Early life

Keith was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Hilda Earle, a worker for the Knox County Board of Education, and Lemuel Grady Keith, Jr., a personnel division worker for the Tennessee Valley Authority. His cousin is Mike Keith, play by play announcer for the Tennessee Titans NFL football team.

Career

Keith had an early supporting role in the prison film Brubaker. He had supporting roles in The Rose, starring Bette Midler, and An Officer and a Gentleman, with Richard Gere. Keith played a local thug in The Great Santini, starred in The Lords of Discipline and White of the Eye, and held a prominent supporting role in U-571 opposite Matthew McConaughey. He played opposite child-star Drew Barrymore in the 1984 hit Firestarter and Brooke Shields in 1992's Running Wild. He is also well known for his role as Jack Parkman in Major League II starring Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger.

Keith played Elvis Presley in the 1988 film Heartbreak Hotel. He directed The Curse and The Further Adventures of Tennessee Buck (in which he also starred). He appeared in Ernest Goes to School as Squint Westwood (a spoof of Clint Eastwood) and in The Indian in the Cupboard as the cowboy "Boo-Hoo" Boone. He played the leading role of Nate Springfield in the 2003 film Hangman's Curse. He also co-starred in The Class, an American sitcom, as Yonk Allen, a retired professional football player. Other roles include parts in Daredevil and the 2002 television film Carrie. He appeared in the 2004 film Raise Your Voice starring Hilary Duff, and the 2006 film Expiration Date.

He has appeared on many television series, including NCIS, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI: Miami, High Incident and Hawaii Five-0. In 2010, Keith co-starred as John Allen, father of Robert Allen (James Wolk) in the short-lived television drama Lone Star.

Personal life

Keith married Nancy Clark, a realtor, in 2000 and the couple resides in Knoxville, Tennessee. They have two children, Presley and Coulter. He is an avid University of Tennessee Volunteers fan and is present on the sidelines for Volunteer football games when his schedule allows.

Keith was a National Advisory Board member and spokesperson for PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children. Keith was present during the sentencing phase for John Couey, who was convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering Jessica Lunsford. Keith said that he was planning on going to Washington, D.C. with Mark Lunsford after the sentencing, to lobby Congress for more support of sex offender laws. Keith gave an interview with Tampa Bay ABC affiliate WFTS-TV, and was quoted saying:

One of the great things I said about Mark (Lunsford) is he wants justice and he wants closure in this, he wants justice for his daughter. But what he really wants is to protect children and if we can get child molesters in jail, that's the way you protect children!

Filmography

As actor

• Happy Days (TV series) (1978) - Fred Collins
• Co-ed Fever (TV series) (1979) - Tuck
• Friendly Fire (television film) (1979) - Leroy Hamilton
• The Great Santini (1979) - Red Petus
• The Rose (1979) - Pfc. Mal
• The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story (television film) (1980) - Wayne Robinson
• Brubaker (1980) - Larry Lee Bullen
• Back Roads (1981) - Mason
• Take This Job and Shove It (1981) - Harry Meade
• An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) - Sid Worley
• The Lords of Discipline (1983) - Will McLean
• Independence Day (1983) - Jack Parker
• Firestarter (1984) - Andrew 'Andy' McGee
• Gulag (television film) (1985) - Mickey Almon
• If Tomorrow Comes (1986) - Daniel Cooper
• White of the Eye (1987) - Paul White
• The Further Adventures of Tennessee Buck (1988) - Buck Malone
• Heartbreak Hotel (1988) - Elvis Presley
• Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North (television film) (1989) - Lt. Col. Oliver North
• The Two Jakes (1990) - Det. Lt. Loach
• Off and Running (1991) - Jack Cornett
• Flesh 'n' Blood (TV series) (1991) - Arlo Weed
• Running Wild (1992) - Jack Hutton
• Caged Fear (1992) - Tommy Lane
• Liar's Edge (1992) - Gary Kirkpatrick
• Distant Cousins (1993) - Harry Young
• Whose Child Is This? The War for Baby Jessica (television film) (1993) - Dan Schmidt
• Major League II (1994) - Jack Parkman
• XXX's & OOO's (television film) (1994) - Bullet Dobbs
• Raw Justice (1994) - Mace
• Temptation (1994) - Bone Babancourt
• Texas (1994) - Jim Bowie
• Ernest Goes to School (1994) - Squint Westwood
• Till the End of the Night (1995) - Garrett Hill
• Deadly Sins (1995) - Jack Gales
• The Indian in the Cupboard (1995) - Boo-hoo Boone
• Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995) - Ray Karnisak
• If Looks Could Kill (television film) (1996) - Det. Peter Stanford
• A Family Thing (1996) - Sonny
• Judge and Jury (1996) - Joseph Meeker
• Overblood (Video game) (1996) - Raz (voice only)
• Invasion of Privacy (1996) - Sgt. Rutherford
• High Incident (TV series) (1996-1997) - Jim Marsh
• Red-Blooded American Girl II (1997) - Mr. Colbert
• Ambushed (1998) - Deputy Lawrence
• The Outer Limits (TV series) (1998) - Major Jason Mercer (episode - "Lithia")
• Perfect Prey (television film) (1998) - Dwayne Alan Clay
• Poodle Springs (television film) (1998) - Larry Victor/Charles Nichols
• A Memory in My Heart (television film) (1999) - Matt
• Question of Privilege (1999) - Carter Roberts
• Secret of the Andes (1999) - Brooks Willings
• One Last Score (1999) - Parole Officer Gilmore
• Walker, Texas Ranger (TV series) (2000) - Cliff Eagleton
• Martial Law (TV series) (2000) - Cliff Eagleton
• U-571 (2000) - Maj. Matthew Coonan
• Arli$$ (TV series) (2000) - Archie Michaels
• Men of Honor (2000) - Captain Hartigan
• Clover Bend (2001) - Mcgrary
• Cahoots (2001) - Harley
• Burning Down the House (2001) - Carolina
• Love and Treason (television film) (2001) - Eli Dixon
• Epoch (television film) (2001) - Mason Rand
• World Traveler (2001) - Richard
• Anthrax (2001) - Adam Stewart
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV series) (2001) - Detective John 'Hawk' Hawkins
• Behind Enemy Lines (2001) - Master Chief Tom O'Malley
• Constant Payne (unaired TV pilot) (2001) - Alexander "Doc" Payne
• The Stickup (2002) - Ray DeCarlo
• Mother Ghost (2002) - Carey
• Carrie (television film) (2002) - Detective John Mulcahey
• Sabretooth (television film) (2002) - Bob Thatcher
• Daredevil (2003) - Jack Murdock
• Hangman's Curse (2003) - Nate Springfield
• Deep Shock (television film) (2003) - Capt. Andy Raines
• Epoch: Evolution (television film) (2003) - Mason Rand
• NCIS (TV series) (2004) - Capt. Mike Watson
• Raise Your Voice (2004) - Simon Fletcher
• All Souls Day (2005) - Sheriff Blanco
• Come Away Home (2005) - Sheriff Jantz
• Path of Destruction (television film) (2005) - Roy Stark
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV series) (2005) - Detective Mark Virgini
• Locusts: The 8th Plague (television film) (2005) - Gary
• Miracle Dogs Too (2006) - Mr. Mulvaney
• In Her Line of Fire (2006) - Vice President Walker
• Expiration Date (2006) - Wild William
• Bottoms Up (2006) - Uncle Earl
• The Class (TV series) (2006-2007) - Yonk Allen
• Succubus: Hell Bent (2007) - Wallace
• Boys of Summerville (2008) - Joe
• CSI: Miami (TV series) (2008) - Evan Caldwell
• Beneath the Blue (2010) - Hawk
• Unrequited (2010) - Nate Grissom
• Lone Star (TV series) (2010) - John Allen
• Hawaii Five-0 (TV series) (2011) - Navy SEAL Team Nine Commanding Officer Wade Gutches Season 2 episode "The hero"
• Nikita (TV series) (2011) - Richard Ellison
• Reckless (TV series) (2014) - Pat McCandless

As director

• The Curse (1987)
• The Further Adventures of Tennessee Buck (1988)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]