Trivia

The original director of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), he was replaced by Michael Curtiz when the production--Warners' most expensive up to that time--fell behind schedule and the studio didn't like the way the action sequences were turning out.

Although he was born in Philadelphia, he joined a British theatrical company, the Ben Greet players, which had a three-week engagement in town. After playing some Shakespearean parts, Greet helped him acquire a British accent, which he retained for the rest of his life.

He has directed one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).

His last name is pronounced "Kee-lee", not, as is often mispronounced, "Kye-lee".

His last job as a stage actor was substituting for an ill Henry Hull for a few weeks in "The Ivory Door" in 1928.

His father was born in Keighly, England.

He became an actor at age 17 while playing for a sandlot football team that needed new uniforms. it was decided to stage a play to raise the necessary funds, and Keighly was assigned the job of a prompter. When one of the actors dropped out of the production, he was pressed into replacing him.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 531-535. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.

Spoke fluently French.