Trivia

Like his good friend Robert De Niro, Keitel is usually very uncomfortable during interviews, often nervously laughing through them.

Worked as a court stenographer in New York City for about 10 years while he was a struggling actor.

Served 3 years in the United States Marine Corps. In 1958, he was sent to Lebanon during a U.S. military intervention aimed at defusing a major political crisis there.

Has demonstrated extraordinary enthusiasm for working with first-time directors, from Martin Scorsese in 1968 to Ridley Scott, Paul Schrader, James Toback, Quentin Tarantino, and in 1999, Vietnamese-American Tony Bui.

Was in a long-term relationship with actress Lorraine Bracco (1982-1993). They had one daughter, Stella Keitel (born 1985).

He was originally cast as Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now (1979). He was let go from the film, just two weeks into filming due to creative differences with director Francis Ford Coppola. Martin Sheen replaced him.

Although he frequently plays U.S. Italian characters, Keitel is the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. His mother, Miriam (Klein), was from Romania, and his father, Harry Keitel, was from Poland.

Met wife, Daphna Kastner at the Toronto film festival on 11 September 2001 and married her in a secret ceremony in Jerusalem, Israel three weeks later (7 October).

As of 2020, has appeared in 7 films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Taxi Driver (1976), Bugsy (1991), The Piano (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), Inglourious Basterds (2009), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and The Irishman (2019).

During the shoot of See You Soon (2019) in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Keitel took some time off and visited his mother's birthplace, Leordina, Maramures county, northern Romania. His mother lived in the Leordina commune until the age of twelve. After visiting the house where his mother grew up, Keitel also visited the Jewish cemetery where his ancestors are buried. Keitel was welcomed with traditional food and drinks and received a traditional costume. The authorities in Leordina named him an honorary citizen of the commune, and promised to restore his mother's old house. [July 2017].

He was Sylvester Stallone's original choice to play Paulie in Rocky (1976).

Godfather to good friend Michael Madsen's son Max.

Worked as a salesman in a women's shoestore.

Has appeared in the crime drama Get Shorty (1995) and its sequel, Be Cool (2005), but in two completely different roles.

He was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 24th Istanbul Film Festival on April 16, 2005.

Worked with Martin Scorsese in 6 movies: Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967), Mean Streets (1973), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and The Irishman (2019). Although he was the main star in the first two, he wasn't the first name in credits.

Has played a "cleaner" in both Point of No Return (1993) (Victor the Cleaner) and in Pulp Fiction (1994) (Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe).

Listed as one of Entertainment Weekly magazine's 25 Best Actors (1998).

He was the first choice to replace Mandy Patinkin on Criminal Minds (2005).

Received his Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from the prestigious Actors Studio, New School University in New York City, under Dean James Lipton.

Since 2014, he has reprised his role of Winston Wolfe from Pulp Fiction (1994) as part of a £40 million television advertising campaign for British insurance company Direct Line.

Harvey's favorite actor is Pauly Shore and he claimed in an interview with Larry King that Shore's performance in Son in Law (1993) nearly made him leave the business to make way for new talent.

Presented good friend and fellow actor Michael Madsen with the inaugural Rebel Award for his past, present and ongoing commitment to independent film at Rebelfest 2005, Toronto.

He was originally cast as Victor Ziegler in Eyes Wide Shut (1999) but clashes with Stanley Kubrick during filming led to him being replaced by Sydney Pollack.

He was considered for the role of Max in Once Upon a Time in America (1984) that went to James Woods.

He auditioned for the role of Curly in City Slickers (1991). Jack Palance subsequently won an Oscar for the role.

Resides in New York City. Also owns a home in California.

Shares two roles with Dennis Farina. At the end of Get Shorty (1995), he plays the Dennis Farina character in the movie-within-a-movie. Farina also originated the role of Jack Crawford in Manhunter (1986), a role that Keitel played in the remake Red Dragon (2002).

Has starred in the debuts of four directors: Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967) by Martin Scorsese, The Duellists (1977) by Ridley Scott, Fingers (1978) by James Toback and Reservoir Dogs (1992) by Quentin Tarantino.

He has appeared in four films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Thelma & Louise (1991) and Pulp Fiction (1994).

Ranked #37 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. (October 1997)

Is a member of the Actors Studio, had studied with Frank Corsaro, Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler.

He was considered for the role of Warden Norton in The Shawshank Redemption (1994) that went to Bob Gunton.

Has one son from his then girlfriend with Lisa Karmazin, a potter in California: Hudson Keitel (born 2001).

His last name is pronounced "ky-tel".

Has starred in the debuts of two iconic directors of different generations: Martin Scorsese's Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967) and Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992). He also starred in the movies that would launch their careers: Mean Streets (1973) and Pulp Fiction (1994).

His parents ran a refreshment stand on Brighton Beach.

After his Marine Corps service he attended NYU and The Actors Studio.

As of 2017, he appeared in three films that won that Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival: Taxi Driver (1976), The Piano (1993) and Pulp Fiction (1994).

He studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village, New York City.

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#95) (1995).

Is one of three actors to play Jack Crawford in the Hannibal Lecter films. He played the role in Red Dragon (2002), while Scott Glenn played the role in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and Dennis Farina played the role in Manhunter (1986).

In January 2008, he played Jerry Springer in the New York City premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera at Carnegie Hall.

Has one son with wife Daphna Kastner: Roman Keitel. (August 2004)

Has played both a criminal pursuing a woman who is disguised as a nun by a police lieutenant in Sister Act (1992), and a police lieutenant pursuing two criminals who raped a nun in Bad Lieutenant (1992).

Operates his own film production company, The Goatsingers, with partner Peggy Gormley.

Alumnus of Stella Adler Studio of Acting.

Apocalypse Now (1979), from which he was fired, was loosely based on Joseph Conrad's novel, "Heart of Darkness". Although Keitel did not appear in the final film, he does appear in The Duellists (1977), which is based on another Conrad story.

He was considered for Mr. Horowitz in Clueless (1995), but was deemed too expensive for the part.

He was considered for the role of Jimmy Serrano in Midnight Run (1988) that went to Dennis Farina.