Keith Alexander (actor)

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Keith Alexander
Born
Keith Alexander Buckley

(1930-02-03) 3 February 1930 (age 95)
Education University of Adelaide
Occupation(s)Actor, voiceover artist
Years active1949–present

Keith Alexander (born Keith Buckley; sometimes credited as Keith Alexander Buckley) [1] is an Australian actor and voiceover artist. [2]

Contents

Early life

Originally from Sydney, [3] Alexander studied engineering and law at the University of Adelaide before deciding to pursue acting as a career. [4]

Career

Initially, Alexander worked extensively in theatre. [5] Disillusioned with the state of Australian politics, in 1965 he moved to London, [6] where he took the professional name "Keith Alexander" as there was already an actor called "Keith Buckley" in the UK. [7]

Due to his specialty in reproducing accents, Alexander is best known for his voice work, especially his work in the UK. [3] His British television credits include Softly, Softly (1966), The New Avengers (1976), Minder (1979) and The Day of the Triffids (1981). On the big screen, he had roles in Submarine X-1 (1968), Superman (1978), Hanover Street (1979) and All About a Prima Ballerina (1980).

Alexander was also featured in productions by Gerry Anderson, beginning with the 1968 puppet film Thunderbird 6 (voicing John Tracy as well as providing the opening narration). [8] He went on to voice the regular role of Sam Loover as well as many guest characters in the TV series Joe 90 (1968–1969). His other Anderson credits were the film Doppelgänger (1969) and the TV series The Secret Service and UFO – the latter, as recurring character Lieutenant Keith Ford.

Alexander also spent time the United States, where he worked on The Ed Sullivan Show providing the English-language dub of the Italian puppet mouse Topo Gigio. [9] The role of Gigio gave Alexander transatlantic recognition. [6] He also voiced Gigio on Sunday Night at the London Palladium in the UK. [6]

In the early 1990s he moved back to Australia, where he continues to act. [4] He appeared as a doctor in Home and Away . [6] In 2023, he self-published a "love-crime-war-drama" novel called Not Just Another Love Story. [10]

Theatre roles

YearTitleRoleVenue / Company
1949Varsity Revue: Keep it CleanVocalist Tivoli Theatre, Adelaide
1953A New Verse Play University of Adelaide
1953Sparkling Burgundy '53University of Adelaide
1954 Romeo and Juliet University of Adelaide
1954Traveller Without BaggageUniversity of Adelaide
1954 The Circle Arnold Champion-CheneyUniversity of Adelaide
1954Sydney 1954 N.U.A.U.S. Drama Festival University of Sydney
1954 The Philadelphia Story University of Sydney
1954 A Phoenix Too Frequent University of Sydney
1954 The Relapse University of Sydney
1954 The Typewriter University of Sydney
1954Ring Around the MoonUniversity of Sydney
1954The Third PersonUniversity of Sydney, University of Adelaide
1954 Miss Julie University of Sydney
1954 Anna Christie University of Sydney
1954 Crime and Punishment Studio Theatre, Adelaide
1956 Summer of the Seventeenth Doll Rialto Theatre, Brisbane
1957Lower EducationUniversity of Sydney
1957 Macbeth Malcolm Independent Theatre, Sydney
1957 The Big Knife Independent Theatre, Sydney
1957 The Lark The PromoterIndependent Theatre, Sydney
1950sMy Three Angels J. C. Williamson's [6]
1960 The Tragedy of King Richard II Henry BolingbrokeIndependent Theatre, Sydney
1963 The Season at Sarsaparilla Harry Knott Theatre Royal Sydney

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1957In the ZoneScottyTV film
1957 Ending It WaiterTV film
1960 Shadow of the Boomerang StockmanFeature film
1961 The Big Client Geoff ManningTV film
1965 Moby Dick – Rehearsed StarbuckTV film
1966Topo Gigio Comes to Town Topo Gigio (voice)TV film [7]
1967Toppo Jîjo no botan sensôNarrator
1969 Submarine X-1 [6] Sub. Lt. X-3Feature film
1968 Thunderbird 6 John Tracy / Carter / NarratorPuppet feature film [1] [6]
1969 Doppelgänger (aka Journey to the Far Side of the Sun)EUROSEC Launch Controller (uncredited)Feature film [6]
1978 Superman [6] NewscasterFeature film [10]
1979 Hanover Street [6] Soldier in BarnFeature film
1980All About a Prima BallerinaPeter – The Agent
2009The Dark Side of WarJournalistShort film
2013Finding BennelongVoiceShort film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1958 Killer in Close-Up TV series, 1 episode
1964 The Stranger John RobinsonTV miniseries
1964 Tribunal Andrew VolsteadTV series, 1 episode
1966 Mrs Thursday PC MatthewsTV series, episode "Family Reunion" [6]
1966 Softly, Softly PC DownerTV series, episode "Blind Man's Bluff" [6]
1967 No Hiding Place 1st Customs OfficerTV series, episode "A Through and Through with Powder" [6]
1967 Vendetta Sergeant BristowTV series, episode "The Desperate Man" [6]
1968 Merry-Go-Round ReaderTV series, 1 episode
1968–69 Joe 90 Sam Loover, and 49 supporting characters [6] TV series, 30 episodes [1]
1969HeritageAlcinousTV series, 1 episode
1969 The Secret Service Various characters (voices)TV series, 13 episodes
1970–71 UFO Lieutenant Keith FordTV series, 16 episodes [6]
1976 The New Avengers MalloyTV series, episode "Gnaws" [6]
1978Life at StakeFred HaiseTV series, 1 episode [10]
1979 Minder AndyTV series, episode "The Bounty Hunter" [6]
1981 The Day of the Triffids Newsreel voiceTV miniseries, episode 1 [6]
1993 Home and Away Male PensionerTV series, 1 episode
1993 G.P. Harold KingTV series, 1 episode
1996 Water Rats Mr ScaliTV series, 2 episodes
1997 The Adventures of Sam Voice roleAnimated TV series
2005–06 The Adventures of Bottle Top Bill and His Best Friend Corky Various charactersTV series, 2 episodes
2018 Trial by Kyle NarratorTV series [2]
2019The AndersonsNarratorBBC UK [2]
The History of the ChineseSBS TV series [2]

Radio

YearTitleRoleNotes
1983The Last Cargo of the Cathay QueenShip owner (top billing) [4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Anderson Entertainment (2 May 2022). "Pod 203: Behind the Mic with Keith Alexander". Event occurs at 36:16. Retrieved 23 April 2023 via YouTube.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Keith Buckley".
  3. 1 2 Frampton, Andrew (9 April 2009). "ITC Promotional Booklet". bigrat.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 February 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Rorabaugh, Deborah. "Keith Alexander". SHADO Library and Archives.
  5. "AusStage". ausstage.edu.au.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Bentley, Chris (2016) [2003]. The Complete Book of Gerry Anderson's UFO (3rd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Signum Books. p. 78. ISBN   978-0-9955191-0-7.
  7. 1 2 "Pod 203: Behind the mic with Supermarionation voice Keith Alexander!". 2 May 2022.
  8. Archer, Simon; Hearn, Marcus (2002). What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorised Biography of Gerry Anderson. London, UK: BBC Books. p. 163. ISBN   978-0-563-53481-5.
  9. Tibballs, Geoff (1991). The Golden Age of Children's Television. Titan Books. pp. 48–49. ISBN   978-1-85286-407-1.
  10. 1 2 3 "NOT JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY eBook : BUCKLEY, KEITH ALEXANDER: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store". www.amazon.com.au.