Geoffrey Keen


Biography

It isn't the easiest job in the world to rein in its sexiest super-spy, but for 10 years, as Sir Frederick Gray, Great Britain's Minister of Defence, the actor Geoffrey Keen held just that job. In fact, Keen held his post even as shifts in the political landscape deposed his real-life counterparts between 007 flicks. The baton between James Bonds even switched hands during Keen's tenure;...

Biography

It isn't the easiest job in the world to rein in its sexiest super-spy, but for 10 years, as Sir Frederick Gray, Great Britain's Minister of Defence, the actor Geoffrey Keen held just that job. In fact, Keen held his post even as shifts in the political landscape deposed his real-life counterparts between 007 flicks. The baton between James Bonds even switched hands during Keen's tenure; the actor went from scolding the smooth operator Roger Moore in "The Spy Who Loved Me" to tempering Timothy Dalton in "The Living Daylights." But, by the time Gray resigned from MI6, having done the long-lasting franchise a good six films' worth of service, the actor had already amassed a considerable opus in his career as a "civilian." He'd joined the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company the same year that England entered World War II, and there wasn't much time before his focus shifted to the Royal Army Medical Corps. After the war, he embarked on his movie career and turned up in three of Carol Reed's most fondly remembered features: "Odd Man Out," "The Fallen Idol," and the peerless Orson Welles classic "The Third Man." For seven years, he played one of the lead characters on "The Troubleshooters," a BBC drama about the higher-ups in big oil--a British forerunner to the American prime-time hit "Dynasty." His roles in expansive historical epics like the Richard Harris-Alec Guiness "Cromwell" and David Lean's "Doctor Zhivago" were forerunners of Keen's stodgy public official.

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

The Living Daylights (1987)
A View To A Kill (1985)
Minister Of Defense
Octopussy (1983)
Minister Of Defense
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1980)
Moonraker (1979)
Licensed to Love and Kill (1978)
Stockwell
The Chosen (1978)
No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977)
Rockwell
The Spy who Loved Me (1977)
Living Free (1972)
[John] Kendall
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)
William Hargood
Cromwell (1970)
John Pym
Sacco and Vanzetti (1970)
Thunderbird 6 (1968)
Berserk (1967)
Commissioner Dalby
The Malpas Mystery (1967)
Torrington
Born Free (1966)
Kendall
The Heroes of Telemark (1966)
General Bolt
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Professor Kurt
The Heroes of Telemark (To Be Deleted) (1965)
Gen Bolts
Torpedo Bay (1964)
English Intelligence Officer Hodges
The Mind Benders (1963)
Calder
Dr. Syn - Alias the Scarecrow (1963)
Lisa (1962)
Commissioner Bartels
Roommates (1962)
Sir John
The Spiral Road (1962)
Willem Wattereus
A Matter of WHO (1962)
Foster
Live Now - Pay Later (1962)
No Love for Johnnie (1961)
Prime minister
Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
A.C.N.S.
The Angry Silence (1960)
Horrors of the Black Museum (1959)
Supt. Graham
The Scapegoat (1959)
Gaston
Nowhere to Go (1959)
Inspector Scott
Web Of Evidence (1959)
Prison Governor
She Played with Fire (1958)
Michael Abercrombie
A Town Like Alice (1958)
Solicitor
Town on Trial (1957)
Mr. Dixon
Doctor at Large (1957)
2nd Examiner
The Secret Place (1957)
The Man Who Never Was (1956)
Gen. Nye
Blonde Sinner (1956)
Chaplain
Postmark for Danger (1956)
Inspector Colby
Storm Over the Nile (1956)
Dr Sutton
Sailor Beware! (1956)
Reverend Mr Purefoy
The Spanish Gardener (1956)
The Glass Tomb (1955)
Henry Stanton
Doctor in the House (1955)
Dean
Doctor at Sea (1955)
Hornbeam
The Divided Heart (1955)
Marks
The Black Glove (1954)
Maurie Green
Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue (1954)
Killearn
Genevieve (1954)
Carrington V.C. (1954)
High and Dry (1954)
Campbell
Turn the Key Softly (1953)
Gregory
Scotland Yard Inspector (1952)
[Christopher] Hampden
Cry, the Beloved Country (1952)
Angels One Five (1952)
Green Grow the Rushes (1951)
Prudhoe
Chance of a Lifetime (1950)

Cast (TV Mini-Series)

QB VII (1974)

Life Events

Bibliography