RIP: Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach died on November 10, 2026 due to heart failure complicated by heart disease. He was 85.
Stacy Keach was born Walter Stacy Keach. His mother was an actress and his father a theater director. Stacy Keach was his high school president the year he graduated. Mr. Keach attended the University of California, Berkeley where he graduated with two B.A. degrees; one in English and the other in Dramatic Arts. Stacy Keach went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Stacy Keach made his debut television performance in 1964, in the series Channing. His first professional stage appearance on Broadway took place in 1965 in the play Danton’s Death. Mr. Keach made his feature film debut in 1968, in the film The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. For the rest of his 64 year acting career, Stacy Keach appeared on stage, television and in feature films.
Some of Stacy Keach’s television work includes: Channing; Macbeth; Great Performances; Caribe (13 episodes); Lincoln; Jesus of Nazareth (4 episodes); The Fitzpatricks; Saturday Night Live; Diary of a Young Comic; Skag; A Rumor of War (2 episodes); The Blue and the Gray (3 episodes); Murder Me, Murder You; Princess Daisy (2 episodes); More Than Murder; Mistral’s Daughter (4 episodes); The Return of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer; The New Mike Hammer (46 episodes); Hemmingway (4 episodes); Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All; The Mysteries of the Dark Jungle (3 episodes); Lincoln and the War Within; Lincoln; The Wild West; Body Bags; In the Heat of the Night (2 episodes); Batman: Mask of the Phantasm; Promised Land; Die Gang (11 episodes); Mike Hammer, Private Eye (26 episodes); Mowgli: The New Adventures of the Jungle Book (26 episodes); Batman Beyond; The Outer Limits; Tesla: Master of Lightning; Rugrats (3 episodes); Gary & Mike; Touched by an Angel (2 episodes); Boomtown; When Eagles Strike; What’s New Scooby-Doo? (2 episodes); Will & Grace; George Lopez; Blackbeard (3 episodes); Galapagos; Prison Break (23 episodes); ER (3 episodes); Live from the Lincoln Center; Meteor (2 episodes); Two and a Half Men (4 episodes); Lights Out (13 episodes); Bored to Death (2 episodes); 30 Rock; Hindenberg: The Last Fight (2 episodes); Brooklyn Nine-Nine; The Neighbors (3 episodes); Sean Saves the World (3 episodes); Law and Order: Special Victims Unit; Full Circle (8 episodes); Hot in Cleveland (2 episodes); Crowded (13 episodes); Ray Donovan (2 episodes); The Simpsons (6 episodes); Blunt Talk (2 episodes); Tokyo Trial (4 episodes); NCIS: New Orleans (6 episodes); Man with a Plan (50 episodes); The Blacklist (6 episodes); Titus (55 episodes) and Blue Bloods (11 episodes).
Some of Stacey Keach’s feature film work includes: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter; Brewster McCloud; Orville and Wilbur; Fat City; The New Centurians; The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean; The Killer Inside Me; Gray Lady Down; Up in Smoke; The Long Riders; Road Games; That Championship Season; Escape from L.A.; American History X; The Bourne Legacy; The Architect; The Great Chameleon; Nebraska; Sin City: A Dame to Kill For; Cell and Jay Kelly.
When I think of Stacy Keach, his role in The Long Riders always comes to mind first. Then I think about what a long award-winning career he had and how he was able to move from drama to comedy with ease.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Stacy Keach’s family, friends and fans.
