Biography

Keach was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of Mary Cain (née Peckham), an actress, and Walter Stacy Keach, Sr., a drama coach, actor, writer, and producer. His brother, Stacy Keach, is an American actor and narrator. Keach received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama, and is also a classically trained Shakespearean actor.

He is a patron of Meningitis UK.

Career

Best known as a producer and director, Keach has also acted, most famously portraying Jesse James in the 1980 film The Long Riders, a film which he co-wrote and produced. Johnny Cash was so taken by the film that he and June Carter became close friends with Keach and asked him to be involved in the development of Walk the Line, which Keach produced. Keach also appeared in numerous supporting roles in films such as National Lampoon's Vacation. He also played a leading role in the 1985 comedy film Moving Violations as Deputy Hank Halik.

He was the director of the 1993 TV series and 1999 film Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman which starred his wife, Jane Seymour, and other episodic television. Most recently he has directed and produced Waiting for Forever and Blind Dating. He directed a documentary, Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me, about country music singer Glen Campbell and his battle with Alzheimer's disease, that was released in October 2014.

In 2010, James Keach received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Personal life

He was married to Holly Collins, sister of Judy Collins. Their marriage produced a son, Kalen Keach.

In 1993, Keach married actress Jane Seymour. On April 12, 2013, it was announced that the couple separated. The divorce was finalized in December 2015.

Filmography

Films (Acting)

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Wilbur and Orville: The First to Fly	1973	Orville Wright
The Noah	1975
Sunburst	1975	Levon
Cannonball	1976	Wolfe Messer
Death Play	1976	Steve
FM	1978	Lt. Reach
Comes a Horseman	1978	Emil Kroegh
Hurricane	1979	Sgt. Strang
Smokey and the Hotwire Gang	1979	Joshua
The Long Riders	1980	Jesse James
The Legend of the Lone Ranger	1981	The Lone Ranger/John Reid (voice) (uncredited)
National Lampoon's Vacation	1983	Motorcycle Cop
Love Letters	1984	Oliver Andrews
The Razor's Edge	1984	Gray Maturin
Moving Violations	1985	Deputy Halik
Stand Alone	1985	Detective Isgrow
Wildcats	1986	Frank Needham
Evil Town	1987	Christopher Fuller
The Experts	1989	Yuri
Options	1989	Ed Sloan
The Dance Goes On	1992	James Smith
The New Swiss Family Robinson	1998	Jack Robinson
Walk the Line	2005	Warden

Films (Directing/Producing/Writing)

Title	Year	Role	Notes
The Long Riders	1980	Executive Producer
Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me	2014	Director

Television

The Blue and the Gray (miniseries) Original release November 14, 1982 - November 17, 1982 Stacy Keach as Jonas Steele Original network CBS

Title	Year	Role	Notes
NET Playhouse (TV series) - The Wright Brothers	1971	Orville Wright	National Educational Television (NET) (Precursor to PBS)
Deadly Visitor (TV movie)	1973		ABC
Kung Fu (TV series) - The Assassin	1973	Abe Jones	ABC
Kojak (TV series) - Girl in the River	1973	Fred Strong	CBS
Ironside (TV series) - The Taste of Ashes	1974	Walter Portman	NBC
The Rookies (TV series) - Legacy of Death	1974	Stoney Putnam
Movin' On (TV series) - The Trick Is to Stay Alive	1974	Ron
Cannon (TV series) - The Man Who Couldn't Forget	1974	Johnny Cabe
Miles to Go Before I Sleep (TV movie)	1975	Man in Bar
The Hatfields and the McCoys (TV movie)	1975	Jim McCoy
The Manhunter (TV series) - Man in a Cage	1975	Reichart
Police Woman (TV series) - Ice	1975	Cliff Hummel / Del Franklin
S.W.A.T. (TV series) - A Coven of Killers	1975	Arlie Warren
Switch (TV series) - The Body at the Bottom	1975	Dean 'Skip' Crowe
Starsky and Hutch (TV series) - Lady Blue	1975	James March Wrightwood
Cannon (TV series) - Cry Wolf	1976	Jo Anne's Brother
Joe Forrester (TV series) - The Boy Next Door	1976
Six Characters in Search of an Author (TV movie)	1976	The Son
The Quest (TV series) - Day of Outrage	1976	Blue
The Blue Hotel (TV movie)	1977	Johnnie
Black Sheep Squadron (TV series) - Trouble at Fort Apache	1977
Kill Me If You Can (TV movie)	1977	Officer #1
Starsky and Hutch (TV series) - I Love You, Rosey Malone	1977	Ed Chambers
The Tony Randall Show (TV series) - Bobby vs. Michael	1977	Bastian
The Next Step Beyond (TV series) - The Haunted Inn	1978
Nowhere to Run (TV movie)	1978	McEnerney
Lacy and the Mississippi Queen (TV movie)	1978	Parker
Quincy M.E. (TV series) - A Small Circle of Friends	1979	Gary Harlan
Like Normal People (TV movie)	1979	Robert Meyers Jr.
The Great Cash Giveaway Getaway (TV movie)	1980	Bondo
Big Bend Country (TV movie)	1981	Ian McGregor
Thou Shalt Not Kill (TV movie)	1982	Jeff Tompkins
Till Death Do Us Part (TV movie)	1982	Robert Craig
Magnum, P.I. (TV series) - ...By Its Cover	1983	Killer
Wishman (TV movie)	1983	Galen Reed
The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains (TV movie)	1987	Father Vincent Godfrey Burns
Good Cops, Bad Cops (TV movie)	1990	Frank Moran
Murder in High Places (TV movie)	1991	Levering
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (TV series) - Hostage	1997	Brent Currier
Enslavement: The True Story of Fanny Kemble (TV movie)	2000	Dr. Huston
Perfectly Prudence (TV movie)	2011	Mister
This One 'n That One (TV series)	2012	Big Jim

[ Source: Wikipedia ]