Ian Keith
Biography
Ian Keith was an American actor of stage and screen. Born in Boston and raised in Chicago, he began with Boston's Copley Repertory Theatre in 1919 and acted on Broadway. He portrayed John Wilkes Booth in Abraham Lincoln, D. W. Griffith's first sound film, and had a sizable part as a gambler in Raoul Walsh's widescreen western The Big Trail. In 1932 Cecil B. DeMille gave him a role in The Sign of the Cross, which helped establish him as a dependable supporting player. He became one of DeMille's favorites and played Octavian in Cleopatra (1934), Count de Rochefort in The Three Musketeers (1948), and a supporting role in Nightmare Alley (1947). He showed comic flair as Vitamin Flintheart, a ham actor, in Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946), a part he repeated. Later credits included Admiral Burns in It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955) and Ramses I in The Ten Commandments. He worked in television and radio.
61years old at death
- Born Boston
- Died New York City
- Star sign: PiscesThe sign runs February 19 to March 20
Movie Career
- Films
- 21
- Career span
- 28 years1927 to 1955
Genres
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Big break
Cecil B. DeMille gave Keith a part in The Sign of the Cross in 1932. That role made him a reliable supporting actor, and over the following three decades he appeared in dozens of films, among them Cleopatra as Octavian.
A first
Keith's sole Shakespeare screen part was a 1955 cameo as the Ghost, playing opposite Richard Burton's Hamlet in a scene from Prince of Players, the Edwin Booth biopic.
Ian Keith movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Cecil B. DeMille directed two of these films. Mike Mazurki appears in three of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Mike Mazurki's page
Reginald Owen's page
C. Aubrey Smith's page
Fredric March's page
Richard Alexander's page
John George's page
All films by Cecil B. DeMille
Also two films together15 more actors
- James BurkeNightmare Alley (1947) and Queen Christina (1933)
- Eddie BordenDick Tracy's Dilemma (1947) and Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946)
- Claudette ColbertCleopatra (1934) and The Sign of the Cross (1932)
- Montagu LoveAll This, and Heaven Too (1940) and The Divine Lady (1928)
- Arthur HohlCleopatra (1934) and The Sign of the Cross (1932)
- Fritz LeiberThe Spanish Main (1945) and All This, and Heaven Too (1940)
- Douglas WaltonDick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946) and Mary of Scotland (1936)
- David TorrenceMary of Scotland (1936) and Queen Christina (1933)
- Harry BeresfordCleopatra (1934) and The Sign of the Cross (1932)
- Leonard MudieThe Black Shield of Falworth (1954) and Cleopatra (1934)
- Harry CheshireNightmare Alley (1947) and Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946)
- Ferdinand GottschalkCleopatra (1934) and The Sign of the Cross (1932)
- Lyle LatellDick Tracy's Dilemma (1947) and Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946)
- Roger CreedDick Tracy's Dilemma (1947) and Five Graves to Cairo (1943)
- Michael VavitchThe Divine Lady (1928) and Two Arabian Knights (1927)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Ian Keith's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$18.3 million
7 of the 21 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 21 films: 7 worldwide figure; 3 us gross only; 11 figure not found.
- 7Worldwide figure
- 3US gross only
- 11Figure not found
Highest grossing
The seven biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$8.4M45.9% of the total
- 2$2.7M14.9% of the total
- 3$2.6M14.2% of the total
- 4$1.7M9.3% of the total
- 5$1.3M7.0% of the total
- 6$1.2M6.5% of the total
- 7$400K2.2% of the total
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.