Richard Kiley

Richard Kiley
Kiley in 1960.
Born	Richard Paul Kiley (1922-03-31)March 31, 1922 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	March 5, 1999(1999-03-05) (aged 76) Middletown, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1950–1999
Spouse(s)	Mary Bell Wood ​ ​ (m. 1948; div. 1967)​ Patricia Ferrier ​ ​ (m. 1968)​
Children	6

Richard Paul Kiley (March 31, 1922 – March 5, 1999) was an American stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for his distinguished theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor In A Musical. Kiley created the role of Don Quixote in the original 1965 production of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha and was the first to sing and record "The Impossible Dream", the hit song from the show. In the 1953 hit musical Kismet, he played the Caliph and was one of the quartet introducing the song "And This Is My Beloved". Additionally, he won three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards during his 50-year career and his "sonorous baritone" was also featured in the narration of a number of documentaries and other films. At the time of his death, Kiley was described as "one of theater's most distinguished and versatile actors" and as "an indispensable actor, the kind of performer who could be called on to play kings and commoners and a diversity of characters in between."

Early life

Kiley was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised Roman Catholic. He graduated from Mt. Carmel High School in 1940, and after a year at Loyola University Chicago he left to study acting at Chicago's Barnum Dramatic School. In the late 40s, he performed in Chicago-area summer stock theaters with actors such as Alan Furlan. Following his service in the United States Navy in World War II, he returned to Chicago working as an actor and announcer on radio before moving to New York City. In New York he studied singing with Ray Smolover.

Career

Kiley with Peter Falk in Columbo, 1974.

Kiley's work on stage included Kismet, No Strings (which was Richard Rodgers's first stage musical after the death of Oscar Hammerstein II) in which Rodgers wrote both music and lyrics, the Buddy Hackett vehicle I Had a Ball, and the lead roles in Redhead, Man of La Mancha, and the play The Incomparable Max.

Kiley later starred in the television play Patterns, which aired live on January 12, 1955. It caused a sensation and won an Emmy for its writer, Rod Serling. He played the role of John Malcolm Patterson, future Attorney General of Alabama (and later Governor of Alabama), in the 1955 film The Phenix City Story. Kiley also portrayed math teacher Joshua Edwards, whose phonograph records were smashed by delinquents in Blackboard Jungle in 1955.

Kiley won Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical for Redhead in 1959 and Man of La Mancha in 1966. The dual role of middle-aged author Cervantes and his fictional creation Quixote is one of the few musical roles that requires the talents of both leading man and character actor. Kiley said while La Mancha was on Broadway that despite the fact he had grown tired of playing leading men, he would always be grateful for having been given the chance to perform in La Mancha.

Later years

Kiley won three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for his work in television. He won both an Emmy and Golden Globe awards for The Thorn Birds (as Paddy, Rachel Ward's father) (1983) and A Year in the Life (1986, 1987–1988). His third Emmy win was for Guest Actor in a Drama Series, for an episode of Picket Fences.

Other television work included as the murderous police commissioner on Columbo (1974, the episode "A Friend In Deed"), his appearance as Gideon Seyetik in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Second Sight", as well as guest roles on Ally McBeal, Hawaii Five-O and Gunsmoke. He narrated the award-winning seven-part 1986 PBS documentary Planet Earth.

Kiley's baritone made him a favorite to narrate documentaries for television. In Jurassic Park, Kiley's voice is used to narrate the park's vehicle tour. Kiley was introduced as the narrator for the tour first in the novel by Michael Crichton, and later in the film adaptation by Steven Spielberg where the owner of the park said he "spared no expense" hiring Kiley. Visitors to Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida, and Universal Studios in Hollywood hear Kiley as the narrator of the Jurassic Park River Adventure ride.

In 1993, Christian filmmakers set out to make a film which would be a Word-for-Word of the Gospel. Kiley was chosen to do a narration style film as the Apostle Matthew in his latter days. He is seen doing many flashbacks as Matthew in the days when Jesus walked the Earth.

From 1994 until 1998, Kiley narrated the A&E documentary television series Mysteries of the Bible. His final acting role was in the 1999 TV movie Blue Moon, which debuted the month after his death.

Death

Kiley died of an unspecified bone marrow disease at Horton Hospital in Middletown, N.Y, on March 5, 1999, less than a month before his 77th birthday. He was survived by his wife and six children, sons David and Michael Kiley and daughters Kathleen, Dorothea, Erin and Deirdre. His remains were interred in Warwick. Broadway's lights went dark in his honor.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	The Mob	Thomas Clancy
1952	The Sniper	Dr. James G. Kent
1952	Eight Iron Men	Private Coke
1953	Pickup on South Street	Joey
1955	Blackboard Jungle	Joshua Y. Edwards
1955	The Phenix City Story	John Patterson
1957	Spanish Affair	Merritt Blake
1958	The Power of the Resurrection	Peter
1969	Pendulum	Woodrow Wilson King
1970	a.k.a. Cassius Clay	Narrator
1974	The Little Prince	The Pilot
1977	Looking for Mr. Goodbar	Mr. Dunn
1981	Endless Love	Arthur Axelrod
1986	Howard the Duck	The Cosmos	Voice
1989	To the Limit	Narrator
1989	Miami Cops
1993	Jurassic Park	Jurassic Park Tour Voice	Voice
1993	The Gospel According to St. Matthew	Old Matthew
1996	Phenomenon	Dr. Wellin
1997	Time to Say Goodbye?	Dr. Gerald Klooster
1998	Patch Adams	Dr. Titan
2002	Jesus the Christ	Matthew	(final film role)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954	Justice	Unknown	2 episodes
1956	Studio One	Mr. Dean	Episode: "The Landlady's Daughter"
1969	Night Gallery	Joseph Strobe	Television film ("The Escape Route" segment)
1970	Gunsmoke	Lewis Stark	Episode: "Stark"
1970	Bonanza	Gideon Yates	Episode: Gideon the Good
1970	The Ceremony of Innocence	King Ethelred II	Television film
1971	Gunsmoke	Tom Lynott	Episode: "Lynott"
1972	Gunsmoke	Bohannon	Episode: "Bohannon"
1973	Gunsmoke	Will Stambridge	Episode: "Kitty's Love Affair"
1974	Columbo: A Friend in Deed	Mark Halperin
1975	Friendly Persuasion	Jess Birdwell	Television film
1980	Angel on My Shoulder	Nick	Television film
1981	Isabel's Choice	Lyman Jones	Television film
1981	Golden Gate	Thomas J. Kingsley	Television film
1983	The Thorn Birds	Paddy Cleary	2 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1984	George Washington	George Mason	Television film
1985	A.D.	Claudius	Television film
1985	The Canterville Ghost	Sir Simon de Canterville	Television film
1985	Do You Remember Love	George Hollis	Television film
1986	Planet Earth	Narrator	7 episodes
1986	The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series)	Lancelot	Episode: "The Last Defender of Camelot (The Twilight Zone)"
1986	If Tomorrow Comes	Gunther Hartog	3 episodes
1986–1988	A Year in the Life	Joe Gardner	22 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
1988	My First Love	Sam Morrissey	Television film
1991	Absolute Strangers	Dr. R.J. Cannon	Television film
1991	Separate But Equal	Chief Justice Earl Warren	Television film Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1992–1994	Picket Fences	Hayden Langston	2 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
1993	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Dr. Gideon Seyetik	Episode: "Second Sight" (Season 2 Episode 9)
1994–1998	Mysteries of the Bible	Narrator
1995	The Great Defender	Joe Dewitt	8 episodes
1996	Mary & Tim	Ron Melville	Television film
1997	Time to Say Goodbye?	Dr. Gerald Klooster	Television film
1997	Tigers of the Show	Narrator
1998	Ally McBeal	Seymore Little	Episode: "Once in a Lifetime"
1998	Blue Moon	Jimmy Keating	Television film

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1953	Misalliance	Joey Percival
1953–1955	Kismet	The Caliph
1956	Time Limit	Major Harry Cargill
1959–1960	Redhead	Tom Baxter	Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical
1960–1961	Advise and Consent	Brig Anderson
1962–1963	No Strings	David Jordan	Nominated—Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical
1963–1964	Here's Love	Fred Gaily
1964–1965	I Had a Ball	Stan the Shpieler
1965–1971	Man of La Mancha	Miguel de Cervantes/Don Quixote	Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical
1968	Her First Roman	Caesar
1971	The Incomparable Max	Enoch Soames
1972	Voices	Robert
1972	Man of La Mancha	Miguel de Cervantes/Don Quixote
1974–1976	Absurd Person Singular	Ronald
1975	"Ah, Wilderness!"	Nat Miller	Academy Festival Theatre, Drake Theatre at Barat College, Lake Forest, Illinois
1976	The Heiress	Dr. Austin Sloper	Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play
1977	Man of La Mancha	Don Quixote	Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical
1987	All My Sons	Joe Keller	Nominated—Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play

Sources

• Man of La Mancha – original theatrical program, for Kiley's personal comments on playing Don Quixote

External links

• Richard Kiley at Find a Grave
• Richard Kiley at IMDb
• Richard Kiley at the Internet Broadway Database
• Richard Kiley at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Richard Kiley at Memory Alpha