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IMDbPro

Keir Dullea

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
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"2001: A Space Odyssey," MGM 1968. Keir Dullea
In a terrifying care-free future, a young man, Guy Montag, whose job as a fireman is to burn all books, questions his actions after meeting a young girl...and begins to rebel against society.
Play trailer2:01
Fahrenheit 451 (2018)
12 Videos
96 Photos
Tall, slim, remote and boyishly handsome, one of Keir Dullea's most arresting features is his pale blue eyes, which featured in a number of watershed films of the 1960s. His major breakthrough (providing him legendary status) was the starring role as astronaut Dave Bowman in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. After that, he persevered quite well on T.V. and (especially) the stage in a career now surpassing five decades.

Dullea, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, is the son of two book-store owners, and he was raised in New York's Greenwich Village section. He graduated from George School in Pennsylvania and attended both Rutgers and San Francisco State before deciding to pursue summer stock and regional theatre. Attending the Neighborhood Playhouse, he made his New York City acting debut in a production of "Sticks and Bones" in 1956. His first big break came with the pilot program of the Route 66 (1960) series, and he proceeded to find other TV roles in Naked City (1958), Checkmate (1960) and various dramatic programs.

Following stage work in "Season of Choice" (1959) and "A Short Happy Life" (1961), Dullea made an auspicious film debut in a leading role with The Hoodlum Priest (1961), playing a troubled street gang member who crosses paths with Don Murray's determined minister. The young actor's characters from then on seemed to walk a dangerous tight-rope of emotions, and his apparent versatility at such a young age led him to a number of other psychologically scarred portrayals. Tending to play men younger than he really was, none were more disturbed than his haphephobic adolescent David (Dullea was twenty-six at the time) in the deeply felt love story David and Lisa (1962). Paired beautifully with Janet Margolin's schizophrenic Lisa, Dullea won the Golden Globe Award for "Most Promising Male Newcomer."

In the World War II military drama The Thin Red Line (1964)he played an edgy, nervous-eyed private who is pushed to his murderous brink by a brutal sergeant on Guadacanal. In Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) Dullea portrayed the incestuous brother of Carol Lynley, who may or may not figure into the disappearance of Lynley's child. Keir also costarred as the mysterious intruder who inserts an emotional wedge between gay lovers Anne Heywood and Sandy Dennis in the ground-breaking film about homosexuals, The Fox (1967).

Topping that off, Dullea played the salacious Marquis De Sade himself in a relatively tame, internationally flavored production of De Sade (1969). The apex of his film career, however, came with his lead role in Stanley Kubrick's epic science-fiction film, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), as the astronaut Dr. David Bowman.

In the realm of stage acting, Keir made his debut on Broadway in 1967 with "Dr. Cook's Garden" costarring Burl Ives, and Dullea won some "flower power" stardom two years later as a sensitive young blind man who attempted to wriggle free of his protective, overbearing mother. His character also pursues love with a free-spirited girl, played by Blythe Danner, in the play "Butterflies Are Free." By the time the movie of this story was released in 1972 both stars had been replaced by Goldie Hawn and Edward Albert.

Dullea next went abroad to seek film work in England and in Canada, but with lukewarm results. He continued to show his odd-man-out appeal on the Broadway stage as "Brick" in 1970, and in the Broadway revival of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in 1974, acting along with Elizabeth Ashley as "Maggie," and in the black comedy "P.S. Your Cat Is Dead!" one year later.

In the years since then, Dullea has acted steadily on the stage in New York City, and in U.S. regional theatres, in productions of "Sweet Prince," "The Seagull" and "The Little Foxes,"among others. His cinematic roles since 1970 have included another "mysterious stranger" in The Next One (1984), and he also reprised his "David Bowman" role in 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), the sequel to "2001: A Space Odyssey." Dullea has had four wives: his first was actress Margot Bennett, and he and his third wife, Susie Fuller (whom he met during the British performances of "Butterflies are Free" in London), cofounded the Theater Artists Workshop of Westport in 1983. Dullea, Fuller and her two children resided in London for quite a while. After Fuller's death in 1998, Dullea married for the fourth time in 1999 to actress Mia Dillon, who is best known for portraying the character "Babe" in in the play, "Crimes of the Heart" in New York City. Just a few weeks later they appeared together in the play "Deathtrap."

Into the millennium, Keir has been featured on film, including the sci-fi adventure Alien Hunter (2003); the senator in The Good Shepherd (2006), along with Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, which was directed by Robert De Niro; the romantic comedy The Accidental Husband (2008) starring Uma Thurman; the touching Mark Ruffalo social drama Infinitely Polar Bear (2014); and a prime role in the romantic mystery April Flowers (2017). On TV he was seen in such popular programs as "Law & Order," "Castle" and "Damages." and was seen in the recurring role of a religious cult leader in the fascinating series The Path (2016).
BornMay 30, 1936
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    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornMay 30, 1936
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  • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award

Photos96

Keir Dullea and Janet Margolin in David and Lisa (1962)
Keir Dullea and Janet Margolin in David and Lisa (1962)
Keir Dullea and Janet Margolin in David and Lisa (1962)
Keir Dullea and Howard Da Silva in David and Lisa (1962)
Keir Dullea and Howard Da Silva in David and Lisa (1962)
Keir Dullea, Mathew Anden, and Janet Margolin in David and Lisa (1962)
Keir Dullea and Howard Da Silva in David and Lisa (1962)
Keir Dullea and Janet Margolin in David and Lisa (1962)
Keir Dullea and Richard McMurray in David and Lisa (1962)
Keir Dullea and Neva Patterson in David and Lisa (1962)
Keir Dullea in David and Lisa (1962)
Keir Dullea and Neva Patterson in David and Lisa (1962)

Known for

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey
8.3
  • Dr. Dave Bowman
  • 1968
David and Lisa (1962)
David and Lisa
7.2
  • David Clemens
  • 1962
2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)
2010: The Year We Make Contact
6.7
  • Dave Bowman
  • 1984
Lynne Griffin in Black Christmas (1974)
Black Christmas
7.1
  • Peter
  • 1974

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Sonder (2022)
    Sonder
  • Natascha McElhone, Bokeem Woodbine, Pablo Schreiber, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Natasha Culzac, and Yerin Ha in Halo (2022)
    Halo
  • Lena Olin, Carol Kane, Logan Lerman, Louis Ozawa, Jerrika Hinton, Kate Mulvany, and Tiffany Boone in Hunters (2020)
    Hunters
  • John Malkovich, Josh Hartnett, and Bérénice Marlohe in Valley of the Gods (2019)
    Valley of the Gods
  • Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon in Fahrenheit 451 (2018)
    Fahrenheit 451
  • 2001 Sparks in the Dark (2018)
    2001 Sparks in the Dark
    • (voice)
  • The Path (2016)
    The Path
  • Keir Dullea, Kate Middleton, Celina Jade, and Jon Fletcher in April Flowers (2017)
    April Flowers
  • Liv Tyler, Matt Bomer, and Patrick Wilson in Space Station 76 (2014)
    Space Station 76
  • Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, and Ashley Aufderheide in Infinitely Polar Bear (2014)
    Infinitely Polar Bear
  • Isn't It Delicious (2013)
    Isn't It Delicious
  • HENRi (2012)
    HENRi
    • (voice)
  • Glenn Close and Rose Byrne in Damages (2007)
    Damages
  • Immersive Cocoon 2011 (2011)
    Immersive Cocoon 2011
  • Fortune (2009)
    Fortune

Soundtrack

  • Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)
    Bunny Lake Is Missing
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos14

Trailer
Trailer 2:38
Trailer
Trailer [OV]
Trailer 4:13
Trailer [OV]
New 70mm Trailer
Trailer 2:24
New 70mm Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:01
Official Trailer
Official Teaser
Trailer 1:03
Official Teaser
Teaser Trailer
Trailer 0:48
Teaser Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:18
Official Trailer
Re-release Trailer
Trailer 2:01
Re-release Trailer
2001: A Space Odyssey
Trailer 3:32
2001: A Space Odyssey
Room 237
Trailer 1:45
Room 237
Hoodlum Priest
Trailer 2:39
Hoodlum Priest
Oh, What a Night
Trailer 2:03
Oh, What a Night

Personal details

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    • May 30, 1936
    • Cleveland, Ohio, USA
    • Mia DillonMay 22, 1999 - present
  • Other works
    (2/9/99-2/28/99) Stage: Appeared in "The Cherry Orchard", at the Bristol Riverside Theater, Bristol, PA.
  • Publicity listings
    • 11 Interviews
    • 18 Articles
    • 1 Pictorial
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    One of the last people to see Sal Mineo alive. They had just finished rehearsing for a play, sometime before Mineo's murder.
  • Quotes
    Films pay the pocketbook, and theater pays the soul.

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