Know Your “That Guy”: Keith David

Keith David

Born: June 4, 1956

Number of Roles: 182

Best Known for Playing: The voice of authority or easily irritated and hot tempered guys.

First Appearance: Uncredited Club Patron in Disco Godfather (1979)

Most Recent Appearance: Reverend Davis in Death at a Funeral (2010)

Awards: Winner of Two Emmy Awards and nominated for another; Nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards

Notable Roles:

• Childs in The Thing
• King in Platoon
• Frank Armitage in They Live
• Goliath in Disney’s Gargoyles
• Lieutenant Ed Fox in Volcano
• Spawn in Spawn Animated Series
• Imam in Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick
• The Cat in Coraline
• Arbiter in Halo 2 and 3
• Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog

Fun Facts:

• Keith David saved Charlie Sheen’s life during the filming of Platoon.  They were shooting scenes in a Huey helicopter when it banked too hard and Sheen would have gotten thrown out if David hadn’t grabbed him.
• David often collaborates with Ron Perlman, especially in video games.
• First actor to provide voices for two Academy Award nominated films in the same year (Coraline and The Princess and the Frog)

See Keith David in Action (The classic fist fight from They Live):