He is regarded as one of the greatest method actors ever. During this time, Keitel auditioned for filmmaker Martin Scorsese and gained a starring role as "J. Since then, Scorsese and Keitel have worked together on several projects. Keitel had the starring role in Scorsese's Mean Streets , which also proved to be Robert De Niro 's breakthrough film.
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Keitel served in the U. Marine Corps and then studied at the Actors Studio. Keitel played a film agent in the futuristic thriller The Congress ; an actor in the collection of short films Rio, eu te amo ; Rio, I Love You ; and an aging film director in the melancholically cynical Youth His movies from included the stop-motion animated feature Isle of Dogs. Harvey Keitel. Info Print Cite. Submit Feedback. Thank you for your feedback. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree See Article History.
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Sporting a Brooklyn accent and bulldog features, Harvey Keitel first gained recognition with a series of gritty roles in the early films of Martin Scorsese, and he was for a long time cast as one lowlife thug after another. A product of Brooklyn, where he was born on May 13, , Keitel grew up as something of a delinquent. At the age of 16, his truancy was put to an end when he was sent to Lebanon with the Marine Corps. Upon his return, he sold shoes and nurtured an interest in acting.
Award-winning actor and producer Harvey Keitel has starred in some of the most recognizable and influential films of all time. Keitel has been a pinnacle for excellence in acting for over fifty years and has since gone on to work with some of the most renowned filmmakers in cinema such as Martin Scorsese , Quentin Tarantino , or Ridley Scott. He is unique in that, though he has numerous starring roles, some of his best work is as a supporting actor, taking a seemingly smaller role and elevating it to one of the best in a film, despite limited screen time.
