Keith David

Acting

Keith David

Born 1956-06-04 · Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is mostly known for his bass voice and screen presence in over 400 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as The Thing (1982), Platoon (1986), They Live (1988), Dead Presidents(1995), Armageddon (1998), There's Something About Mary (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), Pitch Black (2000), Barbershop (2002), Crash (2004), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), Cloud Atlas (2012), The Nice Guys (2016), Nope (2022), and American Fiction (2023). He starred as Elroy Patashnik in the sixth season of the NBC series Community (2015) and as Bishop James Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama Greenleaf (2016–2020). His Emmy-winning voice acting career includes narrating Ken Burns films such as The War (2007) and Muhammad Ali (2021). In film, he has voiced Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog (2009) and the Cat in Coraline (2009). On television, he portrayed Goliath in Gargoyles (1994–1997), Al Simmons / Spawn in Todd McFarlane's Spawn (1997–1999), The Flame King in Adventure Time (2012–2017), President Andre Curtis in Rick and Morty (2015–) and its upcoming spin-off President Curtis, King Andrias in Amphibia (2020–2022), Dr. Tenma in Pluto (2023), and Husk in Hazbin Hotel (2024–). Video game roles include the Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee in the Halo franchise (2004–2015), Julius Little and himself in the Saints Row series (2006–2017), Captain Anderson in the Mass Effect series (2007–2013), Chaos in Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008), Sergeant Foley in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009), and Commander Zavala in Destiny 2: The Final Shape (2024), which he assumed after the death of Lance Reddick in March 2023. He was part of the cast of The Nightmare Before Christmas live concert in October 2025, where he voiced Oogie Boogie, taking over the role from his longtime original voice actor, Ken Page, following his death in September 2024. In July 2025, David was selected to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2026. Description above from the Wikipedia article Keith David, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Spider-Man: Brand New Day poster
7.9

Fighting crime full-time as Spider-Man in a world that doesn't remember him—and the pressure of seeing his old friends move on without him—sparks a change in Peter Parker he may not have the power to control. But that transformation might also be the only thing that can stop a shocking new threat to the city and those he loves - a powerful villain no one can even see.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

2026

Coraline poster
7.9

Wandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, 11-year-old Coraline discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life. In order to stay in the fantasy, she must make a frighteningly real sacrifice.

Coraline

2009

The Thing poster
8.1

A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

The Thing

1982

Mr. & Mrs. Smith poster
6.7

A husband and wife struggle to keep their marriage alive until they realize they are both secretly working as assassins. Now, their respective assignments require them to kill each other.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

2005

The Princess and the Frog poster
7.2

A waitress, desperate to fulfill her dreams as a restaurant owner, is set on a journey to turn a frog prince back into a human being, but she has to face the same problem after she kisses him.

The Princess and the Frog

2009

Mufasa: The Lion King poster
7.3

Mufasa, a cub lost and alone, meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of a group of misfits searching for their destiny.

Mufasa: The Lion King

2024

Hercules poster
7.5

Bestowed with superhuman strength, a young mortal named Hercules sets out to prove himself a hero in the eyes of his father, the great god Zeus. Along with his friends Pegasus, a flying horse, and Phil, a personal trainer, Hercules is tricked by the hilarious, hotheaded villain Hades, who's plotting to take over Mount Olympus!

Hercules

1997

Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice poster
6.7

Two gangsters and the woman they love try to survive the most dangerous night of their lives. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s one wild ingredient added to the mix: a time machine.

Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice

2026

The Nice Guys poster
7.1

A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncovers a conspiracy.

The Nice Guys

2016

Nope poster
6.8

Residents in a lonely gulch of inland California bear witness to an uncanny, chilling discovery.

Nope

2022

Armageddon poster
6.8

When an asteroid threatens to collide with Earth, NASA honcho Dan Truman determines the only way to stop it is to drill into its surface and detonate a nuclear bomb. This leads him to renowned driller Harry Stamper, who agrees to helm the dangerous space mission provided he can bring along his own hotshot crew. Among them is the cocksure A.J. who Harry thinks isn't good enough for his daughter, until the mission proves otherwise.

Armageddon

1998

Platoon poster
7.8

As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.

Platoon

1986

Crash poster
7.2

In post-Sept. 11 Los Angeles, tensions erupt when the lives of a Brentwood housewife, her district attorney husband, a Persian shopkeeper, two cops, a pair of carjackers and a Korean couple converge during a 36-hour period.

Crash

2005

They Live poster
7.3

A lone drifter stumbles upon a unique pair of sunglasses that reveal aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission.

They Live

1988

Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II poster
9.0

Framed through his therapy sessions, high school senior Xerxes Hughes struggles to juggle his double life as a student and superhero, all while trying to confront his inner demon—literally.

Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II

2025

DC League of Super-Pets poster
7.1

When Superman and the rest of the Justice League are kidnapped, Krypto the Super-Dog must convince a rag-tag shelter pack - Ace the hound, PB the potbellied pig, Merton the turtle and Chip the squirrel - to master their own newfound powers and help him rescue the superheroes.

DC League of Super-Pets

2022

There's Something About Mary poster
6.6

For Ted, prom night went about as bad as it’s possible for any night to go. Thirteen years later, he finally gets another chance with his old prom date, only to run up against other suitors including the sleazy detective he hired to find her.

There's Something About Mary

1998

Cloud Atlas poster
6.9

A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

Cloud Atlas

2012

My Mom's New Boyfriend poster
5.4

After several years away, FBI agent Henry Durand returns to find his mother, Marty, a much different person: Having long mourned for Henry's father, she is now embracing single life. One day, while Marty, Henry and his new fiancée, Emily, are out for a walk, they meet Tommy, a mysterious stranger with whom Marty then becomes involved. However, through his FBI contacts, Henry learns that Tommy is suspected of being an art thief. As a young federal agent, Henry is given a difficult assignment: spy on his mother and her boyfriend who is suspected of leading a gang of art thieves.

My Mom's New Boyfriend

2008

Transporter 2 poster
6.3

Professional driver, and former Special Forces officer, Frank Martin is living in Miami, where he is temporarily filling in for a friend as the chauffeur for a government narcotics control policy director and his family. The young boy in the family is targeted for kidnapping, and Frank immediately becomes involved in protecting the child and exposing the kidnappers.

Transporter 2

2005

Gamer poster
5.7

Mind-control technology has taken society by a storm, a multiplayer on-line game called "Slayers" allows players to control human prisoners in mass-scale. Simon controls Kable, the online champion of the game. Kable's ultimate challenge becomes regaining his identity and independence by defeating the game's mastermind.

Gamer

2009

Superhero Movie poster
5.3

Rick Riker is a nerdy teen imbued with superpowers by a radioactive dragonfly. And because every hero needs a nemesis, enter Lou Landers, aka the villainously goofy Hourglass.

Superhero Movie

2008

21 Bridges poster
6.8

An embattled NYPD detective, is thrust into a citywide manhunt for a pair of cop killers after uncovering a massive and unexpected conspiracy. As the night unfolds, lines become blurred on who he is pursuing, and who is in pursuit of him.

21 Bridges

2019

The Quick and the Dead poster
6.5

A mysterious woman comes to compete in a quick-draw elimination tournament, in a town taken over by a notorious gunman.

The Quick and the Dead

1995

Behind the camera