Richard Paul Kiley (March 31, 1922 – March 5, 1999) was an American stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for his voice work, as narrator of various documentary series, and for having played Don Quixote in the original 1965 production of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha. Kiley was the first who sang and recorded The Impossible Dream, the hit song from the show. In the 1953 hit musical Kismet, he played the Caliph, and introduced the song Stranger in Paradise.
In Jurassic Park, the park's impresario boasts about the tour of the park, "The voice you're now hearing is Richard Kiley. We've spared no expense." Kiley was introduced as the narrator for the tour first in the novel by Michael Crichton, and later in the film adaptation by Steven Spielberg. Visitors to Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida and Universal Studios in Hollywood hear Kiley as the narrator of the Jurassic Park Adventure Ride.
Kiley was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised Roman Catholic. He graduated from Mt. Carmel High School in 1940, and after a year at Loyola University Chicago he left to study acting at Chicago's Barnum Dramatic School. Following a stint in the Navy, he returned to Chicago working as an actor and announcer on radio before moving to New York City.
His work on stage included Richard Rodgers's first musical for which he wrote both music and lyrics, No Strings, the Buddy Hackett vehicle I Had a Ball, and the lead roles in Redhead and Man of La Mancha. He won Tony Awards as Best Actor in a musical for the latter two. The dual role of the middle-aged Miguel de Cervantes and Don Quixote is one of the few musical roles which is both a character actor role and a leading man at the same time, rather than the conventional handsome hero who wins the girl, and Kiley, who had gone on record as saying that he had grown tired of the regular "leading man" role, was always grateful for having been given the chance to play it. Although he did not star in the film version of Man of La Mancha, his performance led to many made-for-TV films and guest shots. He was one of the few actors on Broadway who had both a fine singing voice and exceptional acting ability.
Kiley won several Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards for his work in television, including The Thorn Birds (as Paddy, Rachel Ward's father) (1983) and A Year in the Life (1986, 1987-1988).
Kiley appeared as Gideon Seyetik in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Second Sight".
Kiley died of an unspecified bone marrow disease in Warwick, New York in 1999. The lights on Broadway theaters were turned off in his honor. He was interred in its cemetery.
Filmography
Patch Adams (1998)
Tigers of the Snow (1997) (TV)
Phenomenon (1996)
The Gospel according to Matthew (film)(the apostle Matthew/narrator) (1996)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (guest star, "Second Sight") (1993)
Jurassic Park (1993) (voice)
A Year in the Life (1986, 1987-1988) TV
Howard the Duck (1986) (voice)
George Washington (1984) TV Miniseries
The Thorn Birds (1983) TV Miniseries
Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)
The Little Prince (1974)
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
References
^ Obituary: Richard Kiley from The Independent (London) March 11, 1999
Man of La Mancha - original theatrical program, for Kiley's personal comments on playing Don Quixote
External links
Richard Kiley at Find A Grave
Richard Kiley at the Internet Movie Database
Richard Kiley article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Drama Series
Peter Falk (1976) · James Garner (1977) · Edward Asner (1978) · Ron Leibman (1979) · Edward Asner (1980) · Daniel J. Travanti (1981) · Daniel J. Travanti (1982) · Ed Flanders (1983) · Tom Selleck (1984) · William Daniels (1985) · William Daniels (1986) · Bruce Willis (1987) · Richard Kiley (1988) · Carroll O'Connor (1989) · Peter Falk (1990) · James Earl Jones (1991) · Christopher Lloyd (1992) · Tom Skerritt (1993) · Dennis Franz (1994) · Mandy Patinkin (1995) · Dennis Franz (1996) · Dennis Franz (1997) · Andre Braugher (1998) · Dennis Franz (1999) · James Gandolfini (2000)
Complete list: (1956-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)
v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie
Scott Jacoby (1972) · Marlon Brando (1979) · George Grizzard (1980) · David Warner (1981) · Laurence Olivier (1982) · Richard Kiley (1983) · Art Carney (1984) · Karl Malden (1985) · John Malkovich (1986) · Dabney Coleman (1987) · John Shea (1988) · Derek Jacobi (1989) · Vincent Gardenia (1990) · James Earl Jones (1991) · Hume Cronyn (1992) · Beau Bridges (1993) · Michael A. Goorjian (1994) · Donald Sutherland (1995) · Tom Hulce (1996) · Beau Bridges (1997) · George C. Scott (1998) · Peter O'Toole (1999) · Hank Azaria (2000)
Complete list: (1972-2000) · (2001-present)
v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series
Patrick McGoohan (1975) · Gordon Jackson (1976) · Louis Gossett, Jr. (1977) · Barnard Hughes (1978) · John Lithgow (1986) · Joe Spano (1989) · Patrick McGoohan (1990) · David Opatoshu (1991) · Laurence Fishburne (1993) · Richard Kiley (1994) · Paul Winfield (1995) · Peter Boyle (1996) · Pruitt Taylor Vince (1997) · John Larroquette (1998) · Edward Herrmann (1999) · James Whitmore (2000)
Complete list: (1975-2000) · (2001-present)
v • d • e
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Paul Hartman (1948) · Ray Bolger (1949) · Ezio Pinza (1950) · Robert Alda (1951) · Phil Silvers (1952) · Thomas Mitchell (1953) · Alfred Drake (1954) · Walter Slezak (1955) · Ray Walston (1956) · Rex Harrison (1957) · Robert Preston (1958) · Richard Kiley (1959) · Jackie Gleason (1960) · Richard Burton (1961) · Robert Morse (1962) · Zero Mostel (1963) · Bert Lahr (1964) · Zero Mostel (1965) · Richard Kiley (1966) · Robert Preston (1967) · Robert Goulet (1968) · Jerry Orbach (1969) · Cleavon Little (1970) · Hal Linden (1971) · Phil Silvers (1972) · Ben Vereen (1973) · Christopher Plummer (1974) · John Cullum (1975)
Complete list: (1947-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kiley"
Categories: 1922 births | 1999 deaths | Actors from Chicago | American film actors | American musical theatre actors | American stage actors | American television actors | Emmy Award winners | Irish-Americans | People from Orange County, New York | Tony Award winners
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