Photo of Keith David

Keith David

Born
June 4, 1956

Biography

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

By IMDb rating
Poster for “Platoon”

Platoon

1986IMDb 8.0
King
Poster for “Coraline”

Coraline

2009IMDb 7.8
The Cat (voice)
Poster for “Cloud Atlas”

Cloud Atlas

2012IMDb 7.3
Kupaka / Joe Napier / An-kor Apis / Prescient
Poster for “They Live”

They Live

1988IMDb 7.2
Frank Armitage
Poster for “Bird”

Bird

1988IMDb 7.1
Buster Franklin
Poster for “Pitch Black”

Pitch Black

2000IMDb 7.0
Abu 'Imam' al-Walid
Poster for “Clockers”

Clockers

1995IMDb 6.9
André the Giant
Poster for “Nope”

Nope

2022IMDb 6.8
Otis Haywood Sr.
Poster for “Armageddon”

Armageddon

1998IMDb 6.7
General Kimsey
Poster for “21 Bridges”

21 Bridges

2019IMDb 6.7
Deputy Chief Spencer
Poster for “Barbershop”

Barbershop

2002IMDb 6.4
Lester Wallace
Poster for “Always”

Always

1989IMDb 6.4
Powerhouse
Poster for “Free Birds”

Free Birds

2013IMDb 5.8
Chief Broadbeak (Voice)
Poster for “Volcano”

Volcano

1997IMDb 5.6
Lt. Ed Fox
Poster for “Dirty”

Dirty

2005IMDb 5.5
Captain Spain
Poster for “Nina”

Nina

2016IMDb 5.4
Clifton's Father
Poster for “Shelby Oaks”

Shelby Oaks

2025IMDb 5.3
Morton Jacobson
Poster for “ATF”

ATF

1999IMDb 5.0
FBI Director Richard Long
Poster for “First Sunday”

First Sunday

2008IMDb 4.7
Judge B. Bennet Galloway
Poster for “Smiley”

Smiley

2012IMDb 3.3
Diamond