FAMOUS MARINES: K

Real Name: Robert James Keeshan
Born: 6/27/27
Birthplace: Lynbrook, Long Island, New York

Keeshan joined the Marine Corps in 1945. He played Clarabell the Clown on the Howdy Doody show for six years, but is best known as Captain Kangaroo, a role that he played for 50 years. His career as the Captain spanned nine U.S. presidencies and his show had over 200 million viewers. His numerous awards include Ohio State Broadcaster of the Year, a Golden Globe, 2 Peabodies, 6 Emmy awards, and in 1982 he was awarded the National Education Association's Award for the Advancement of Learning through Television. In 1987, he co-founded Corporate Family Solutions, a developmental child-care for corporate employees.

A product of Brooklyn, where he was born on May 13, 1939, Keitel grew up as something of a delinquent. At the age of 16, his truancy was put to an end when he was sent to Lebanon with the Marine Corps. Upon his return, he sold shoes and nurtured an interest in acting. He studied the craft with Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler and began appearing in off-off-Broadway productions. When he was 26, fate struck in the form of a casting ad placed by Scorsese, at that time a fledgling student director at New York University; Keitel's response to the ad began a collaboration that would last for years and produce some of the more memorable moments in film history. Keitel and Scorsese made their onscreen feature debuts with Who's That Knocking at My Door? (1968), in which the former played the latter's alter ego. Five years later, they collaborated on Mean Streets; that and their subsequent collaborations of the '70's, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) and Taxi Driver (1976), were some of the decade's most memorable films. Unfortunately, despite these achievements, Keitel's career suffered a great blow when he lost the lead in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now to Martin Sheen. He spent much of the '80's appearing in obscure and/or forgettable films, save for Scorsese's controversial The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and by the time he was cast in Thelma & Louise in 1991, he was in a career slump.

Born Robert Keith Richey Jr. After high school he joined the United States Marine Corps during WWII where he was an aerial gunner.

Best known for his rolls as an actor in:
The Parent Trap