Brian Keith - Career

Career

After the war, Keith became a stage actor, branching out into films and then television. In 1952, he made his debut on three episodes of Tales of Tomorrow. These three episodes had led him to other roles such as Police Story, a 1950s anthology show, Eye Witness, The United States Steel Hour, Robert Montgomery Presents, The Motorola Television Hour, Campbell Playhouse, The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse, The Elgin Hour, The Adventures of Ellery Queen, and Jane Wyman Presents: The Fireside Theatre. In 1955, Keith starred in his own series, Crusader, as the fictional journalist Matt Anders, who tries to free captive peoples from communist countries.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Keith also had guest roles on The Ford Television Theatre, Wire Service, Climax!, Zane Grey Theater, Rawhide, Laramie, The Untouchables, The Americans, Outlaws, The Virginian, The Fugitive, two episodes of Wagon Train, five episodes of 77 Sunset Strip, among many others.

In 1960, he won acclaim for his starring role in Sam Peckinpah's short-lived series The Westerner (1960). The following year, Keith appeared as the father of twins in the 1961 film The Parent Trap, co-starring Hayley Mills and Maureen O'Hara. In 1966, Keith co-starred with Steve McQueen as traveling gunsmith Jonas Cord in the western Nevada Smith. In 1968, as widower Jake Iverson, he co-starred with Doris Day in the comedy, "With Six You Get Eggroll."