Keith Knight may have started his career in community theatre in Sault Ste. Marie, but his talent quickly propelled him onto national stages and screens. From comedy classics like Meatballs to dramatic roles at the Shaw Festival, his legacy is one that continues to inspire
From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:
Keith Sep 17 2005 from the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library Sault Star Collection
Born in January of 1956, Keith Knight cut his teeth while acting in the Sault theatre scene. He had a natural talent that was recognized in 1972, when he was one of 34 chosen in Ontario to take part in the Ontario Youtheatre Summer Company. The Sault Star reported that in that year, he performed in Young Canucks Bounce In, and upon his return to the summer company in 1973, Keith starred in The Madwoman of Chaillot. In addition to these experiences, Keith was a graduate of Sault Theatre Workshop and used his training to launch a successful career, both on stage and screen.
Keith’s portrayal of Lennie in a 1978 Sault Theatre Production of Of Mice and Men won him a best actor award, and the production went on to the Theatre Ontario Festival. Sault Star critics said of the young actor, “…his performances always touched in some way…he was able to combine a strength with a total vulnerability…” (Sault Star, August 24, 2007) This was high praise for anyone playing the role of Lennie.
Keith made his big-screen movie debut in 1979, with a role in Canadian director, Ivan Reitman’s, Meatballs. The movie was filmed at Camp White Pine in Haliburton, Ontario, and had Keith acting alongside Bill Murray as a camp counsellor in training.
Prior to auditioning for Meatballs, Keith was on stage in a Blythe Summer Festival production. The film’s production company liked Keith so much for the role of Larry that they bought out the rest of his theatre contract to secure his availability for the movie role.
Like Larry Finkelstein, Keith was eating on screen all the time. According to the Sault Star, he had gained 75 pounds; the actor even had to take part in a hot dog eating contest, consuming over 100 before he and the director captured the perfect take. Although the role may have ended Keith’s taste for hot dogs, it did fuel his hunger for acting, and seeing himself on screen for the first time gave him confidence.
By 1981, Keith had appeared in three more movies: Hog Wild, Proper Channels, and Gas. In all three films, Keith played comical characters. As an action-comedy, Gas had the biggest stunt budget in Canadian movie history. The movie showed Keith taking part in one stunt involving an airborne car ride in Montreal. On July 27, 1981, Keith told the Sault Star about the stunt: “They shot it four or five times, so eventually you learn to just put your faith in the people in charge.” Gas allowed Keith a chance to further hone his comic talent: “it’s broader than some of my previous parts…but I’d still prefer to tackle a serious role, if I had my choice.”
In 1981 Keith also starred in My Bloody Valentine. The horror film helped Keith gain exposure, and it afforded an opportunity to showcase more of his dramatic and theatrical expertise.
Despite having the timing, face, and personality for comedy, Keith had a desire to keep true to his theatrical training; he loved the stage. His professional training led him to a prolific career in commercials: Mother Parker Tea, Laura Secord, The Bay, Lotto 649, Bounce, and Kellogg’s all hired Keith for their promos. During his career, the Sault Star stated, he had starred in 150 commercials. The income garnered from commercials allowed Keith to earn, to work on his writing and improvisational skills, and to continue his work with the theatre group Second City, which he had been performing with in Toronto for two years.
Though happy in his work with Second City, Keith had never auditioned for Stratford or Shaw’s theatrical festivals and said he would welcome the chance to appear at either. In the early 1980s, he got the opportunity to take on three roles at the Shaw Festival. Keith was able to pursue more dramatic roles at the festival; he appeared in Cyrano de Bergerac, The Music Cure, and Too True to be Good.
Keith returned regularly to the Sault to work, and in 1983, he starred in a Stage North production of A Thousand Clowns, which was directed by longtime friend and colleague Michael Hennessy. Of his work on the play, Sault Star critic said in a January 28, 1983, article, “(Knight) is a delight to watch, because he himself does the work of a thousand clowns. With his silly putty face, he is a master of expression.”
In 1992, Keith was in a production of The Boys Next Door, staged by the Sault Theatre Workshop. Hennessy directed Keith again in a 1996 production of The Dresser at the St. Mary’s Theatre. In 2001, the Sault Star reported that Keith was home to star in Family Life Theatre’s production of Juno and the Paycock, reprising the role he had in 1976. He and his work were honoured as part of the Sault’s Homecoming celebration and community banquet in 1998.
The movie Looking for Angelina was filmed in the Sault in 2004, and Keith played the role of a defense attorney. In 2005, Keith directed an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, entitled, Caesar: Death of a Dictator. The play was presented as part of the 33rd annual Algoma Fall Festival. During his years of community theatre in the Sault, Keith acted in 68 plays, he said of his experience in the Sault, “I got to do some great plays, and they gave me the drive to keep going” (August 24, 2007).
Keith Knight passed in 2007, at the age of 51, ending a 30-year-long acting career. The Sault Star shared that at the time of his death, Keith had acquired credits in several more movies including Owing Mahowny, Hog Wild, Class of 1984, and Robocop. His television credits include roles on Street Legal, The Littlest Hobo, Road to Avonlea, and Queer as Folk.
After Keith’s death, in a Sault Star article, Michael Hennessy said, “he (Keith) never gave less than 110 percent. When you were involved in a show with him you knew you were working on something good…I don’t think anyone could have a greater passion for the theatre than Keith had” (Sault Star, August 24, 2007).
The Sault Theatre Workshop, who Keith had credited with starting his career, held a pub night in 2008 to honour him, called A Knight to Remember. Proceeds from the pub were donated in Keith’s name to a charity of his family’s choosing.
This article was written using information compiled from the Sault Star Archive Collection at the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library.
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