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 Apocalipsis (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).

He has appeared in seven films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Taxi Driver (1976), Bugsy (1991), El piano (1993), Tiempos violentos (1994), Bastardos sin gloria (2009), El gran hotel Budapest (2014) and El irlandés (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.

Worked with Martin Scorsese in 6 movies: ¿Quién llama a mi puerta? (1967), Calles peligrosas (1973), Alicia ya no vive aquí (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), La última tentación de Cristo (1988) and El irlandés (2019). Although he was the main star in the first two, he wasn't the first name in credits.

Has appeared in the crime drama El nombre del juego (1995) and its sequel, Tómalo con calma (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.

Has played a "cleaner" in both Point of No Return (1993) (Victor the Cleaner) and in Tiempos violentos (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 Mentes criminales (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 Tiempos violentos (1994) as part of a £40 million television advertising campaign for British insurance company Direct Line.

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 Ojos bien cerrados (1999) but clashes with Stanley Kubrick during filming led to him being replaced by Sydney Pollack.

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

He was considered for the role of Max in Érase una vez en América (1984) that went to James Woods.

He auditioned for the role of Curly in Cowboys de ciudad (1991). Jack Palance subsequently won an Oscar for the role.

Shares two roles with Dennis Farina. At the end of El nombre del juego (1995), he plays the Dennis Farina character in the movie-within-a-movie. Farina also originated the role of Jack Crawford in El sabueso (1986), a role that Keitel played in the remake Dragón rojo (2002).

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

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: Calles peligrosas (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Un final inesperado (1991) and Tiempos violentos (1994).

Ranked #37 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. (octubre de 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 Sueño de fuga (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 four directors: ¿Quién llama a mi puerta? (1967) by Martin Scorsese, Los duelistas (1977) by Ridley Scott, Fingers (1978) by James Toback and Perros de reserva (1992) by Quentin Tarantino.

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), El piano (1993) and Tiempos violentos (1994).

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

Has starred in the debuts of two iconic directors of different generations: Martin Scorsese's ¿Quién llama a mi puerta? (1967) and Quentin Tarantino's Perros de reserva (1992). He also starred in the movies that would launch their careers: Calles peligrosas (1973) and Tiempos violentos (1994).

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

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 Dragón rojo (2002), while Scott Glenn played the role in El silencio de los inocentes (1991), and Dennis Farina played the role in El sabueso (1986).

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

Has played both a criminal pursuing a woman who is disguised as a nun by a police lieutenant in Cambio de hábito (1992), and a police lieutenant pursuing two criminals who raped a nun in Corrupción judicial (1992).

Alumnus of Stella Adler Studio of Acting.

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

Apocalipsis (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 Los duelistas (1977), which is based on another Conrad story.

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

He was considered for the role of Jimmy Serrano in Fuga a la media noche (1988) that went to Dennis Farina.