Rest in peace Brian Keith, born this day in 1921 in Bayonne, New Jersey. Keith is perhaps best known as “Uncle Bill” in The Family Affair, but to us Disney geeks he provided the father figure for two Hayley Millses in The Parent Trap. Other Disney credits include Moon Pilot, A Tiger Walks, and Those Calloways.
I enjoyed Keith as a drunken angry sheriff in The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, and his gruff adventurous ways as Hardcastle in the 80’s TV show Hardcastle and McCormack. But most, I enjoyed his sense of style – a cosmopolitan John Wayne of sorts with a take no prisoner attitude, and a Diner’s Club finesse.
You are definitely missed, Mr. Keith.
I, too, am missing Brian Keith, and am thinking of him especially today. You might be interested in knowing that there is a group of fans working to have Mr. Keith honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; you can read about our campaign at our website. Also, as part of our fundraising, we’ve got an auction running which includes some Brian Keith memorabilia. You can see our items here: http://www.thefreeauction.com/cgi-bin/auction.cgi?misc_gen
I feel very lucky to be connected to a group of people that shares my admiration for the man and his work.