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James Keane (actor)

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James Keane
Born (1952-09-26) September 26, 1952 (age 72)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Alma materAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts
Harvard Law School
Occupation(s)Film and television actor
Years active1975–2016

James Keane (born September 26,[1] 1952) is an American film and television actor. He is known for playing the role of Willis Thomas Bell in the American drama television series The Paper Chase.[2]

Life and career

Keane was born in Buffalo, New York.[3] He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts,[4] and began his career in 1975, appearing in the film Three Days of the Condor playing a store clerk. Between acting jobs he was an elevator operator at the Sherry-Netherland hotel in New York, where he met film director, Francis Ford Coppola.[4] Keane thought that he might get a role in The Godfather Part II until he realised that shooting was to be in Sicily.[4]

In 1978 Keane joined the cast of the new CBS drama television series The Paper Chase as the law student Willis Thomas Bell.[4] He also appeared in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, and was hired to overdub some of Marlon Brando’s lines in the television miniseries of The Godfather.[4] Keane appeared in the 1982 film 48 Hrs. (as Detective Van Zant, and the 1990 film Dick Tracy as Dick Tracy's second-in-command Pat Patton.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Birthdays". The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando, Florida. September 26, 2000. p. 2. Retrieved December 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Closed access icon
  2. ^ "James Keane Is Billboard". The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. January 26, 1979. p. 31. Retrieved December 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Closed access icon
  3. ^ a b Pergament, Alan (June 13, 1990). "Buffalo Actor Could Have Had His 'Tracy' Part 7 Years Ago". The Buffalo News. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e Beck, Andee (February 4, 1979). "James Keane of 'Paper Chase'". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 80. Retrieved December 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Closed access icon
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