Geoffrey Keen

Geoffrey Keen

Born	Geoffrey Ian Keen (1916-08-21)21 August 1916 Wallingford, England, UK
Died	3 November 2005(2005-11-03) (aged 89) Denville Hall, Northwood, Hillingdon, London, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1943–1991
Spouse(s)	Doris Groves (1960-1989; her death) Hazel Terry (divorced) Madeline Howell (divorced)
Children	2

Geoffrey Keen (21 August 1916 – 3 November 2005) was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the James Bond films.

Biography

Early life

Keen was born in Wallingford, Berkshire, England, the son of stage actor Malcolm Keen.^[1] He was educated at Bristol Grammar School. He then joined the Little Repertory Theatre in Bristol for whom he made his stage debut in 1932. After a year in repertory he stayed for a year in Cannes before being accepted for a place at the London School of Economics. In a last-minute change of mind, he entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he won the Bancroft Gold Medal after only one year. He had just joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1939 when the war started. Keen enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps, though also managed to appear in an Army instructional film for Carol Reed.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Career

Keen made his full film debut in 1946 in Riders of the New Forest but soon appeared in better known films for Reed such as Odd Man Out (1947), The Fallen Idol (1948) The Third Man (1949) and Walt Disney's Treasure Island (1950). He quickly became one of the busiest character actors, typically doing five films a year. He also continued to perform on stage, for instance as Iachimo in Peter Hall's 1957 production of Cymbeline, and a sadistic Turkish General in Terence Rattigan's controversial play Ross (1960).^[2]^[3]^[4]

Keen was cast mainly as establishment figures, including government ministers, senior police officers and military figures, though he also appeared in working class roles in Chance of a Lifetime (1950) and Millions Like Us (1943). He often portrayed balding, cold-hearted, and sarcastic executives or lawyers. On television, he was one of the leads in BBC TV's long-running drama about the oil industry, The Troubleshooters, between 1965 and 1972.^[3]^[4]

On the big screen, he played the role of Minister of Defence Sir Frederick Gray in six James Bond films between 1977 and 1987:

He also appeared in The Spanish Gardener, Doctor Zhivago, Born Free and Cromwell, as well as in numerous TV programmes. He even appeared in a leading role in the Hammer horror film Taste the Blood of Dracula that starred Christopher Lee. In all, Keen had appeared in 100 films before he retired in 1991.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Filmography

Film

The New Lot (1943) as Corporal (uncredited)
Odd Man Out (1947) as Soldier (uncredited)
Riders of the New Forest (1948) as Mr. Rivers
The Fallen Idol (1948) as Detective Davis
It's Hard to Be Good (1948) as Sergeant Todd
The Small Back Room (1949) as Pinker
The Third Man (1949) as British Military Policeman (uncredited)
Chance of a Lifetime (1950) as Bolger
Treasure Island (1950) as Israel Hands
Seven Days to Noon (1950) as Alf
The Clouded Yellow (1950) as Police Inspector
Cheer the Brave (1951) as Wilson
Green Grow the Rushes (1951) as Spencer Prudhoe
High Treason (1951) as Morgan Williams
Cry, the Beloved Country (1951) as Father Vincent
His Excellency (1952) as Morellos
Hunted (1952) as Detective Inspector Deakin
Angels One Five (1952) as Station Personnel: Company Sergeant Major
Lady in the Fog (1952) as Christopher Hampden
The Long Memory (1953) as Craig
Genevieve (1953) as Policeman
Turn the Key Softly (1953) as Mr. Gregory
Malta Story (1953) as British Soldier (uncredited)
Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue (1953) as Killeran
Meet Mr. Lucifer (1953) as Mr. Lucifer (voice)
Face the Music (1954) as Maurie Green
The Maggie (1954) as Campbell
Doctor in the House (1954) as Dean
The Divided Heart (1954) as Marks
Carrington V.C. (1954) as President
The Awakening (1954) as The Supervisor
The Glass Cage (1955) as Harry Stanton
Passage Home (1955) as Ike the bosun
Doctor at Sea (1955) as Hornbean
Storm Over the Nile (1955) as Dr. Sutton
Portrait of Alison (1955) as Inspector Colby
A Town Like Alice (1956) as Noel Strachan
The Man Who Never Was (1956) as Gen. Archibald Nye
The Long Arm (1956) as Chief Superintendent Malcolm
Yield to the Night (1956) as Prison Chaplain
Loser Takes All (1956) as Reception Clerk
Sailor Beware! (1956) as Rev. Mr. Purefoy
House of Secrets (1956) as Col. Burleigh, CIA
Zarak (1956) as Carruthers (uncredited)
The Spanish Gardener (1956) as Dr. Harvey
Town on Trial (1957) as Charles Dixon
The Secret Place (1957) as Mr. Haywood
Fortune Is a Woman (1957) as Michael Abercrombie aka Young Abercrombie
Doctor at Large (1957) as Second Examiner
The Scamp (1957) as Headmaster
The Birthday Present (1957) as Col. Wilson
Nowhere to Go (1958) as Inspector Scott
Web of Evidence (1959) as Prison Governor
Horrors of the Black Museum (1959) as Supt. Graham
Deadly Record (1959) as Supt. Ambrose
The Boy and the Bridge (1959) as Bridge Master
The Scapegoat (1959) as Gaston
Devil's Bait (1959) as Joe Frisby
The Dover Road Mystery (1960) as Superintendent Graham
The Malpas Mystery (1960) as Torrington
Sink the Bismarck! (1960) as Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff
The Angry Silence (1960) as Davis
The Silent Weapon (1961) Scotland Yard (film series) as Superintendent Carter
No Love for Johnnie (1961) as The Prime Minister – Reginald Stevens
Spare the Rod (1961) as Arthur Gregory
Raising the Wind (1961) as Sir John
A Matter of WHO (1961) as Foster
The Inspector (1962) as Commissioner Bartels
The Spiral Road (1962) as Willem Wattereus
Live Now, Pay Later (1962) as Reggie Corby
Return to Sender (1962) as Robert Lindley
The Mind Benders (1963) as Calder
Torpedo Bay (1963) as Hodges
The Cracksman (1963) as Magistrate
Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1963) as General Pugh
The Heroes of Telemark (1965) as General Bolt
Doctor Zhivago (1965) as Prof. Boris Kurt
Born Free (1966) as Kendall
Berserk! (1967) as Commissioner Dalby
Thunderbird 6 (1968) as James Glenn (voice)
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) as William Hargood
Cromwell (1970) as John Pym
Sacco e Vanzetti (1971) as Judge Webster Thayer
Doomwatch (1972) as Sir Henry Leyton
Living Free (1972) as Kendall
QB VII (1974) as Magistrate Griffin
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) as Sir Frederick Gray
No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977) as Rockwell
Holocaust 2000 (1977) as Gynecologist
Moonraker (1979) as Sir Frederick Gray
Licensed to Love and Kill (1979) as Stockwell
For Your Eyes Only (1981) as Sir Frederick Gray
Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981) as British Ambassador
Octopussy (1983) as Sir Frederick Gray
A View to a Kill (1985) as Sir Frederick Gray
The Living Daylights (1987) as Sir Frederick Gray (final film role)

Television

The Adventures of Robin Hood – episode – The Wager (1956) – Blind Beggar
The Men from Room 13 - epidodes -The Man Who Sold Romance Part 1 (1959)–The Man Who Sold Romance Part 2 (1959) as Fred Anderson
Death in Ecstasy in 1964 as Inspector Roderick Alleyn, based on the Ngaio Marsh novel^[5]
The Saint – episode – The Saint Steps In (1964) – Hobart QuennelThe Man Who sold Romance Part 1
The Troubleshooters - main cast - 1965-72 - Brian Stead
The Venturers - main cast - (1975) – Gerald Lang
Return of the Saint – episode – The Debt Collectors (1978) – Sir Charles

References

^ "Geoffrey Keen Biography – Yahoo! Movies".
^ ^a ^b ^c Shorter, Eric (10 November 2005). "The Guardian obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The Daily Telegraph obituary". 14 November 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2017. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The Independent obituary". 5 December 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2017. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ Death in Ecstasy at IMDb

External links

Geoffrey Keen at IMDb
Geoffrey Keen at the Internet Broadway Database

Terry family tree

Benjamin Terry^[i]
(1817–96)^[ii]

Sarah Ballard
(1819–92)^[ii]

Kate Terry
(1844–1924)^[ii]

Arthur Lewis
(1824–1901)

George Terry
(1852–1928)

Marion Terry
(1853–1930)^[ii]

Charles Terry
(1857–1933)^[iii]

Margaret Pratt
(1862–1941)

Fred Terry
(1863–1933)^[ii]

Julia Neilson
(1868–1957)^[iv]

Dame Ellen Terry
(1847–1928)^[ii]

Edward Godwin
(1833–86)^[v]

William Morris
(1856–19??)

Florence Terry
(1856–96)

Frank Gielgud
(1860–1949)

Kate Terry-Lewis
(1868–1958)

Mabel Terry-Lewis
(1872–1957)

Edmund Gwenn
(1877–1959)

Minnie Terry
(1882–1964)

Horace Terry
(1887–1957)

Beatrice Terry
(1890–1970)

Phyllis Neilson-Terry
(1892–1977)

Edith Craig
(1869–1947)^[v]

Helen Gibson
(1872–1949)

Gordon Craig
(1872–1966)^[v]

Elena Meo
(1879–1957)

Jack Morris
(1887–19??)

Olive Terry
(1884–1969)

Sir Charles Hawtrey
(1858–1923)

Dennis Neilson-Terry
(1895–1932)

Mary Glynne
(1895–1954)

Val Gielgud
(1900–81)

Sir John Gielgud
(1904–2000)

Rosemary Gordon Craig
(1894–19??)

Robin Craig
(1895–1992)

Anthony Hawtrey
(1909–54)

Geoffrey Keen
(1916–2005)

Hazel Terry
(1918–74)

Lewis Gielgud
(1894–1953)

Zita Gordon
(1911–2006)

Eleanor Gielgud
(1907–98)

Edward Carrick
(1905–98)

Helen Godfrey
(1899–1960)

Maina Gielgud
(born 1945)

Helen Craig
(born 1934)

Jemma Hyde
(born 1939)

Notes:

^ The family members who were actors, or associated with the theatre, are highlighted in amber
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Law, Jonathan (2013). The Methuen Drama Dictionary of the Theatre. A&C Black. ISBN 9781408145913.
^ "Charles Terry". Ancestry. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
^ Roy, Donald. "Neilson, Julia Emilie (1868–1957)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 7 January 2010
^ ^a ^b ^c "Edward William Godwin". The Elmbridge Hundred. Retrieved 21 February 2016.