Keir Atwood Dullea ( ; born May 30, 1936) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of astronaut David Bowman in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and its 1984 sequel, 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
His other film roles include David and Lisa (1962), Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) and Black Christmas (1974). Dullea studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. He has also performed on stage in New York City and in regional theaters; he has said that despite being more recognized for his film work, he prefers the stage.
Early life
Keir Atwood Dullea was born on May 30, 1936, at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Margaret () and Robert Dullea. His mother was of Scottish descent, and his father was a second-generation Irish American.
He was raised in the Greenwich Village section of New York City, where his parents ran a bookstore. He graduated from George School in Pennsylvania, attended Rutgers University and San Francisco State University, then pursued an acting career.
Career
Dullea made his debut in a television adaptation of Mrs. Miniver (1960) with Maureen O'Hara, playing the German pilot. He was also in the television films Give Us Barabbas! (1961) and an adaptation of All Summer Long (1961). He was in demand for guest appearances on television shows such as Route 66, The New Breed, Checkmate and Cain's Hundred. Dullea made his film debut in 1961 in Hoodlum Priest, cast on the strength of his work on Route 66. His performance was well received. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Disney offered long-term contracts (roles in Two Weeks in Another Town and Bon Voyage) but Dullea turned both down. He did accept a non-exclusive contract with Seven Arts and shot a pilot for a series that was not picked up. He appeared in Los Angeles on stage in The Short Happy Life.
In 1962, Dullea starred with Janet Margolin in David and Lisa, a film based on the book by Theodore Isaac Rubin, M.D., a psychiatrist who treated the two mentally ill adolescents portrayed in the film. It was a low-budget film that became a break-out hit, making over $2 million, and turning Dullea into an established name. Film Daily voted him "find of the year".
Dullea appeared on television in shows, including Empire, The United States Steel Hour, Bonanza, Naked City, Going My Way, The Eleventh Hour, Alcoa Premiere, Kraft Mystery Theater, Channing and 12 O'Clock High. He was second-billed in Mail Order Bride (1964), written and directed by Burt Kennedy. Dullea starred in the first screen adaptation of James Jones' The Thin Red Line (1964), then did a television adaptation of Pale Horse, Pale Rider and went to Italy to star in The Naked Hour (1964).
Dullea went to England to make Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965), which co-starred Dullea with Laurence Olivier, Carol Lynley and Noël Coward. Although they shared no scenes in the film, when Coward initially met Dullea on the set, he uttered the often quoted line "Keir Dullea, gone tomorrow." Nonetheless, he was voted one of 1965's "stars of tomorrow".
Dullea played the son of Lana Turner's character in Ross Hunter's remake of Madame X (1966), which underperformed commercially. He then appeared with Anne Heywood and Sandy Dennis in the Canadian box office hit, The Fox (1967). His first Broadway appearance was in 1967 in Ira Levin's Dr. Cook's Garden with Burl Ives, which only had a short run.thumb|upright=0.8|Spacesuit worn by Keir Dullea as [[David Bowman (Space Odyssey)|David Bowman in 2001: A Space Odyssey]]
In 1968, Dullea appeared as astronaut David Bowman in Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which became a box-office success and is recognized by critics, filmmakers and audiences as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. His line "Open the pod bay doors please, HAL" is #78 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 film quotes.
Dullea accepted the title role in the 1969 film De Sade, playing the title role (the Marquis de Sade).
He had success on Broadway, starring in the 1969 hit comedy Butterflies Are Free with Eileen Heckart and Blythe Danner. In the play, he introduced the title song written by Stephen Schwartz (later recording the tune on an album for Platypus Records). The play was a huge hit, running for 1,128 performances, although Dullea did not appear in the film version.
He did a series of television films: Black Water Gold (1970), Montserrat (1971) and A Kiss Is Just a Kiss (1971). He did a thriller in Italy, Devil in the Brain (1972), and guest-starred on McMillan & Wife.
Dullea worked in Canada on the film Paperback Hero (1973) and worked in that country for a number of years. He had the lead role in a Canadian television series The Starlost (1973) but it only ran eighteen episodes.
He was a regular voice on CBS Radio Mystery Theater, which ran from 1974 to 1982. He was credited on five episodes. Dullea was in Paul and Michelle (1974) and had a major role in the Canadian production, 1974 cult classic Black Christmas as Peter Smythe, Jess Bradford's boyfriend.
Also in 1974, he played Brick in the Tennessee Williams's drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opposite Elizabeth Ashley and Fred Gwynne on Broadway which ran 160 performances.
He also starred in the 1975 play P.S. Your Cat Is Dead.
He appeared in the Canadian film Welcome to Blood City (1977), The Haunting of Julia (1977), Three Dangerous Ladies (1977), the British Leopard in the Snow (1977), the Australian Because He's My Friend (1978), and some films for television: The Legend of the Golden Gun (1978), an adaptation of Brave New World (1980), The Hostage Tower (1980), No Place to Hide (1981) and BrainWaves (1982).
In 1981, Dullea moved to Westport, Connecticut.
In 1982, he starred in an off-Broadway production of A. E. Hotchner's Sweet Prince under the direction of his wife Susie Fuller. The following year, the couple co-founded the Theater Artists Workshop of Westport.
He was in Blind Date (1984) and The Next One (1984). In 1984, he reprised his role as David Bowman in 2010: The Year We Make Contact, Peter Hyams' sequel to 2001. 2010 was nominated for five Academy Awards.
Dullea returned to Broadway when he joined the cast of the successful Doubles (1985–86). He toured with a theatre show Keir Dullea and Friends (1988).
In 1990, he said "My career has a lot to do with choices I made in my life. My focus over the last, oh, at least 10 years has been the theater. I really haven't made very much effort with films. I did more than 20 plays before I ever did The Hoodlum Priest, and (after that) I've done more than 20 films... It wasn't as if the industry had fired me; I had just made certain life decisions I suddenly was having to pay the piper for. So there was no film career at all. I'm always working (in theater). If I'm not engaged on stage in something, I'm working with my wife on another project. I no longer live my life waiting for my phone to ring to give me permission to work." In 2000, he appeared in The Audrey Hepburn Story as Hepburn's father Joseph. That year he was also in Songs in Ordinary Time (2000), and episodes of Witchblade, Ed, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law and Order.
In summer 2002, he performed in the Washington Shakespeare Theatre's production of The Little Foxes. And the following year he could be seen in Alien Hunter (2003).
In 2006, he played Andrew Keener in Cost of Capital, which was the sixteenth episode of the sixteenth season of the original Law & Order American television series, and he had a role as a U.S. Senator and a "major influence and mentor" to Matt Damon's character, in Robert De Niro's film The Good Shepherd (2006). He was the narrator in an off-Broadway production of Mary Rose (2007). Dullea was in The Accidental Husband (2009), All Me, All the Time (2009), Castle, Fortune (2009) and Damages.
In 2009, Dullea performed the role of Brooks in the stage production of The Shawshank Redemption in Dublin, Ireland. In April 2010, he performed the role of Tom Garrison in the off-Broadway production of the Robert Anderson play, I Never Sang for My Father co-starring Oscar-nominated actress Marsha Mason (as Margaret Garrison) and film and stage actor Matt Servitto (as Gene Garrison).
He was in Isn't It Delicious (2013) with his wife Mia Dillon, Infinitely Polar Bear (2014), Space Station 76 (2014) and April Flowers (2017).
thumb|250px|right|Keir Dullea with Katharina Kubrick, Ron Sanders, [[Jan Harlan and Christopher Nolan at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival]]
Between July 10 and August 2, 2015, Dullea and Dillon were joined by Todd Cerveris, Cameron Clifford, Don Noble and Christa Scott-Reed in the Bucks County Playhouse production of Ernest Thompson's On Golden Pond.
He had a regular role in The Path (2014–16) and could be seen in Fahrenheit 451 (2018). Dullea was cast as Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood, a high-ranking UNSC officer, in the Paramount+ television series Halo which premiered on .
Personal life
Dullea has been married four times, first to stage and film actress Margot Bennett from 1960 until their divorce in 1968. He was married from 1969 to 1970 to Susan Lessons.
In 1972, Dullea married Susie Fuller, who had two daughters from a previous relationship. The couple met during the London run of Butterflies Are Free. Dullea, Fuller and her children lived in London for several years. She died in 1998 after 26 years of marriage.
In 1999, Dullea married actress Mia Dillon. They divide their time between an apartment in Manhattan and a house in Connecticut.
Filmography
Films
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1960
|Mrs. Miniver
|German Pilot
|television film
|-
|1961
|Hoodlum Priest
|Billy Lee Jackson
|
|-
|1962
|David and Lisa
|David Clemens
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1964
|The Naked Hours
|Aldo
|
|-
|Mail Order Bride
|Lee Carey
|
|-
|The Thin Red Line
|Private Don Doll
|
|-
|1965
|Bunny Lake Is Missing
|Stephen Lake
|
|-
|1966
|Madame X
|Clayton Anderson Jr.
|
|-
|1967
|The Fox
|Paul Grenfel
|
|-
|1968
|2001: A Space Odyssey
|Dr. David Bowman
|
|-
|1969
|De Sade
|Louis Alphonse Donatien, Marquis de Sade
|
|-
|1970
|Black Water Gold
|Christofer Perdeger
|television film
|-
|1971
|Montserrat
|Montserrat
|television film
|-
| rowspan="2" |1972
|Devil in the Brain
|Oscar Minno
|
|-
|Pope Joan
|Dr. Stevens
|uncredited role
|-
|1973
|Paperback Hero
|Rick Dylan
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |1974
|Paul and Michelle
|Garry
|
|-
|Black Christmas
|Peter Smythe
|
|-
|1976
|Law and Order
|Johnny Morrison
|television film
|-
| rowspan="3" |1977
|Three Dangerous Ladies
|Dr. David Priestly
|Segment: The Mannikin
|-
|Welcome to Blood City
|Lewis
|
|-
|Full Circle
|Magnus Lofting
|released as The Haunting of Julia
|-
|1978
|Because He's My Friend
|Eric
|television film
|-
|1978
|Leopard in the Snow
|Dominic Lyall
|
|-
|1979
|The Legend of the Golden Gun
|General George Armstrong Custer
|television film
|-
| rowspan="2" |1980
|Brave New World
|Thomas Grambell
|television film
|-
|The Hostage Tower
|Mr. Smith
|television film
|-
|1981
|No Place to Hide
|Cliff Letterman
|television film
|-
|1983
|BrainWaves
|Julian Bedford
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1984
|Blind Date
|Dr. Steiger
|
|-
|The Next One
|Glenn / The Next One
|AKA The Time Traveller
|-
|2010: The Year We Make Contact
|Dr. David Bowman
|
|-
|1992
|Oh, What a Night
|Thorvald
|direct-to-video
|-
| rowspan="3" |2000
|The Audrey Hepburn Story
|Joseph Hepburn-Ruston
|television film
|-
|La Divine Inspiration
|William Shakespeare
|short film
|-
|Songs in Ordinary Time
|Sam Fermoyle
|television film
|-
| rowspan="2" |2003
|Three Days of Rain
|unknown
|
|-
|Alien Hunter
|Secretary Bayer
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |2006
|The Day My Towers Fell
|Harry Gold
|short film
|-
|A Lonely Sky
|Older Man
|short film
|-
|The Good Shepherd
|Senator John Russell Sr.
|
|-
|2008
|The Accidental Husband
|Karl Bollenbecker
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2009
|Fortune
|Jonah Pryce
|
|-
|All Me, All the Time
|Jake
|
|-
| rowspan="1" |2012
|HENRi
|Henri (voice)
|short film
|-
| rowspan="1" |2013
|Isn't It Delicious
|Bill Weldon
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2014
|Infinitely Polar Bear
|Murray Stuart
|
|-
|Space Station 76
|Mr. Marlowe
|
|-
|2017
|April Flowers
|Mr. X
|
|-
|2018
|Fahrenheit 451
|The Historian
|television film
|-
|2019
|Valley of the Gods
|Ulim
|
|-
|2022
|Sonder
|Eli
|short film
|
|-
|2026
|Beer and Hot Chocolate
|Dave
|*Upcoming short film
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1960
|Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
|Tim Dryden
|episode: "Cry Ruin"
|-
| rowspan="4" |1961
|Route 66
|Paul
|episode: "Black November"
|-
|Hallmark Hall of Fame
|Elisha
|episode: "Give Us Barabbas!"
|-
|Play of the Week
|Unknown
|episode: "All Summer Long"
|-
|The New Breed
|Frank
|episode: "Prime Target"
|-
| rowspan="3" |1961–1963
|The United States Steel Hour
|Don McCabe
|4 episodes
|-
|Alcoa Premiere
|Maples / Lincoln "Linc" Ketterman / Tommy Miller / Eric Green
|4 episodes
|-
|Naked City
|Joey Ross / Les Gerard
|2 episodes
|-
| rowspan="5" |1962
|Checkmate
|Eddie Phillips
|episode: "A Very Rough Sketch"
|-
|Cain's Hundred
|Alec Benden
|episode: "A Creature Lurks in Ambush"
|-
|Kraft Mystery Theater
|unknown
|episode: "Cry Ruin"
|-
|The DuPont Show of the Week
|Lieutenant
|episode: "The Outpost"
|-
|The Eleventh Hour
|Jerry Bullock
|episode: "Cry a Little for Mary Too"
|-
| rowspan="3" |1963
|Empire
|Skip Wade
|episode: "Stopover on the Way to the Moon"
|-
|Bonanza
|Bob Jolley
|episode: "Elegy for a Hangman"
|-
|Going My Way
|Dennis Brady
|episode: "One Small Unhappy Family"
|-
| rowspan="2" |1964
|Channing
|unknown
|episode: "The Trouble with Girls"
|-
|The Wednesday Play
|unknown
|episode: "Pale Horse, Pale Rider"
|-
|1965
|Twelve O'Clock High
|Lieutenant Muller
|episode: "To Heinie, With Love"
|-
|1972
|McMillan & Wife
|"Buzz" Simms
|episode: "Blues for Sally M"
|-
|1973–74
|The Starlost
|Devon
|16 episodes
|-
|1975
|Switch
|Anthony Kirk
|episode: "The James Caan Con"
|-
|1975–1982
|Radio Mystery Theater
|multiple characters (voice)
|5 episodes, many uncredited episodes; radio plays
|-
|1983
|Loving Friends and Perfect Couples
|unknown
|
|-
|1986
|Guiding Light
|Dr. Mark Jarrett
|
|-
|1989
|Murder, She Wrote
|Jason Reynard
|episode: "Test of Wills"
|-
|2001
|Witchblade
|Dr. Immo
|episode: "Convergence"
|-
|2001–2006
|Law & Order
|Paul Lyman / Andrew Keener
|2 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |2002
|Ed
|Robert Stanley
|episode: "Nice Guys Finish Last"
|-
|Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
|Judge Walt Thornburg
|episode: "Justice"
|-
|2009
|Castle
|Jonathan Tisdale
|episode: "Flowers for Your Grave"
|-
| rowspan="1" |2011
|Damages
|Julius
|episode: "I'm Worried About My Dog"
|-
|2016
|The Path
|Dr. Stephen Meyer
|
|-
|2020
|Hunters
|Klaus Rhinehart
|episode: "Eilu v' Eilu"
|-
|2022
|Halo
|Fleet Admiral Hood
|episode: "Unbound"
|}
Video games
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|2023
|Starfield
|Keeper Aquilus (voice)
|Video game
|}
Awards and nominations
BAFTA Awards
- 1964: Nominated, "Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles" – David and Lisa
Golden Globe Awards
- 1962: Won, "Most Promising Male Newcomer"
Laurel Awards
- 1963: Nominated, "Top New Male Personality"
San Francisco International Film Festival
- 1962: Won, "Best Actor" – David and Lisa
References
Further reading
External links
- Keir Dullea at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection