Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956), known professionally as Keith David, is an American film and television actor, voice actor, singer and comedian. He is known for his co-starring role as Childs alongside Kurt Russell in John Carpenter’s The Thing. He has acted in many mainstream films, such as Crash, There’s Something About Mary, Barbershop, and Men at Work.
He had memorable roles in numerous cult favorites, including John Carpenter’s films The Thing (as Childs) and They Live (as Armitage), the Riddick films Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick (as the Imam), General Kimsey in Armageddon, King in Oliver Stone’s Platoon, and Big Tim in Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream. David last starred as Elroy Patashnik in the sixth season of the comedy series, Community. In 2016, he began starring as Bishop James Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf.
His Emmy Award-winning voice-over career includes work as the narrator of numerous Ken Burns films such as The War. Characters that he has voiced include the Arbiter Thel ‘Vadam in Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 5, Goliath on the Disney series Gargoyles, Spawn/Al Simmons on Todd McFarlane’s Spawn which aired on HBO, David Anderson in the Mass Effect series, the Decepticon Barricade in Transformers: The Game, Julius Little in Saints Row, Saints Row 2, and Saints Row IV (as well as making a major guest appearance in the last game voicing himself), Sgt. Foley in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog, the Flame King in Adventure Time, and Chaos in the English versions of Dissidia Final Fantasy, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy and Solovar in The Flash.
David was born in Harlem and raised in Corona, Queens, both in New York City. His mother, Dolores (née Dickenson), was a manager at New York Telephone, and his father, Lester Williams, worked as a director of payroll operations.
He initially intended to become an actor after playing the Cowardly Lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz and went on to study at Manhattan’s High School of Performing Arts. He attended the Juilliard School’s Drama Division (1975–1979, Group 8) where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1979.
In 1980–81, David honed his craft touring the country with John Houseman’s The Acting Company in productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Less than two years later, he went on to star as Childs, opposite Kurt Russell in John Carpenter’s The Thing, and his lengthy on-screen career had begun. In the 1980s run of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, he portrayed Keith the Southwood Carpenter in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segments. He also played Keith, the game coin collector in an episode where Rogers and a small child learn to play the arcade game Donkey Kong.
He went on to appear in films such as Oliver Stone’s Platoon, The Quick and the Dead, They Live (reuniting with The Thing director, John Carpenter), Men at Work, Marked for Death, and Stars and Bars. He played Kirby in the 1995 film Dead Presidents, and he appeared in the 1995 Spike Lee’s film Clockers. He followed this up with roles in other films such as Volcano, Armageddon, There’s Something About Mary, Pitch Black, Barbershop, Agent Cody Banks, The Chronicles of Riddick, Crash, ATL, Delta Farce and First Sunday.
He portrayed “Father” in the romantic comedy action film Mr. and Mrs. Smith. At the same time, he has appeared in numerous independent films including the critically acclaimed Requiem for a Dream, playing the role of Big Tim. He has also appeared extensively in television productions since the 1980s and as a regular character Lieutenant Williams on the short-lived television series The Job. He was a regular on another shoot made for ABC entitled The Big House in 2004. David portrayed Detective Jim Crenshaw in the 2010 horror film Chain Letter.
In 2010, David was cast as Max Malini for the NBC television series The Cape. On April 18, 2011, Keith appeared in the 21st episode of season one of Hawaii Five-0 as criminal tycoon Jimmy Cannon. In 2012, he appeared in the horror film Smiley and the science-fiction drama Cloud Atlas. In 2013, David appeared in the controversial drama Boiling Pot which is based on true events of racism. In 2014, David portrayed Command Sergeant Major Donald Cody in the Fox comedy series Enlisted. Later in 2014, David was cast as Elroy Patashnik in the sixth season of the sitcom Community.
In 2015, David was cast in the leading role alongside Lynn Whitfield in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf.
In 1992, David received a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his performance in Jelly’s Last Jam. David received raves for his Shakespeare work on stage in Central Park, New York City. In 1995, he played the lead as Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars on Broadway.
In May 2006, he appeared in the musical Hot Feet on Broadway in New York. David appeared in the 2013 revival of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Mark Taper Theater in Los Angeles. Directed by Phylicia Rashad, he played the part of innkeeper Seth Holly.
His performance in Ebony Repertory Theatre’s 2014 Paul Robeson by Phillip Hayes Dean previewed Wednesday, March 12, 2014, and opened on Friday, March 21, 2014.
From April 21, 2015, to May 10, 2015, Keith David starred as “Dolomite“ in the Off-Broadway play ToasT. The play (produced by Lemon Andersen and co-starred Hill Harper) was set in the Attica Prison around the time of its 1971 prison riot and told of the lives of its prisoners using poetic prose.
He has married twice. He has one son from his first marriage and two daughters from his second marriage.
David revealed that he is a Christian, and when asked in an interview on his narration work of The Bible if he was a religious man, he quoted: “I’m not a religious man. I’m a man of spirit. Religion can get political. I believe in God and spirit. I believe in church. I’ve been baptized. I’ve gone to Catholic, Baptist, Episcopal and God of Church and Christ.”