Harvey Keitel first appeared in the American television sitcom ‘Hogan's Heroes’ in 1966. That same year, he also made an appearance in the American gothic soap opera ‘Dark Shadows’ created by Dan Curtis. He made his big-screen debut in the 1967 American drama film ‘Reflections in a Golden Eye’ directed by John Huston. The film received mixed reviews from critics. He next appeared in films like ‘Who's That Knocking at My Door’ (1967), ‘Brewster McCloud’ (1970), ‘Mean Streets’ (1973), ‘Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore’ (1974), and ‘That's the Way of the World’ (1975). In 1976, he starred as ‘Charles "Sport" Rain / Matthew Higgins’ in the American film ‘Taxi Driver’ directed by Martin Scorsese. The film opened to universal acclaim and was a massive box office success, grossing over $28.4 million against a budget of $1.9 million. Keitel also bagged the ‘National Society of Film Critics Award’ and ‘New York Film Critics Circle Award’ nominations for his performance in the film. That same year, he also appeared in the American black comedy film ‘Mother, Jugs & Speed’ which was also a financial success.
In 1977, he starred in the British historical drama film ‘The Duellists’ directed by Ridley Scott. The film garnered considerable praise from critics. The following year, he was seen playing the role of ‘Jerry Bartowski’ in the American crime drama film ‘Blue Collar’ directed by Paul Schrader. The film opened to universal acclaim and was a financial success. Keitel went on to star in films like ‘Fingers’ (1978), ‘Eagle's Wing’ (1979), ‘Death Watch’ (1980), ‘Bad Timing’ (1980), ‘The Border’ (1982), ‘That Night in Varennes’ (1982), ‘Copkiller’ (1983), ‘Falling in Love’ (1984), ‘Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women and Crime)’ (1985), ‘The Men's Club’ (1986), ‘The Pick-up Artist’ (1987), ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ (1988), ‘The January Man’ (1989), and ‘The Two Jakes’ (1990). In 1991, he portrayed ‘Mickey Cohen’ in the American biographical crime film ‘Bugsy’ directed by Barry Levinson. The film received a positive response from critics. Keitel bagged the ‘Chicago Film Critics Association Award’ and ‘National Society of Film Critics Award’ for his performance in the film. He also received the ‘Academy Award’ and ‘Golden Globe Award’ for his role.
He bagged the ‘Sant Jordi Award’ for his performance as ‘Larry Dimmick / Mr. White’ in the 1992 American crime film ‘Reservoir Dogs’ directed by Quentin Tarantino. Despite earning massive praise from critics, the film was a modest financial success. That same year, he also bagged the ‘Fantasporto's International Fantasy Film Award’ and ‘Independent Spirit Award’ for his portrayal of ‘The Lieutenant’ in the American neo-noir crime film ‘Bad Lieutenant.’ He next appeared in films like ‘Point of No Return’ (1993), ‘Dangerous Game’ (1993), ‘Imaginary Crimes’ (1994), ‘Smoke’ (1995), ‘From Dusk till Dawn’ (1996), ‘FairyTale: A True Story’ (1997), ‘Finding Graceland’ (1998), ‘Presence of Mind’ (1999), ‘The Grey Zone’ (2001), ‘Red Dragon’ (2002), ‘National Treasure’ (2004), ‘Be Cool’ (2005), ‘A Crime’ (2006), and ‘National Treasure: Book of Secrets’ (2007).
In 2009, he starred as ‘Nino’ in the American action film ‘Wrong Turn at Tahoe’ directed by Franck Khalfoun. The film received a mixed response from critics. The following year, he was seen playing the role of ‘Don Carini’ in the mafia comedy film ‘The Last Godfather.’ The film opened to mostly negative reviews from critics. In 2012, he appeared in the American coming-of-age comedy-drama film ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ directed by Wes Anderson. The film opened to wide critical acclaim and was a major financial success. He continued to star in films like ‘A Farewell to Fools’ (2013), ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ (2014), ‘The Ridiculous 6’ (2015), ‘The Comedian’ (2016), ‘Madame’ (2017), ‘Isle of Dogs’ (2018), ‘See You Soon’ (2019), and ‘Fatima.’ He was last seen in the 2021American biographical crime drama film ‘Lansky.’ The film received a mixed response from critics.