Biography
Ian Keith (born Keith Ross; February 27, 1899 – March 26, 1960) was an American actor.
Known For
Complete Filmography

The Ten Commandments
1956
as Rameses I
Escaping death, a Hebrew infant is raised in a royal household to become a prince. Upon discovery of his true heritage, Moses embarks on a personal qu...

Duel on the Mississippi
1955
as Jacques Scarlet
In bustling era of 19th-century Louisiana, sugar is as valuable as gold, and pirates like Lili Scarlet will do anything to get it. After robbing Jules...

It Came from Beneath the Sea
1955
as Adm. Burns
A giant octopus, whose feeding habits have been affected by radiation from H-Bomb tests, rises from the Mindanao Deep to terrorize the California Coas...

New York Confidential
1955
as Waluska
Story follows the rise and subsequent fall of the notorious head of a New York crime family, who decides to testify against his pals in order to avoid...

Prince of Players
1955
as Ghost of Hamlet's father in "Hamlet"
Prince of Players is a biographical film about the 19th century American actor Edwin Booth.

The Black Shield of Falworth
1954
as King Henry IV
In the days of King Henry IV, stalwart young Myles and his sister Meg have been raised as peasants, without any knowledge of who their father really w...

The Three Musketeers
1948
as Rochefort
Athletic adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic adventure about the king's musketeers and their mission to protect France.

Nightmare Alley
1947
as Pete Krumbein
Roustabout Stanton Carlisle joins a traveling carny and unsuccessfully schemes to figure out the mind-reading act of Mademoiselle Zeena and her alcoho...

Dick Tracy's Dilemma
1947
as Vitamin Flintheart
Dick Tracy investigates the theft of a fortune of fur coats, a possible insurance swindle and several murders, all linked to a huge thug who wears a h...

Border Feud
1947
as Doc Peters
A marshal with a whip and a sheriff with a sense of humor end a gold-mine feud.

Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
1946
as Vitamin Flintheart
A police detective uses his girlfriend to track down a homicidal maniac.

Mr. Hex
1946
as Mr. Raymond, the Hypnotist
Sach is given a post-hypnotic suggestion that turns him into a championship prizefighter.

The Strange Woman
1946
as Lincoln Pittridge (uncredited)
In early 19th century New England, an unscrupulous woman uses her beauty and wits to seduce, deceive and control the men around her.

Singing on the Trail
1946
as Jerry Easton
In this Western, Ken Curtis, Columbia Pictures' low-budget answer to Gene Autry, romanced one of the studio's most beautiful starlets, Rita Hayworth-l...

Valley of the Zombies
1946
as Ormond Murks
A woman falls under the hypnotic spell of a resurrected madman.

Northwest Trail
1945
as Inspector McGrath
Mountie Matt O'Brien is assigned to escort Miss Owens to a remote outpost. But when he finds an illegal mining operation there that is smuggling gold ...

Song of Old Wyoming
1945
as Lee Landow
Old Ma Conway champions statehood for Wyoming, believing the measure would put an end to the territory's lawlessness; but the elderly woman is opposed...

The Spanish Main
1945
as Captain Lussan
Laurent van Horn is the leader of a band of Dutch refugees on a ship seeking freedom in the Carolinas, when the ship is wrecked on the coast of Cartag...

Phantom of the Plains
1945
as Talbot Wilberforce Champneys, aka Fancy Charlie
Red Ryder tries to warn a duchess that her newfound beau has a history of murdering his wives.

Identity Unknown
1945
as Maj. Williams
A soldier survives a bombing in which his three fellow soldiers were killed. When he recovers he discovers he has amnesia, and since his companions' b...

Fog Island
1945
as Dr. Lake
Leo, a former convict, is living in seclusion on an island with his step-daughter, the daughter of his late wife. Leo was framed by a group of former ...

Under Western Skies
1945
as Professor Moffett
An Arizona teacher (Noah Beery Jr.) saves a vaudeville star (Martha O'Driscoll) and her troupe from a bandit (Leo Carrillo).

She Gets Her Man
1945
as Oliver McQuestion
The corny daughter of a famed policewoman tries to catch a blowgun killer.

Cowboy from Lonesome River
1944
as Matt Conway
This western features a singing cowboy, a brave hero, and a bumbling sidekick who band together to defeat a ruthless range boss.

Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
1944
as Dr. Paul Recknik
To solve the murder of a man shot in a locked room, Chan must wade through a Fun House, the writings of an unscrupulous author, and chess pieces.

Arizona Whirlwind
1944
as Polini
US marshals Ken, Hoot and Bob stop a gang dressed as Indians from robbing the stage. After getting repairs at the relay station, but before they get t...

Casanova in Burlesque
1944
as J. Boggs-Robinson
A stripper (June Havoc) discovers a professor (Joe E. Brown) spends summer teaching Shakespeare and winter as a burlesque comic.
Here Comes Kelly
1943
as L. Herbert Oakley
Cocky Kelly's girlfriend helps him straighten up enough to get a job as a process server.

Nazty Nuisance
1943
as Chief Paj Mab
Germany's Adolf Hitler, with his Axis-stooges, Italy's Mussolini and Japan's Suki Yama, although he tried to avoid taking them, is on his way, via sub...

Bordertown Gun Fighters
1943
as Cameo Shelby
Cameo Shelby is running a crooked lottery out of El Paso and treasury agent Bill Elliott has been sent to break it up. When Bill intercepts a shipment...

The Man from Thunder River
1943
as Henry Stevens
In this western, a cowboy and his pals must stop outlaws from stealing a cache of gold ore. Action ensues, and they succeed.

Five Graves to Cairo
1943
as Capt. St. Bride (uncredited)
The British Army, retreating ahead of victorious Rommel, leaves a lone survivor on the Egyptian border who finds refuge at a remote desert hotel. He a...

I Escaped from the Gestapo
1943
as Gerard
A forger is forced to work for a Nazi spy ring. His conscience gets the better of him, though, and he secretly conspires with the FBI to turn over the...

Wild Horse Stampede
1943
as Carson
Two cowboys try to protect railroad workers from rampaging Indians.

Corregidor
1943
as Capt. Morris
A doctor and his staff in a hospital on the Philippine island of Corregidor shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor try to treat the sick, i...

The Sundown Kid
1942
as J. Richard Spencer
A Pinkerton agent masquerades as a criminal in order to infiltrate a gang of counterfeiters that is using wealthy widow Lucy Randall as a front. Arriv...

Keep 'Em Sailing
1942
as FBI Director Sinclair
An FBI agent goes undercover to investigate the sabotage of American cargo ships.

The Payoff
1942
as Inspector Thomas
The city's District Attorney is murdered, and a newspaper reporter investigates. He starts finding out that everything wasn't quite as cut and dried a...

Fall In
1942
as Army Doctor
An Army sergeant's photographic memory puts him in conflict with a Nazi spy.

Remember Pearl Harbor
1942
as Capt. Hudson
A man tries to redeem himself after ducking out on his comrades before the fatal attack.

The Sea Hawk
1940
as Peralta
Dashing pirate Geoffrey Thorpe plunders Spanish ships for Queen Elizabeth I and falls in love with Dona Maria, a beautiful Spanish royal he captures.

All This, and Heaven Too
1940
as DeLangle
When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philip...

Comet Over Broadway
1938
as Wilton Banks
Story of a rising stage star and the trouble she causes by her ambition.

The Buccaneer
1938
as Senator Crawford
French pirate Jean Lafitte rescues a girl and joins the War of 1812.
White Legion
1936
as Dr. Julian Murray
In the early 1900s, as the Panama Canal is being built, a group of doctors try to discover a cure for yellow fever, a disease that is decimating the w...

Mary of Scotland
1936
as Moray
The recently widowed Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to reclaim her throne but is opposed by her half-brother and her own Scottish lords.

The Preview Murder Mystery
1936
as E. Gordon Smith
Someone is murdering the cast and crew of a new Hollywood movie, and the leading lady may be next. As a police detective locks down the lot and refuse...

Don't Gamble with Love
1936
as John Crane
Standard tale of husband and wife living a party lifestyle. He works in a gambling hall and she occasionally models and sings. Because they want to st...

The Three Musketeers
1935
as Count de Rochefort
The young Gascon D'Artagnan arrives in Paris, his heart set on joining the king's Musketeers. He is taken under the wings of three of the most respect...

Hollywood Extra Girl
1935
as Crusades Actor (uncredited)
A short semi-documentary about a "typical extra girl" on a DeMille film.

The Crusades
1935
as Saladin
King Richard the Lionhearted launches a crusade to preserve Christianity in Jerusalem.

Dangerous Corner
1934
as Martin Chatfield
Friends uncover a dark secret when they compare notes about a theft and suicide.

Cleopatra
1934
as Octavian
The queen of Egypt barges the Nile and flirts with Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.

Queen Christina
1933
as Magnus
Popular monarch Queen Christina of Sweden must choose between love and loyalty to her nation when she unexpectedly falls for a Spanish envoy.

The Sign of the Cross
1932
as Tigellinus
A Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.
The Deceiver
1931
as Reginald Thorpe
Broadway matinee idol, Shakespearean actor Reginald Thorpe, is found dead in his dressing room on the eve of his departure for Hollywood. Thorpe's und...

Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise)
1931
as Robert Lane
A young woman runs away from an abusive home and pre-arranged marriage only to be frustrated in her attempts to find happiness with a handsome enginee...

The Phantom of Paris
1931
as Marquis Max Du Touchais
Chéri-Bibi is a world class escape artist, but he cannot escape the false murder charge that is placed on him.

The Sin Ship
1931
as Smiley Marsden
A lecherous ship captain becomes spiritually changed by a female passenger, not realizing she and her "minister" husband are really bank robbers.

A Tailor-Made Man
1931
as Dr. Gustav von Sonntag
John Paul Bart is just a pants-presser in a tailor's shop, but he has big ambitions. One night, he borrows the clothes of a wealthy client and bluffs ...

The Boudoir Diplomat
1930
as Baron Belmar
A ladies' man flirts with the wives of other governments' officials.

Abraham Lincoln
1930
as John Wilkes Booth
A biopic dramatizing Abraham Lincoln's life through a series of vignettes depicting its defining chapters: his romance with Ann Rutledge; his early ye...

The Big Trail
1930
as Bill Thorpe
Young scout Breck Coleman leads a wagon train along the dangerous trail to Oregon as he tries to get the affection of the beautiful pioneer Ruth Camer...

Prince of Diamonds
1930
as Rupert Endon
Eve Marley (Aileen Pringle)is forced to marry a wealthy jeweler that she does not love in order to save the man she loves, Rupert Endon (Ian Keith), f...

The Great Divide
1929
as Steven Ghent
Stephen Ghent, a mineowner, falls in love with Ruth Jordan, an arrogant girl from the East, unaware that she is the daughter of his dead partner. Ruth...

Light Fingers
1929
as Light Fingers
"Light Fingers" is both the name and the physical description of this film's hero, a dapper petty thief.

Prisoners
1929
as Nicholas Cathy
Prisoners was released as a part-talking, part-silent feature. An Austrian showgirl working in a cabaret moonlights as a thief. When she is caught in...

The Divine Lady
1928
as Honorable Charles Greville
Lady Hamilton's love affair with Admiral Horatio Nelson rocks the British Empire.

The Look Out Girl
1928
as Dean Richardson
The lookout girl for the notorious Mowbray gang tries to leave her gangster past by marrying a wealthy doctor, but her past catches up with her very q...

A Man's Past
1927
as Dr. Fontaine
Imprisoned at the French garrison on the Isle of St. Noir for putting to death a patient suffering from an incurable illness, Dr. Paul La Roche escape...

Two Arabian Knights
1927
as Shevket
During World War I, two American soldiers fight to escape the Germans while squabbling over a beautiful harem girl. Preserved by the Academy Film Arc...

Convoy
1927
as Smith
A German spy matches wits with-and pitches woo to- an American secret agent

What Every Girl Should Know
1927
as Arthur Graham
A young girl and her two brothers are sent to a children's home after their older brother, who is the only one supporting them, winds up in jail.

The Love of Sunya
1927
as Louis Anthony
A young woman at life's crossroads is granted mystic visions of how her decisions will affect her future life.

The Truthful Sex
1926
Sally Mapes and her husband, Robert, have a glorious romance after they are married but it hits troubled water after the birth of a son. Robert thinks...

The Prince of Tempters
1926
as Mario Ambrosio, later Baron Humberto Giordano
Francis, the result of a clandestine marriage between the Duke of Chatsfield and a peasant girl, after being raised in a monastery following his paren...

The Lily
1926
as George Arnaud

The Greater Glory
1926
as Pauli Birbach
Fanny von Berg's engagement to Count Maxim von Hurtig is suddenly broken off and she is denounced by her family for a suspected indiscretion. When the...

The Tower of Lies
1925
as Lars
After his beloved daughter leaves for the city to pay off his debt, an old farmer goes mad when her letters become less frequent and it is suspected s...

The Talker
1925
as Ned Hollister
Kate Lennox is bored with suburban life and her husband, Harry. Their next-door neighbors, the hen-pecked Henry Fells and his wife, Maud, have several...

My Son
1925
as Felipe Vargas
A mother and her son's lives are upended by the arrival of a wealthy flapper to their small New England fishing village.

Enticement
1925
as Richard Valyran
Romantic complications and tragedy ensue when two former lovers, one of them now married to another, meet again.

Christine of the Hungry Heart
1924
as Ivan Vianney
Christine weds Stuart Knight only to discover he prefers the high life to married life. When Dr. Alan Monteagle comes along, Christine is drawn to him...

Her Love Story
1924
as Captain Kavor
When Princess Marie of the Balkan kingdom of Viatavia falls in love with Captain Rudi of the King's Guards, her father quickly arranges her marriage w...

Manhandled
1924
as Robert Brandt
Comedy which concerns the struggles of an ambitious department store sales clerk who is caught up in New York high society.