Richard Paul Kiley was an American stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for his distinguished theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor In A Musical. Kiley created the role of Don Quixote in the original 1965 production of the Broadway musicalMan of La Mancha and was the first to sing and record "The Impossible Dream", the hit song from the show. In the 1953 hit musical Kismet, he played the Caliph and was one of the quartet introducing the song "And This Is My Beloved". Additionally, he won three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards during his 50-year career and his "sonorous baritone" was also featured in the narration of a number of documentaries and other films. At the time of his death, Kiley was described as "one of theater's most distinguished and versatile actors" and as "an indispensable actor, the kind of performer who could be called on to play kings and commoners and a diversity of characters in between."
Kiley's work on stage included Kismet, No Strings in which Rodgers wrote both music and lyrics, the Buddy Hackett vehicle I Had a Ball, and the lead roles in Redhead, Man of La Mancha, and the play The Incomparable Max. Kiley later starred in the television play Patterns, which aired live on January 12, 1955. It caused a sensation and won an Emmy for its writer, Rod Serling. He played the role of John Malcolm Patterson, future Attorney General of Alabama, in the 1955 filmThe Phenix City Story. Kiley also portrayed math teacher Joshua Edwards, whose phonograph records were smashed by delinquents in Blackboard Jungle in 1955. Kiley won Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical for Redhead in 1959 and Man of La Mancha in 1966. The dual role of middle-aged author Cervantes and his fictional creation Quixote is one of the few musical roles that requires the talents of both leading man and character actor. Kiley said while La Mancha was on Broadway that despite the fact he had grown tired of playing leading men, he would always be grateful for having been given the chance to perform in La Mancha.
Later years
Kiley won three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for his work in television. He won both an Emmy and Golden Globe awards for The Thorn Birds and A Year in the Life. His third Emmy win was for Guest Actor in a Drama Series, for an episode of Picket Fences. Other television work included as the murderous police commissioner on Columbo, his appearance as Gideon Seyetik in the episode "Second Sight", as well as guest roles on Ally McBeal, Hawaii Five-O and Gunsmoke. He narrated the award-winning seven-part 1986 PBSdocumentaryPlanet Earth. Kiley's baritone made him a favorite to narrate documentaries for television. In Jurassic Park, Kiley's voice is used to narrate the park's vehicle tour. Kiley was introduced as the narrator for the tour first in the novel by Michael Crichton, and later in the film adaptation by Steven Spielberg where the owner of the park said he "spared no expense" hiring Kiley. Visitors to Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida, and Universal Studios in Hollywood hear Kiley as the narrator of the Jurassic Park River Adventure ride. In 1993, Christian filmmakers set out to make a film which would be a Word-for-Word of the Gospel. Kiley was chosen to do a narration style film as the Apostle Matthew in his latter days. He is seen doing many flashbacks as Matthew in the days when Jesus walked the Earth. From 1994 until 1998, Kiley narrated the A&E documentary television seriesMysteries of the Bible. His final acting role was in the 1999 TV movie Blue Moon, which debuted the month after his death.
Death
Kiley died of an unspecified bone marrowdisease at Horton Hospital in Middletown, New York, on March 5, 1999, less than a month before his 77th birthday. He was survived by his wife and six children, sons David and Michael Kiley and daughters Kathleen, Dorothea, Erin and Deirdre. His remains were interred in Warwick. Broadway's lights went dark in his honor.
