Malgosia tomassi biography examples

“Mike Hammer” star Stacy Keach called his prison stint the “lowest point” in his life, but his time in the slammer cured his cocaine addiction.

The actor, now 80, spent six months in the UK&#;s Reading Prison for attempting to smuggle ounces of cocaine into England.

&#;It was quite an experience,&#; he told Page Six recently, admitting that it was tough and &#;the lowest point of my life.&#;

He added that it &#;cured me of my addiction.&#;

&#;It was very fortunate that I was given the task of being the librarian,&#; he continued. &#;And I was given the task of reading letters to the young offenders that were there that couldn&#;t read or write.&#;

The actor — who was 43 years old when he pleaded guilty, telling the court at the time he was &#;terribly sorry&#; and deeply humiliated — went on to have a lengthy career in film, TV and theater.

He is currently living in Warsaw, Poland, with his wife, Małgosia Tomassi, whom he married after his time in prison. Most recently, he teamed up with veteran actor and longtime pal Harris Yulin, 84, to debut the play &#;Vienna&#; by Jim McGrath that will stream virtually on Nov.

In lieu of the price of admission, the production suggests donations to benefit The Actors Fund of America. 

&#;We decided we wanted to show the world (the play) on Thanksgiving weekend because we&#;re so grateful that we&#;re still alive and still doing our thing,&#; Keach explained. &#;And it&#;s also the first day of Hanukkah and &#;Vienna&#; is very much about that relationship that was colored by anti-Semitism.&#;

The drama explores the relationship and eventual breakup between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, who were widely considered to be the fathers of psychotherapy.

The &#;American History X&#; star explained that he&#;s spent years on stage but thinks that there&#;s &#;still a hesitation for a lot of people&#; about returning to see plays in perso

For his father, see Stacy Keach Sr.

American actor (born )

Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, ) is an American actor, active in theatre, film and television since the s. Keach first distinguished himself in Off-Broadway productions and remains a prominent figure in American theatre across his career, particularly as a noted Shakespearean. He is the recipient of several theatrical accolades: four Drama Desk Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards and two Obie Awards for Distinguished Performance by an Actor. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Arthur Kopit's production of Indians.

In film, he garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of a washed-up boxer in the John Huston film Fat City () and appeared as Sergeant Stedenko in Cheech & Chong's films Up in Smoke () and Nice Dreams (). His other notable film credits include Brewster McCloud (), Doc (), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (), Luther (), Slave of the Cannibal God (), The Ninth Configuration (), The Long Riders (), Roadgames (), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (), Escape from L.A. (), American History X (), The Bourne Legacy () and Nebraska ().

Keach is known to television audiences for his portrayal of private detective Mike Hammer on the television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (–), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe, as Ken Titus on the sitcom Titus (–) and as the narrator of the crime documentary series American Greed (–present). He also had recurring roles on series such as Prison Break (–), Two and a Half Men (), Blue Bloods (–) and The Blacklist (–). He won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for playing Ernest Hemingway on the television miniseries Hemingway ().

He is an inductee of the Theatre Hall of Fame and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in He is t

There is a scene in the John Huston movie ”Fat City” in which the protagonist, a washed-up boxer named Billy Tully, played by Stacy Keach, reflects, ”Before you can get rolling, your life makes a beeline for the drain.”

For 21 years, Keach had been rolling as a stage, film and television actor, but nonetheless that particular line of dialogue crossed his mind in December of `84 when he was sentenced to nine months–later reduced to six–in England`s Reading Gaol after pleading guilty to trying to smuggle ounces of cocaine through London`s Heathrow Airport the previous April.

”The instant I was sentenced was the lowest point of all–hearing that

`nine months,` ” says Keach, underdressed at the moment in a gray summer suit as he looks out a Chicago window at the equally gray, spring-will-be-a-little-late-this-year sky.

”I mean, I was in deep shock. Because all the expectations were that I`d be fined, given a suspended sentence and possibly be deported. People ask me, `Would you have volunteered to go back to England for trial if you`d known that was going to happen?` My answer is, `Yes, but I would have waited–until we could have at least finished what we were doing in terms of `Mike Hammer,` so that people wouldn`t have been put out of work.”

The year-old actor was in town this week as part of a nationwide swing to beat the drums for the Friday night movie ”The Return of Mickey Spillane`s Mike Hammer” (8 o`clock on CBS-Ch. 2), in which he reprises his role as the hard-nosed gumshoe. ”Whether we get picked up for next fall depends on Friday,” he says. ”It`s hard to be in a situation where you have to put all your eggs in one basket, but that`s the reality. If we get the (Nielsen)

numbers, we`ll be back.”

The new two-hour film retrieves the supporting cast from the series that first aired in January of `84, drawing a decent 28 share (percentage of sets in

Stacy Keach’s dance card is quite full these days.

“I have done four sitcoms in five weeks!” said the year-old actor, who first demonstrated his comedic chops as Cheech and Chong’s nemesis Sgt. Stedenko in the stoner comedy “Up in Smoke.”

Just last week, he appeared in the L.A. Theatre Works production of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” at UCLA, and on Sunday he’ll be narrating Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” at the “EEK! At the Greek” Halloween concert with the Symphony in the Glen Orchestra.

Keach brought poignancy to his role as a veteran plane named Skipper in “Planes,” Disney’s animated hit — he’ll be back for the sequel — and he has a showy supporting role as the boorish former business partner of Woody (Bruce Dern), an elderly man who believes he’s won $1 million in a sweepstakes, in Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska,” opening Nov.

VIDEO: ‘Nebraska’ Envelope Screening Series

“I’m sort of the bad guy,” Keach said with a smile during a recent interview at his publicist’s office in Beverly Hills.

The actor’s schedule is already mapped out for the next several months. He is about to fly to Vancouver, Canada, to start a movie, and come spring, he’ll play Shakespeare’s larger-than-life rapscallion Falstaff in “Henry IV, Parts I and II” in Washington, D.C.

“Falstaff — oh, I love him,” extolled Keach, whom the New York Times once described as “the finest American classical actor since John Barrymore” because of his memorable portrayals in Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” and Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” “King Lear,” “Macbeth” and “Richard III.”

His dedication to theater is legendary. As a drama student at Yale, Keach was so disappointed in the school’s “archaic approach to theater” that he started his own acting class. Needless to say, he reports, his professor “despised me — with justification.”

Four years ago, while appearing at L.A.’s Ahmanson Theatre in the play “Frost/Nixon,” Keach suffered a minor stroke