Memory Alpha
Register
Advertisement
Memory Alpha
Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

Richard Paul Kiley (31 March 19225 March 1999; age 76) was a prolific film and television actor hailing from Chicago, Illinois. He played Gideon Seyetik in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine second season episode "Second Sight".

Kiley co-starred in The Thorn Birds in 1983, earning an Emmy Award for his performance on that show. Philip Anglim, Antoinette Bower, John de Lancie, Christopher Plummer, Jean Simmons, and Meg Wyllie also starred in the series, with Simmons playing his wife (and also winning an Emmy). Kiley later won another Emmy for his starring role in the short-lived television series A Year in the Life, which co-starred Diana Muldaur. Additionally, Kiley received Emmy nominations for his two appearances on Picket Fences, one in 1993 and another in 1994, winning the award for the latter year.

Kiley's resume consists of countless television appearances. He was seen several times on Studio One during the 1950s (including one episode with James Gregory and another with Frank Overton) and The United States Steel Hour during the 50s and early 60s (during which he worked alongside Brian Keith and Trek director Robert Scheerer). He also appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, The Nurses (with Stephen Brooks and Theodore Bikel), The Name of the Game (with Michael Ansara, Diana Muldaur, James B. Sikking, and Jason Wingreen), Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Night Gallery (with Jill Ireland, directed by Ralph Senensky), The Mod Squad (with Clarence Williams III, Tige Andrews, and Meg Foster), the 1980s version of The Twilight Zone, and Ally McBeal, among many others. He was also seen in the mini-series How the West Was Won (1977, with Paul Fix, Roy Jenson, and Anthony Zerbe), A.D. (1985, with Ben Vereen and Anthony Zerbe), and If Tomorrow Comes (1986, with Barry Jenner).

In 1977, Kiley appeared in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, which also featured future Star Trek: The Next Generation star LeVar Burton, and in the 1996 film Phenomenon, featuring The Next Generation's Brent Spiner. His other film credits include Blackboard Jungle (1955, co-starring John Hoyt), Endless Love (1981), and Patch Adams (1998, also featuring Bob Gunton, Harve Presnell, Harry Groener, Ellen Albertini Dow, and Randy Oglesby). He also starred in a number of made-for-TV movies, including the 1969 pilot for Night Gallery (co-starring Richard Hale, Byron Morrow and George Murdock), 1974's Columbo: A Friend in Deed (also with Byron Morrow as well as Paul Sorensen and Arlene Martel), and 1991's Separate But Equal (with Albert Hall).

He was also a prolific actor of the stage, winning Tony Awards for his roles as Tom Baxter in the 1959 Broadway musical Redhead and as Don Quixote/Miguel Cervantes in the original 1965 production of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha. Among Broadway fans, Kiley would become particularly linked to this latter role, reprising it in 1972 and 1977 Broadway revivals.

Kiley's rich, baritone voice was used in several National Geographic and A&E Biography specials. He also played himself, the narrator of the Jurassic Park tour, in the 1993 film Jurassic Park.

Kiley died of a bone marrow disease in Warwick, New York on 5 March 1999. He was 76 years old.

External links[]

Advertisement