Keith David
Born: 1956-06-04 in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Known For: Acting
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.
Filmography
2028
- Captain Zero: The Movie as The Depression Demon (voice)
2026
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day as Narrator of Spider Video (voice)
- President Curtis as President Andre Curtis (voice)
- The Hawk as Old Henry
- Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice as Sosa
- Strip Law as Steve Nichols (voice)
- The Thing Expanded as Self
2025
- Devil May Cry as Lucan (voice)
- The Lowdown as Marty
- Haunted Hotel as Additional Voices (voice)
- I Love LA as Leon Marcus
- Duster as Ezra Saxton
- Shelby Oaks as Morton Jacobson
- The American Revolution as (voice)
- Oh My God... Yes! A Series of Extremely Relatable Circumstances as Toy COD Leader (voice)
- E.B. White's Charlotte's Web as Old Sheep (voice)
- Sneaks as O.G. (voice)
- Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II as The Depression Demon (voice)
- What is an Ocean… Reconnecting the Cast and Crew of Cloud Atlas as Self - Interviewee
- Hazbin Hotel: Live on Broadway as (voice) (uncredited)
- The Gettysburg Address as Frederick Douglass (voice)
- Tim Travers and the Time Traveler's Paradox as The Simulator
- Omniscient as Alistair
- Portal to Hell as Mr. Bobshank
- Hazbin Hotel: Sing-Along as Husk (voice)
- Finding Faith as Henry
2024
- High Potential as Captain Pacheco
- Hazbin Hotel as Husk (voice)
- Mufasa: The Lion King as Masego (voice)
- Kite Man: Hell Yeah! as Darkseid (voice)
- Masters of the Universe: Revolution as Hordak (voice)
- Invincible Fight Girl as Narrator (voice)
- Leonardo da Vinci as Narrator (voice)
- The Prank as Principal Henderson
- Mr. Nelson on the North Side as Self
- Betty & Blue as Willie 'Blue' Watson
2023
- Krapopolis as Asskill (voice)
- True Lies as Albert 'Al' Gibson
- My Dad the Bounty Hunter as B'Caala (voice)
- Justified: City Primeval as Judge Alvin Guy
- American Fiction as Willy the Wonker
- Greatest Geek Year Ever! 1982 as Self - Actor
- Heist 88 as Buddha Ray
- From the Shadows as Dr. Leonard Bertram
- A Snowy Day in Oakland as Mr. Monroe
- Parallel Worlds: A Psychedelic Love Story as Jerry
2022
- Nope as Otis Haywood Sr.
- Firebuds as Manny Kablamee
- Chibiverse as King Andrias (voice)
- DC League of Super-Pets as Dog-El (voice)
- From Scratch as Hershel Wheeler
- Catwoman: Hunted as Tobias Whale / Morax (voice)
- Entergalactic as Mr. Rager (voice)
- The Wonderful Spring of Mickey Mouse as Narrator (voice)
- The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time as Self
- Unplugging as Gil
- Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story as Ink Williams
- In Search of Tomorrow as Self - Interviewee
- A Miracle Before Christmas as David
- Shut Up and Ride as Narrator (voice)
2021
- Abbott Elementary as Frank
- Leverage: Redemption as Billy Spencer
- Marvel's Hit-Monkey as The Devil
- The Seventh Day as Father Louis
- Pups Alone as The Wise Bartender
- The Gateway as Terry
- Black as Night as Babineaux
- Muhammad Ali as Narrator (voice)
- Insight as Captain Duke
2020
- DC's Stargirl as Mister Bones (voice)
- Close Enough as World’s Greatest Teacher Mug (voice)
- Central Park as Ward Wittlinger (voice)
- Love Life as Narrator (voice)
- The Good Lord Bird as Herbert
- Woke as Bible (voice)
- Horizon Line as Freddy Wyman
- Dead Talk Live as Self - Guest
- In Search of Darkness: Part II as Self
- Good as Gregory Devereaux
- The 420 Movie as Chief Ironweed
- Most Guys Are Losers as Al
- Cuba's Cancer Hope as Narrator (voice)
2019
- Amphibia as King Andrias (voice)
- Creepshow as Murdoch
- 21 Bridges as Deputy Chief Spencer
- The Last Kids on Earth as Thrull (voice)
- The Wedding Year as Preston
- Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror as Self
- You Might Be the Killer as Sheriff James
- In Search of Darkness as Self
- Rise of the Mammals as Self - Narrator
2018
- Craig of the Creek as Narrator (voice)
- Summer Camp Island as Lithophone (voice)
- Night School as Gerald
- Liverspots and Astronots as Dr. Pesh
- Champaign Ill as Lafonso
- Brothers in Arms as Self
- American Dresser as Charlie
- Fuck You All: The Uwe Boll Story as Self
- Ray Meets Helen as Harve
- Tales from the Hood 2 as Portifoy Simms
- Love Jacked as Ed
- Sharon 1.2.3. as Tyrone
2017
- DuckTales as Manny (voice)
- Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure as Additional Voices (voice)
- Future Man as Dr. Elias Kronish
- Stretch Armstrong & the Flex Fighters as Malcom Kane (voice)
- Savage Dog as Valentine
- Not a War Story
- The '91 Falcons as Narrator (voice)
2016
- MacGyver as Burke / Man
- Greenleaf as Bishop James Greenleaf
- The Nice Guys as Older Guy
- Speechless as Colonel
- Kulipari: An Army of Frogs as Lord Marmoo (voice)
- Nina as Clifton's Father
- Jackie Robinson as Narrator (voice)
- Dirty Lies as Doc
- Range 15 as Colonel Holloway
- Blue: The American Dream as Terry Venable
- Service to Man as Dean Holmes
- The North Star as Frederick Douglass
- School of Rickey as Self - Narrator (voice)
- The Last Punch as Don King
2015
- We Bare Bears as Mr. Charles (voice)
- Star vs. the Forces of Evil as Glossaryck (voice)
- Mr. Robot as Qwerty (voice) (uncredited)
- Fresh Off the Boat as Clyde Roses
- Big Time in Hollywood, Fl as Agent Everett Malloy
- Field of Lost Shoes as Old Judge
- Kids vs Monsters as Barry
- Boiling Pot as Agent Long
- If I Tell You I Have to Kill You as Detective Harris
- Dutch Book
- Secrets of the Magic City as Mr. Daniels
- Union Furnace as Pin Stripe
2014
- The Flash as Solovar (voice)
- BoJack Horseman as Lion Musician (voice)
- NCIS: New Orleans as Gene Holloway
- Scorpion as Warden
- black-ish as Loose Craig
- Extant as Nicholas Calderon
- Enlisted as Sgt. Major Donald Cody
- The Monday Night War: WWE vs. WCW as Narrator (voice)
- Remaking the Legend: Halo 2 Anniversary
- Creature Feature: 60 Years of the Gill-Man as Narrator
2013
- Rick and Morty as President Curtis / Turkey President Curtis (voice)
- Teen Titans Go! as Narrator (voice)
- Uncle Grandpa as Santa Claus (voice)
- The Bible as Narrator
- Free Birds as Chief Broadbeak (Voice)
- Once Upon a Time in Wonderland as The Cheshire Cat (voice)
- Assault on Wall Street as Freddy
- Frog Kingdom as Frog King (voice)
- Belle's as William 'Big Bill' Cooper
- Sons of Liberty as Nathan Reynolds
- Don't Pass Me By as David Knox
- Black Asylum as Agent Davis
2012
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as Sal Commander (voice)
- Cloud Atlas as Kupaka / Joe Napier / An-kor Apis / Prescient
- Touch as Dutch
- Smiley as Diamond
- The Undershepherd as Brother Wilks
- The Last Fall as Sydney Bishop
- Christmas in Compton as Big Earl
- AniMen: The Galactic Battle as Sergeant Brass
- Highway as Mustafa
- Double or Nothing as Homeless Dude
2011
- Person of Interest as Terence Beale
- The Cape as Max Malini
- Samuel Bleak as Ned Coffman
- The Inheritance as Uncle Melvin
- The Greening of Whitney Brown as Clerk
- No Saints for Sinners
- Hopelessly in June as Dalbert Myers
2010
- Hawaii Five-0 as Jimmy Cannon
- Adventure Time as Balthus (voice)
- Young Justice as Mongul (voice)
- Death at a Funeral as Reverend Davis
- Lottery Ticket as Sweet Tee
- Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming as Terry
- Chain Letter as Det. Jim Crenshaw
- Meet Monica Velour as Claude
- Baseball: The Tenth Inning as Narrator (voice)
- Chasing 3000 as Officer L.
- Something Like A Business as Sebastian
- New York Street Games as Self
- Africa's Lost Eden as Narrator (voice)
- Baseball: The Tenth Inning as Narrator
2009
- Community as Elroy Patashnik
- Coraline as The Cat (voice)
- Archer as Lemuel Kane (voice)
- The Princess and the Frog as Dr. Facilier (voice)
- Gamer as Agent Keith
- All About Steve as Corbitt
- Behind Enemy Lines III: Colombia as Commander Scott Boytano
- Against the Dark as Lt. Waters
- The Butcher as Larry Cobb
- Don McKay as Otis Kent
- Charlie Valentine as Sal
- Pastor Brown as Pastor Brown
- Beautiful Loser as Morgan - Adult
- Blue as Terry Venable
2008
- Superhero Movie as The Chief of Police
- My Mom's New Boyfriend as FBI Chief Conrad
- Canterbury's Law
- Justice League: The New Frontier as The Centre (voice)
- First Sunday as Judge B. Bennet Galloway
- The Fifth Commandment as Max 'Coolbreeze' Templeton
- S.I.S. as Joseph Armstrong
- The Sensei as Minister
- No Bad Days as Terrence
- The Candlelight Murders as Pastor Bob
2007
- The War as Narrator (voice)
- Delta Farce as Sgt. Kilgore
- The Last Sentinel as Colonel Norton
- If I Had Known I Was a Genius as Dad
- The Color Purple: The Color of Success as Self - Narrator (voice)
2006
- Psych as Mr. Guster
- ATL as John Garnett
- Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil as MCPO Scott Boytano
- The Oh in Ohio as Coach Popovitch
- Forbidden Fruits as Rev. Walters
- Working with a Master: John Carpenter as Self
2005
- Grey's Anatomy as Lloyd Mackie
- American Dad! as Fire Captain (voice)
- Numb3rs as Jeremiah Miller
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith as Father
- Transporter 2 as Stappleton
- Crash as Lt. Dixon
- Dirty as Captain Spain
- The Proud Family Movie as Bebe Clone (voice)
- Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson as Jack Johnson (voice)
- The Crusades: Crescent and the Cross as Narrator
- Crusades: Crescent & the Cross as Self - Narrator
2004
- The Chronicles of Riddick as Abu 'Imam' al-Walid
- Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London as CIA Director
- The Big House
- Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson as Narrator (voice)
- Creature Feature: 50 Years of the Gill-Man as Narrator (voice)
- Beef II as Narrator (voice)
- The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury as Abu 'Imam' al-Walid (voice)
- Last Stand of the Great Bear as Narrator (voice)
2003
- Teen Titans as Atlas (voice)
- Spider-Man: The New Animated Series as Agent Mosely (voice)
- Agent Cody Banks as CIA Director
- Hollywood Homicide as Leon
- Head of State as Bernard Cooper
- Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip as Narrator (voice)
- Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites as Narrator
- Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked as Narrator (voice)
- Inside Mecca as Narrator (voice)
- The Shakespeare Sessions
- Nubia: The Forgotten Kingdom as Narrator (voice)
2002
- Everwood as Brian
- Barbershop as Lester Wallace
- Stalking Leopards as Narrator (voice)
- Mark Twain as Narrator (voice)
- Ultimate Fights from the Movies as Frank (They Live) (archive footage)
- 29 Palms as The Sheriff
- Mark Twain as Narrator (voice)
2001
- The Legend of Tarzan as Tublat (voice)
- Justice League as Despero (voice)
- Disney's House of Mouse as Card Soldier (voice)
- The Job
- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within as Council Member (voice)
- Jazz as Narrator (voice)
- Novocaine as Detective Lunt
- Egypt's Golden Empire as Narrator (voice)
- Home Invaders as Matador
- Pretty When You Cry as Detective Charles Desett
- Boxing: In and Out of the Ring as Narrator (voice)
- Semper Fi as Gunnery Sgt. Brinkloff
- Egypt's Golden Empire as Narrator
2000
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Matt Phelps
- Requiem for a Dream as Big Tim
- The Replacements as Lindell
- Pitch Black as Abu 'Imam' al-Walid
- Where the Heart Is as Moses Whitecotten
- Innocents as Detective Davis
- Silent Service as Self - Host
1999
- Family Guy as Jazz Documentary Narrator (voice)
- SpongeBob SquarePants as Chatterbox Translation Collar (voice)
- ATF as FBI Director Richard Long
- Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony as Frederick Douglass (voice)
- The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Mystery of the Blues as King Oliver
- The Grizzlies of Siberia as Narrator (voice)
1998
- Hercules as Apollo (voice)
- Armageddon as General Kimsey
- There's Something About Mary as Charlie Jensen
- The Tiger Woods Story as Earl Woods
- Todd McFarlane's Spawn 2 as Spawn
1997
- King of the Hill as Brian Robertson (voice)
- Hercules as Apollo the Sun God (voice)
- Spawn as Al Simmons / Spawn (voice)
- Volcano as Lt. Ed Fox
- Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest as Algric Bartles
- Vanishing Point as Warren Taft
- Executive Target as Lamar
- Don King: Only in America as Herbert Muhammad
- Never Met Picasso as Larry
- Flipping as Leo Richards, Gang Leader
1996
- Arli$$ as Cecil Pickett
- 7th Heaven as Stanley
- Eye for an Eye as Martin
- Larger Than Life as Hurst
- E! True Hollywood Story as Self
- Johns as Homeless John
- The Grave as The Priest
1995
- The Outer Limits as Captain Ira Merit
- The Quick and the Dead as Sergeant Cantrell
- Dead Presidents as Kirby
- Gargoyles the Movie: The Heroes Awaken as Goliath (voice)
- Clockers as André the Giant
- Blue in the Face as Jackie Robinson
- Beauty and the Beasts: A Leopard's Story as Narrator (voice)
1994
- ER as Pastor Watkins
- Gargoyles as Goliath (voice)
- Aladdin
- New York Undercover
- Fantastic Four as Black Panther/T'challa (voice)
- Reality Bites as Roger
- The Puppet Masters as Alex Holland
- Notes in a Minor Key as Kansas
- Jewels of the Caribbean Sea as Narrator (voice)
1993
- The Last Outlaw as Lovecraft
- Bluesland: A Portrait in American Music as Self - Host
- Hallelujah as Big Willie
- Lions Of Darkness as Narrator (voice)
- There Are No Children Here as John Paul Rivers
1992
- The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles as King Oliver
- Final Analysis as Detective Huggins
- Article 99 as Luther Jermoe
- Nails as Noah Owens
1991
- Hallelujah Anyhow as Will
1990
- Law & Order as Bronx D.A. John Robertson
- Marked for Death as Max
- Men at Work as Louis Fedders
- Murder in Black and White as Martin
1989
- Road House as Ernie Bass
- Always as Powerhouse
1988
- American Experience as W.E. Henderson / Other Voices
- They Live as Frank Armitage
- Off Limits as Maurice
- Braddock: Missing in Action III as Embassy Gate Captain
- Bird as Buster Franklin
- Stars & Bars as Eugene Teagarden
- Ladykillers as Abe
- The Making of 'They Live' as Self
- Christmas in Tattertown as Saxophone (voice)
1987
- The Oldest Rookie
- Hot Pursuit as Alphonso
1986
- Platoon as King
- The Whoopee Boys as Washington Square Peddler
1985
- Screen Two as Will
- The Equalizer as Cristo
1983
- Reading Rainbow as Narrator (voice)
1982
- Nature as Narrator
- American Playhouse as 'Big' Willie Thorton
- The Thing as Childs
1980
- The Pirates of Penzance as Pirates and Police
1979
- Coriolanus as Aedile / Roman Citizen / Volscian Citizen
1974
- NOVA as Narrator
1953
- The Oscars as The Cat (voice)