Brian Keith

 Brian Keith (November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997)

He gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney family film The Parent Trap, the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and the 1975 adventure saga The Wind and the Lion, in which he portrayed Theodore Roosevelt. On television, two of his best known roles were that of a bachelor-uncle-turned-reluctant-parent Bill Davis in the 1960s sitcom Family Affair, and a tough judge in the 1980s drama Hardcastle and McCormick. He also starred in the The Brian Keith Show that aired on NBC from 1972 to 1974 where he portrayed a pediatrician who operated a free clinic on Oahu as well as in the series Heartland. During the latter part of his life, Keith suffered from emphysema and lung cancer despite having quit smoking 10 years earlier (he appeared in an endorsement campaign for Camel cigarettes in 1955). On June 24, 1997, he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his home in Malibu, California. Keith's daughter had committed suicide two months earlier, and Brian was going through depression as well as financial problems. He is interred at Westwood Memorial Park with his daughter Daisy.