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Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor. In film he is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman Nashville, E. J. Bellocq in Louis Malle Pretty Baby, and Mickey in Alan Rudolph Choose Me. On television he is known for his roles as Wild Bill Hickok on the HBO series Deadwood, FBI agent Frank Lundy on the Showtime series Dexter, Lou Solverson in the first season of FX's Fargo, Penny's father Wyatt on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, and U.S. President Conrad Dalton on the CBS political drama Madam Secretary.
He is a member of the Carradine family of actors that began with his father, John Carradine.
Carradine's childhood was troubled; he has said that his father drank and his mother "was a manic depressive paranoid schizophrenic catatonic—she had it all." His parents divorced in 1957, when he was eight years old. A bitter custody battle led to his father gaining custody of him and his brothers, Christopher and Robert, after the children had spent three months in a home for abused children as wards of the court. Keith said of the experience, "It was like being in jail. There were bars on the windows, and we were only allowed to see our parents through glass doors. It was very sad. We would stand there on either side of the glass door crying." He was raised in San Mateo primarily by his maternal grandmother, and he rarely saw either of his parents. His mother was not permitted to see him for eight years following the custody settlement.
Carradine attended Ojai Valley School, where he was active in the school's theater department, performing in productions of Aria da Capo and The Madwoman of Chaillot. After high school, Carradine entertained the thought of becoming a forest ranger, and enrolled at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. "I had this idyllic fantasy of sitting somewhere communing with nature and chatting with the bears," he recalled, "but I didn't want to have to learn anything." He changed his major to drama after enrolling, but dropped out after one semester and returned to California, moving in with his older half-brother, David, who encouraged him to pursue an acting career, paid for his acting and vocal lessons, and helped him get an agent.
In 1991, he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, as the title character in the 45th Tony Awards winning musical, The Will Rogers Follies in 1991, for which he also received a nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Foxfire with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, and appeared as Lawrence in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Imperial Theater. In 2008, he appeared as Dr. Farquhar Off-Broadway in Mindgame, a thriller by Anthony Horowitz, directed by Ken Russell, who made his New York directorial debut with the production. In March and April 2013, he starred in the Broadway production of Hands on a Hardbody, for which, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his work.
In 1977, Aldrich said "I think that Keith Carradine, if he's careful—I don't think he is careful—and if he's prudent about the selection of his parts, can be a great big movie star. I think that whoever's advising him is making some terrible selections about material. Because I think the guy is gifted, he's talented, he's attractive.""I CAN'T GET JIMMY CARTER TO SEE MY MOVIE!" Aldrich, Robert. Film Comment; New York Vol. 13, Iss. 2, (Mar/Apr 1977): 46–52.
In 1977, Carradine starred opposite Harvey Keitel in Ridley Scott's The Duellists. Pretty Baby followed in 1978. He has acted in several offbeat films of Altman's protege Alan Rudolph, playing a disarmingly candid madman in Choose Me (1984), an incompetent petty criminal in Trouble in Mind (1985), and an American artist in 1930s Paris in The Moderns (1988).
He appeared with brothers David and Robert as the Younger brothers in Walter Hill's film The Long Riders (1980). Keith played Jim Younger in that film. In 1981, he appeared again under Hill's direction in Southern Comfort. In 1994, he had a cameo appearance as Will Rogers in Rudolph's film about Dorothy Parker, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. He co-starred with Daryl Hannah as homicidal sociopath John Netherwood in the thriller The Tie That Binds (1995). In 2011, he starred in Cowboys and Aliens, an American science fiction western film directed by Jon Favreau also starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde. Carradine traveled to Tuscany in 2012 to executive produce and star in John Jopson's Edgar Allan Poe inspired film Terroir. In 2013, he starred in Ain't Them Bodies Saints, which won the 2013 Sundance Film Festival award for cinematography. In 2016 Keith played Edward Dickinson, father of Emily Dickinson, in a biographical film directed and written by Terence Davies about the life of the American poet, in A Quiet Passion.
In 2016, Carradine returned to star in his fourth Alan Rudolph film Ray Meets Helen, which was the final screen appearance of Sondra Locke.
Carradine hosted the documentary Wild West Tech series on the History Channel in the 2003–2004 season, before handing the job over to his brother, David. In the 2005 miniseries Into the West, produced by Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks, Carradine played Richard Henry Pratt. During the second and fourth seasons of the Showtime series Dexter, he appeared numerous times as FBI Special Agent Frank Lundy. Carradine is credited with guest starring twice on the suspense-drama Criminal Minds, as the psychopathic serial killer Frank Breitkopf. Other shows he appeared in include The Big Bang Theory (as Penny's father Wyatt), ("First Flight" episode) and the Starz series Crash. Carradine also made a guest appearance on NCIS in 2014. Also in 2014, he had a recurring role as Lou Solverson in the FX series Fargo, followed by a recurring role as President Conrad Dalton on Madam Secretary.
In July 2016, Carradine hosted a month-long series of Western films on Turner Classic Movies. He appeared in dozens of wraparounds on the channel, discussing such films as Stagecoach, featuring John Carradine, and McCabe & Mrs. Miller, in which he himself appears in a small role.
Carradine married Sandra Will on February 6, 1982. They were separated in 1993, before Will filed for divorce in 1999. The couple had two children: Cade Richmond Carradine (born July 19, 1982) and Sorel Carradine (born June 18, 1985). In 2006, Will pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury for lying to a grand jury about her involvement in the Anthony Pellicano wire tap scandal. She hired and then became romantically involved with Pellicano after her divorce from Carradine. According to FBI documents, Pellicano tapped Carradine's telephone and recorded calls between him and girlfriend Hayley Leslie DuMond at Will's request, along with DuMond's parents. Carradine filed a civil lawsuit against Will and Pellicano which was settled in 2013 before it went to trial.
On November 18, 2006, Carradine married actress Hayley DuMond, in Turin, Italy. They met in 1997 when they co-starred in the Burt Reynolds film The Hunter's Moon.
Career
Stage
As a youth, Carradine had opportunities to appear on stage with his father in the latter's productions of Shakespeare. Thus, he had some background in theater when he was cast in the original Broadway run of Hair (1969), which launched his acting career. In that production he started out in the chorus and worked his way up to the lead roles playing Woof and Claude. He said of his involvement in Hair, "I really didn't plan to audition. I just went along with my brother, David, and his girlfriend at the time, Barbara Hershey, and two of their friends. I was simply going to play the piano for them while they sang, but I'm the one the staff wound up getting interested in."
Film
Carradine's first notable film appearance was in director Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller in 1971. That same year, he co-starred with Kirk Douglas and Johnny Cash in A Gunfight. His next film, Emperor of the North Pole (1973), was re-released with a shorter title Emperor of the North. The film was directed by Robert Aldrich and also starred Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. Carradine then starred in Altman's film Thieves Like Us (1974), then played a principal character, a callow, womanizing folk singer, Tom Frank, in Altman's critically acclaimed film Nashville (1975; see "Music and songwriting"). He had difficulty shaking the image of Tom Frank following the popularity of the film. He felt the role gave him the reputation of being "a cad."
Music and songwriting
His brother, David, said in an interview that Keith could play any instrument he wanted, including bagpipes and the French horn. Like David, Keith integrated his musical talents with his acting performances. In 1975, he performed a song he had written, "I'm Easy", in the movie Nashville. It was a popular hit, and Carradine won a Golden Globe and an Academy Awards for Best Original Song for the tune. This led to a brief singing career; he signed a contract with Asylum Records and released two albums – I'm Easy (1976) and Lost & Found (1978). His song "Mr. Blue" was number 44 in the Canadian AC charts in April 1978. In 1984, he appeared in the music video for Madonna's single "Material Girl". In the early 1990s, he played the lead role in the Tony Award–winning musical The Will Rogers Follies.
Television
In 1972, Carradine appeared briefly in the first season of the hit television series, Kung Fu, which starred his brother, David. Keith played a younger version of David's character, Kwai Chang Caine. In 1984, he starred alongside Tuesday Weld in the TV movie Scorned and Swindled. In 1987, he starred in the highly rated CBS miniseries Murder Ordained, with JoBeth Williams and Kathy Bates. Other TV appearances include My Father My Son (1988). In 1983, he appeared as Foxy Funderburke, a murderous pedophile, in the television miniseries Chiefs, based on the Stuart Woods novel of the same name. His performance in Chiefs earned him a nomination for an Emmy Award in the "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special" category. Carradine also starred in the ABC sitcom Complete Savages, and he played Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series Deadwood.
Video games
In 2012, Carradine lent his voice to the video game , voicing the primary antagonist Blake Dexter.
Personal life
In 1968, Carradine met actress Shelley Plimpton when they starred in the Broadway musical Hair. She was married to actor Steve Curry, although they were separated; she and Carradine became romantically involved. After Carradine left the show and was in California, he learned that Shelley was pregnant and had reunited with Curry. He met his daughter, Martha Plimpton, when she was four years old, after Shelley and Steve Curry had divorced. He said of Shelley, "She did a hell of a job raising Martha. I was not there. I was a very young man, absolutely terrified. She just took that in, and then she welcomed me into Martha's life when I was ready."
Filmography
Film
1971 McCabe & Mrs. Miller Cowboy 1971 A Gunfight The Young Gunfighter 1973 Emperor of the North Pole "Cigaret" 1973 Idaho Transfer Arthur 1973 Hex Archibald "Whizzer" Overton 1974 Antoine and Sebastian John 1974 Thieves Like Us Bowie 1974 Run, Run, Joe! Joe 1975 Nashville Tom Frank Academy Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song1975 You and Me Death Guy 1976 Lumière David 1976 Welcome to L.A. Carroll Barber 1977 The Duellists Armand D'Hubert 1978 Pretty Baby E.J. Bellocq 1978 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Our Guests At Heartland 1979 Old Boyfriends Wayne Van Til 1979 An Almost Perfect Affair Hal Raymond 1980 The Long Riders Jim Younger 1981 Southern Comfort Private First Class Spencer 1984 Choose Me Mickey 1984 Maria's Lovers Clarence Butts 1985 Trouble in Mind "Coop" Cooper 1986 The Inquiry Tito Valerio Tauro 1988 The Moderns Nick Hart 1988 Backfire Reed 1989 Street of No Return Michael 1989 Cold Feet Monte Latham 1990 Clarence 1990 The Bachelor Dr. Emil Gräsler 1991 The Ballad of the Sad Cafe Marvin Macy 1992 CrissCross John Cross 1994 Andre Harry Whitney 1994 Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle Will Rogers 1995 The Tie That Binds John Netherwood 1995 Wild Bill Buffalo Bill 1996 2 Days in the Valley Detective Creighton 1997 A Thousand Acres Ty Smith 1998 Standoff Zeke Clayton 1999 The Hunter's Moon Turner 1999 Out of the Cold Dan Scott 2001 Cahoots Matt 2001 Wooly Boys Sheriff Hank Dawson 2002 Falcons Simon 2002 The Angel Doll Adult Jerry Barlow 2002 The Outsider Noah Weaver 2003 The Adventures of Ociee Nash Papa George Nash 2004 Hair High Joe "JoJo" (voice) 2004 Duke (voice) Direct-to-DVD 2005 Our Very Own Billy Whitfield 2005 The Californians Elton Tripp 2007 Elvis and Anabelle Jimmy 2007 The Death and Life of Bobby Z Johnson 2007 All Hat Pete Culpepper 2008 Lake City Royce "Roy" 2009 Winter of Frozen Dreams Detective Lulling 2010 Peacock Mayor Ray Crill 2011 The Family Tree Reverend Diggs 2011 Cowboys & Aliens Sheriff Taggart 2013 Ain't Them Bodies Saints Skerritt 2014 Austin Rose 2014 Terroir Jonathan Bragg 2016 A Quiet Passion Edward Dickinson 2017 Ray Meets Helen Ray 2018 The Old Man & the Gun Captain Calder 2021 The Power of the Dog Governor Edward 2022 A Nashville Country Christmas Keaton Walker 2024 Afraid Marcus
Television
1971 Bonanza Ern Episode: "Bushwacked" 1972 Love, American Style George Pomerantz Episode: "Love and the Anniversary" 1972 Man on a String Danny Brown Television movie 1972–1973 Kung Fu Middle Caine 2 episodes 1980 A Rumor of War Lieutenant Murphy "Murph" McCloy Television movie 1983 Chiefs "Foxy" Funderburke 3 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special1984 The Fall Guy Cook Episode: "October the 31st" 1984 Scorned and Swindled John Boslett Television movie 1985 Blackout Allen Devlin Television movie 1986 Half a Lifetime J.J. Television movie
Nominated—CableACE Awards1986 A Winner Never Quits Pete Gray Television movie 1987 Murder Ordained Trooper John Rule Television movie 1987 Eye on the Sparrow James Lee Television movie 1988 Stones for Ibarra Richard Everton Television movie 1988 My Father, My Son Lieutenant Elmo Zumwalt III Television movie 1989 The Revenge of Al Capone Michael Rourke Television movie 1989 Hallmark Hall of Fame Richard Everton Episode: "Stones for Ibarra" 1989 Confessional Liam Devlin 4 episodes 1989 The Forgotten Captain Tom Watkins Television movie 1990 Judgment Pete Guitry Television movie 1991 Payoff Peter "Mac" McAllister Television movie 1992 Lincoln William Herndon (voice) Television movie 1994 Tom Leary Television movie 1994 Is There Life Out There? Brad Television movie 1995 Trial by Fire Owen Turner Television movie 1996 Special Report: Journey to Mars Captain Eugene T. Slader Television movie 1996 Dead Man's Walk Bigfoot Wallace 3 episodes 1997 Perversions of Science Arthur Bristol Episode: "Dream of Doom" 1997 Keeping the Promise William "Will" Hallowell Television movie 1997 Last Stand at Saber River Vern Kidston Television movie 1997–1998 Fast Track Dr. Richard Beckett 23 episodes 1998 American Buffalo: Spirit of a Nation The Narrator Television documentary 1999 Outreach Dr. Vincent Shaw Television movie 1999 Corporal Arlin Flynn Television movie 1999 Night Ride Home Neal Mahler Television movie 1999 Sirens Officer Dan Wexler Television movie 1999 A Song from the Heart Oliver Comstock Television movie 2000 Metropolis Quincy Television movie 2000 Pierce Butler Television movie 2000 Baby John Malone Television movie 2001 The Diamond of Jeru John Lacklan Television movie 2002 American Experience The Narrator Episode: "Public Enemy Number 1" 2002 Frasier Carl (voice) Episode: "Frasier Has Spokane" 2002 Arliss Lamar Scott Episode: "What You See Is What You Get" 2002 Street Time Frank Dugan 3 episodes 2003 Captain A.G. Robinson Episode: "" 2003 Jonah Jameson (voice) 5 episodes 2003 Monte Walsh Chester "Chet" Rollins Television movie 2003 Coyote Waits John McGinnis Television movie 2003–2004 Wild West Tech Host 13 episodes 2004 Deadwood James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok 5 episodes
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television2004–2005 Complete Savages Nick Savage 19 episodes 2005 Into the West Captain Richard H. Pratt Episode: "Casualties of War" 2006 Where There's a Will Sheriff Clifford Laws Television movie 2007 American Masters The Narrator Episode: "Novel Reflections: The American Dream" 2007 Criminal Minds Frank Breitkopf 2 episodes 2007–2009 Dexter FBI Special Agent Frank Lundy 15 episodes 2008 Numbers Carl McGowan 3 episodes 2008 Crash Owen 2 episodes 2009 Law & Order Martin Garvik Episode: "Take-Out" 2009 Dollhouse Matthew Harding 3 episodes 2009 Damages Julian Decker 5 episodes 2010–2019 The Big Bang Theory Wyatt
(Penny's Dad) 5 episodes 2012 Missing Martin 7 episodes 2014 The Following Barry Episode: "Resurrection" 2014 Raising Hope Colt Palomino Episode: "Anniversary Ball" 2014 NCIS Mannheim Gold Episode: "Rock and a Hard Place" 2014–2015 Fargo Lou Solverson 11 episodes 2014–2019 Madam Secretary President Conrad Dalton 93 episodes 2015 Mike Tyson Mysteries Jason B. (voice) Episode: "Jason B. Sucks" 2021–2022 Fear the Walking Dead John Dorie Sr. 10 episodes 2021 Rugrats Bob Brine (voice) Episode: "The Pickle Barrel" 2023 Accused Billy Carlson Episode: "Billy's Story" 2024 Clay Bonner 3 episodes TBA Imperfect Women RL Hennessy Recurring role
Theater
1968 Hair Woof / Claude 1982 Foxfire Dillard Nations 1991 The Will Rogers Follies Will Rogers 2006 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Lawrence Jameson 2013 Hands on a Hardbody (musical) JD Drew
Video games
2012 Blake Dexter Voice
Awards and nominations
1975 Academy Awards Best Original Song "I'm Easy" 1987 Best Actor in a Theatrical or Dramatic Special Half a Lifetime 1991 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical The Will Rogers Follies 2013 Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Hands on a Hardbody 2002 Edda Awards Best Actor Falcons 1998 Golden Boot Awards Golden Boot 2004 Gold Derby TV Awards Best Drama Guest Actor Deadwood 1975 Golden Globe Awards Best Original Song "I'm Easy" 1975 Grammy Awards Best Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special 2002 Great Lakes International Film Festival Artistic Excellence Award 2018 Oldenburg International Film Festival Tribute Star of Excellence 2004 Online Film & Television Association Awards Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series Deadwood 1984 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special Chiefs 2005 Prism Awards Best Performance in a Comedy Series Complete Savages 2007 Best Performance in a TV-Movie Our Very Own 2018 San Diego International Film Festival Gregory Peck Award 2004 Satellite Awards Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Deadwood 1991 Tony Awards Best Leading Actor in a Musical The Will Rogers Follies 2013 Best Featured Actor in a Musical Hands on a Hardbody 1998 Bronze Wrangler Television Feature Film Last Stand at Saber River 2024 Hall of Great Western Performers 2014 Wine Country Film Festival Best Actor Terroir
See also
Further reading
External links
Categories: American Male Film Actors, American Male Musical Theatre Actors, American Male Stage Actors, American Male Television Actors, American Male Video Game Actors, American Male Voice Actors, American People Of Danish Descent, 1949 Births, Living People, Keith, Male Actors From San Mateo, California, Best Original Song Academy Award–winning Songwriters, Golden Globe Award–winning Musicians, 20th-century American Male Actors, 21st-century American Male Actors, Audiobook Narrators
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