Keats was terrific in his film debut as Jackie Brown. I especially love the scene in which Brown displays open contempt for the hippie wannabes who he considers to be total rank amateurs.
You've seen Guy Standeven in something because the man was in everything.

To me, as a Boston native of partial Irish descent, he seemed a little out of place in the film, with his very New York Jewish accent and mannerisms. Then again, for all I know, his character was Jewish and from New York. His performance wasn't bad, but Robert Mitchum really nailed his role and was the most authentic, I think.

It WAS Mitchum's best, IMO. And it's hard for me to say anybody in particular steals the film. The cast is just that good.

Agreed as good as Mitchum is ,Keats and Richard Jordan steal the film. Funny cause it's probably one of Mitchum's top 3 or 4 roles.

the most annoying thing about him in DEATH WISH is the way he said "DAD" to Bronson. but he played the part well, because he's supposed to be annoying. this becomes apparent when bronson, who has become a working vigilante, is playing happy (game show sounding) music in his orange painted apartment, and keats says something like "You don't seem very depressed, dad" and Bronson snaps at him. awesome scene.
dont forget he played larry schiller in THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG. not a perfect film but he did well in that.

I didn't see Death Wish, but if he could play an ultra-annoying character really well it should have given him a lot of work. It's not easy to play annoying characters, even tho it seems like it ought to be.

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Keats was an excellent actor. It may not have been the career that caused him to take his life - we'll never know. He wasn't preppy enough to fit in with the Hurt crowd, but he did deserve better roles than he got, at least on film.

Steven Keats is an actor I'd totally forgotten about. I remember that he killed himself, actually am surprised to learn that it was only about fifteen years ago. It seems longer. Keats was a fine actor, and I agree that he was superb in
Eddie Coyle
. The guy had it. Even the hard to please John Simon praised Keats for his excellent performance in
Black Sunday
, in which he didn't even seem to be acting. If I didn't know better I'd have thought it was a real Israeli military op, not an American actor.
His decline is sad and seems fairly abrupt. He was an up and comer back in the 70s, was overshadowed in life (and in death) by, among others, John Cazale. Maybe he wasn't as well connected to big time directors and stars as some of his contemporaries. Keats never came on strong the way, say, Jeff Goldblum did. Goldblum had a
schtick
. Keats was an actor. He wasn't good looking like Eric Roberts (who had problems of his own), didn't seem to have the right vibe to fit in with those Yalie-
Big Chill
actors so beloved by the critics if not always the public (Meryl Streep, Treat Williams, William Hurt). It's like Keats was an odd man out. He wasn't mainstream enough to go the good 'ol boy route that Ned Beatty sometimes took, so he had nothing to fall back on.
There's a moving tribute to Keats on his message board by an old college friend of his. Keats was apparently a really good guy, and a war hero to boot! I feel sad just thinking about him. It's like the guy just fell through the cracks and scarcely anyone remembers him. Well, I do. We do.

I recall him being very good as Robert Shaw's headstrong young commando sidekick(they were both playing Israeli military agents) in the great 1977 thriller "Black Sunday."
And I know this is weird, but: I give him credit for appearing in movies with that big gap in his front teeth. The British actor Terry-Thomas had a gap that he used for comedy, but Keats played dramaticand realistic. A lot of people have gap teeth.
If he had that sad end, I'm sorry. But he was in movies, so we can still go back and visit him

Yeah but ending it on a soap opera isn't quite the heights he could hit. He was really good in Eddie Coyle.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX??????

I think he had a good career: he was a working actor. Most are not.