Harvey Keitel was born on the 13th May 1939, in Brooklyn, New York City, USA, and is of Romanian (father) and Polish (mother) descent. He is an actor and producer, best known for his appearances in films such as “Taxi Driver” (1976), “Bugsy” (1991), “Pulp Fiction” (1994), “From Dusk `Till Down” (1996), and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014), among others. His career has been active since 1960s.
Have you ever wondered how rich Harvey Keitel is, as of mid-2016? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Harvey`s net worth is as high as $45 million, an amount he has acquired through his successful career as an actor, appearing in countless film and TV titles.
Harvey Keitel Net Worth $45 Million
Harvey grew up with his brother and sister in a family of Jewish Immigrants, Miriam and Harry Keitel. He was a student of the Abraham Lincoln High School, but before he matriculated, Harvey joined the US Marine Corps, then on return found a job at court as a reporter, and worked for several years before deciding to try and become an actor.
Harvey took acting classes by Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, before eventually landing roles on stage. He spent several years building his career in theatres, mostly off-Broadway, and had his first screen role in the Martin Scorsese`s debut “Who`s That Knocking At My Door” in 1967. Ever since then, the two have a friendship which transferred to the professional level, resulting in Harvey`s appearances in several Scorsese`s films, including “Mean Streets” (1973), “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”(1974), “Taxi Driver” (1976), “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988), among others, all of which have increased his net worth.
Over the course of his career, Harvey has appeared in more than 140 film and TV titles, which represents the main source of his net worth. Although he emerged as a talented actor in the 1970s, appearing also in films such as “That’s the Way of the World” (1975), “The Duelists” (1977), and “Fingers” (1978), the 1980s, weren’t so nice to him, as he managed to record typical roles of a thug in films such as “Copkiller” (1983), “A Stone in the Mouth” (1983), “Falling in Love” (1984), and “Wise Guys”(1986), among others.
However, his fame returned in the 1990s, firstly with a role in the film “Bugsy” (1991), and the following year in the role of Mr. White in Tarantino`s “Reservoir Dogs”. He continued successfully during the 1990s, appearing in films such as “Bad Lieutenant” (1992), in which he was the lead role with Victor Argo and Paul Calderón, “Pulp Fiction” (1994), then in another Tarantino film “From Dusk `Till Down” (1996), with George Clooney and Juliette Lewis. Furthermore, in the 1990s he also featured in “FairyTale: A True Story” (1997), “Finding Graceland” (1998), and “Holy Smoke” (1999), alongside Kate Winslet in lead roles.
He continued successfully in the 2000s, increasing further his net worth, and the number of films in which he featured. Year 2000 was quite beneficial for Harvey as he appeared in films such as “U-571”, “Little Nicky”, “Prince of Central Park” and “Viper”. The following year, Harvey starred in several films including “The Grey Zone”, and “Taking Sides”, and by 2005 he also featured in “National Treasure” (2004), “Cuban Blood” (2003), and “The Bridge Of San Louis Rey” (2004).
His next notable role was in a TV series entitled “Life On Mars” (2008-2009), as Lieutenant Gene Hunt, then he appeared in the film “The Last Godfather” (2010), and “Moonrise Kingdom” in 2012. Two years later he got a part in Wes Anderson`s blockbuster film “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, with Ralph Fiennes, and F. Murray Abraham in lead roles.
Most recently, Harvey has featured in “The Ridiculous 6” (2015), and he will appear in “Lies We Tell”, which is scheduled for release in 2016, and “The Comedian” in 2017, which will also add to his net worth.
Thanks to his skills, Harvey has received numerous prestigious nominations and awards, including an Oscar Award nomination in the category of Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his work on “Bugsy”, and for the same film he also received the Golden Globe nomination in the same category.
When it comes to his personal life, Harvey has been married to Daphna Kastner since 2001; the couple has one child together. However, Harvey has two more children, from his previous relationships with Lorraine Bracco, and Lisa Karmazin.
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, Venice Film Festival – Golden Ciak for Best Actor, Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominations
Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor, Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor
Movies
“Taxi Driver” (1976), “Bugsy” (1991), “Pulp Fiction” (1994), “Reservoir Dogs”, “From Dusk `Till Down” (1996), “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014), "U-571" (2000), “The Ridiculous 6” (2015), “Lies We Tell” (2016), “The Comedian” (2017)
TV Shows
“Life On Mars” (2008-2009), "Amazing Stories", "Saturday Night Live", "The Ellen Burstyn Show", "The F.B.I."
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Trademark
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Intense emotional acting style
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Frequently plays violent characters with a deep seated moral center
My characters aren't nasty; they're troubled. I don't see these these guys as bad guys at all. There's no difficulty for me in keeping them human.
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I'm learning to enjoy living because I'm learning to cope with sadness and loneliness. I'm learning not to run away from those things into other places... I don't want to pretend to know why, but living is difficult, and living is beautiful; without difficulty there would be no beauty.
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Violence has its own texture, and it needs to be respected, prayed to, idolized, swallowed, digested.
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[explaining why he supports a mandatory military draft] We, the people, should participate in the privileges we have in this democracy that we live in, and we should all share in the dangers and the risks with our lives to protect the freedoms that we have. I don't see how our young men can feel they're part of the country if they don't participate in the defense of the country - in the defense of our values - when it's necessary to do so. I feel, strongly, that by excluding themselves, they sacrifice something integral. They separate themselves from the hero's journey - this journey we all must take to find ourselves.
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Existence is a struggle.
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I don't want people to think that awards amount to the value of an actor. Real success means involvement - to engage oneself totally in something. Unless you become involved, you will stay uninvolved. If money is your god, you will accumulate money, but little else. If you seek out the experience of something . . . you have a good chance to have a full life.
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Fear is a marker I need to rise above, otherwise I would drown in my fear of myself.
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Everyone wants to learn something; maybe not everyone makes the effort, because they get discouraged. I certainly was like that as a teenager in Brooklyn, always trying to hide my ignorance. But you have to find the strength to acknowledge that ignorance within yourself, otherwise you are going to remain stagnant. I learnt a valuable lesson with Ridley Scott. My agent kept insisting that I go watch the show-reel of this commercial director and I kept turning him down, thinking there was no way that I was even going to consider working with a commercial director. In the end I saw his reel and I was blown away by how great it was.
Harvey's favorite actor is Pauly Shore and he claimed in an interview with Larry King that Shore's performance in Son In Law nearly made him leave the business to make way for new talent.
In Istanbul for 24th International Istanbul Film Festival [April 2005]
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at the Haifa International Film Festival, in Haifa, Israel. Married in Jerusalem a few days later. [October 2001]
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In 1992 he played both a criminal pursuing a woman who is disguised as a nun by a police lieutenant in Sister Act (1992) and a police lieutenant pursuing two criminals who raped a nun in Bad Lieutenant (1992).
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He studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.
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Resides in New York City. Also owns a home in California.
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Appears in Puerto Vallarta Squeeze (2004) opposite Scott Glenn, with whom he shared the role of Jack Crawford in the Hannibal Lecter films.
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Played a "cleaner" in both Point of No Return (1993) (Victor the Cleaner) and in Pulp Fiction (1994) (Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe").
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.
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Apocalypse Now (1979), from which he was fired, was loosely based on Joseph Conrad's novel, "Heart of Darkness". Although Keitel didn't appear in the final film, he does appear in The Duellists (1977), which is based on another Conrad story.
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.
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Like his good friend Robert De Niro, Keitel is usually very uncomfortable during interviews, often nervously laughing through them.
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Appears in Get Shorty (1995) and its sequel, Be Cool (2005), but in two completely different parts.
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He was originally cast as Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now (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.
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Shares two roles with Dennis Farina. At the end of Get Shorty (1995), he plays the Dennis Farina character in the movie-within-a-movie. Farina also originated the role of Jack Crawford in Manhunter (1986), a role that Keitel played in the remake Red Dragon (2002).
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Operates his own film production company, The Goatsingers, with partner Peggy Gormley.
Has a son, Hudson, born to then girlfriend Lisa Karmazin, a potter in California, in the summer of 2001.
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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).
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Was in a long-term relationship with actress Lorraine Bracco (1982-1993). They had a daughter, Stella Keitel in 1985.
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Listed as one of Entertainment Weekly's 25 Best Actors. [1998]