year later.
In the years since then, Dullea has acted steadily on the stage in New
York City, and in U.S. regional theatres, in productions of "Sweet
Prince," "The Seagull" and "The Little Foxes,"among others. His
cinematic roles since 1970 have included another "mysterious stranger"
in The Next One (1984), and he also
reprised his "David Bowman" role in
2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), the sequel to "2001: A Space
Odyssey." Dullea has had four wives: his first was actress
Margot Bennett, and he and his
third wife, Susie Fuller (whom he met during the British performances
of "Butterflies are Free" in London), cofounded the Theater Artists
Workshop of Westport in 1983. Dullea, Fuller and her two children
resided in London for quite a while. After Fuller's death in 1998,
Dullea married for the fourth time in 1999 to actress
Mia Dillon, who is best known for portraying
the character "Babe" in in the play, "Crimes of the Heart" in New York
City. Just a few weeks later they appeared together in the play
"Deathtrap."
Into the millennium, Keir has been featured on film, including the sci-fi adventure Alien Hunter (2003); the senator in The Good Shepherd (2006), along with Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, which was directed by Robert De Niro; the romantic comedy The Accidental Husband (2008) starring Uma Thurman; the touching Mark Ruffalo social drama Infinitely Polar Bear (2014); and a prime role in the romantic mystery April Flowers (2017). On TV he was seen in such popular programs as "Law & Order," "Castle" and "Damages." and was seen in the recurring role of a religious cult leader in the fascinating series The Path (2016).