George Keymas Explained

George Keymas
Birth Date:November 18, 1925
Death Date:January 17, 2008 (aged 82)
Occupation:Actor
Yearsactive:1950–1977 (film)

George Keymas (November 18, 1925 – January 17, 2008) was an American film and television actor.[1]

Career

Keymas graduated from Springfield (Ohio) High School.[2]

Keymas began his Hollywood career in 1950, mainly in Westerns. His first screen appearance was in an uncredited role in the 1950 B-feature film, I Shot Billy the Kid, with lead Don "Red" Barry. Keymas was cast in ethnic, often Native American characters, or cow-punching, at times ruthless, cowboys, in countless film and TV Westerns. He appeared on "Have Gun Will Travel" S2 E19 "The Monster" as Regaldo, which first aired on 1/14/1960.

He portrayed "the Leader" in The Twilight Zone episode "Eye of the Beholder", which originally aired November 11, 1960. His freakish, ambiguous character was seen throughout the episode on a futuristic big-screen monitor as background subplot to the story. In 1962, he played a murderer in "The Nancy Davis Story" on the TV Western Wagon Train.

Keymas's "Indian" roles came in many other popular TV Westerns series of the day, such as Daniel Boone, Death Valley Days, The High Chaparral, Gunsmoke, and Bonanza, among many others. Keymas retired in 1977.

Selected filmography

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1959Alfred Hitchcock Presents Paul Season 5 Episode 12: "Specialty of the House"
1961Rawhide Siko S3:E22, "Incident in the Middle of Nowhere"
1964Gunsmoke Harry CraneEpisode: "Run, Sheep, Run" (S10E16)

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Martin p.68
  2. News: McGinn . Andrew . Artist, actor, musician, rapper all have Springfield roots . February 10, 2021 . Springfield News-Sun . June 13, 2007 . 1. Newspapers.com.