Barbara Keegan

Barbara Keegan has the distinction of being the only performer ever to receive a special Emmy Award for her work in a local television commercial. She made her Chicago stage debut at age 3, in a duet with her comedy godfather, first mentor and jester spirit-guide for all time - Danny Kaye. Since that storybook start, she's been entertaining distinguished, discerning, and quite possibly disturbed audiences from Miami to Montreal, from Los Angeles to New York, from San Diego to Singapore. While enjoying a stint as tourist development authority ambassador (masquerading as a beauty queen) Miss Miami Beach, as well as serving on the board of the Florida Motion Picture and Television Association, Keegan's film career began with a death scene in her first role (considered a lucky omen in show business -- go figure). CBS and Universal Studios were in Miami scouting locations and talent and discovered her. Upon relocating to the West Coast, subsequent years have proven that lucky omen true, with major motion pictures from CADDYSHACK to THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, from Disneyland (SAVING MR. BANKS, TOMORROWLAND) to outer space (J.J. Abrams' STAR TREK). She's a strong supporter of indie/student/experimental work, appearing in many festival-winning projects. On television, Barbara's an award-winning spokesperson and comedienne, and has hosted her own series, THE HANDY MA'AM, on PBS. She's guested as "Nell's Mom" on NCIS: LOS ANGELES (introduced in a Christmas episode, wearing antlers on her head), and boasts a wealth of classic TV from LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE opposite Charlie Callas, to ST. ELSEWHERE opposite a carrot-chewing horse, to MADAME'S PLACE opposite a wise-cracking but fabulously dressed puppet. Her motto is obviously the same as (Gene Kelly) "Don Lockwood's", in her favorite film SINGIN' IN THE RAIN: "Dignity -- always, dignity." Regional, dinner theatre (yeah, remember THOSE?) and Off- (sometimes way WAY Off-) Broadway stage turns have included playing daughters (and sometimes sons) of legends including Maureen O'Sullivan (BAREFOOT IN THE PARK), Abe Vigoda (NEVER TOO LATE), and Shelley Berman (HOROWITZ AND MRS. WASHINGTON), as well as original cast credit in several Samuel French-published scripts including CHEATERS; MURDER FOR RENT; and A LOVE AFFAIR by "the West Coast Neil Simon", Jerry Mayer. Los Angeles theater audiences have seen Keegan in ten roles in the Pasadena Playhouse's award-winning JOINED AT THE HEAD, five roles in the five year run of BILL W. AND DR. BOB at Theatre 68, well-known as well as original musicals from THE FANTASTICKS to the country-western TANGLIN' HEARTS to the politically-themed CAMPAIGN to the borscht-belt MAMALEH! and the occasional beloved classic such as the blarney-speaking Nurse in ROMEO AND JULIET for Merry War Theatre Group. In the Hollywood Fringe Festival, Keegan took Best in Fringe honors headlining in the world premiere of Jon Courie's JENNIFER ANISTON STOLE MY LIFE, which she is honored to report, Courie wrote specifically with her in mind. A founder of the East-coast improv troupe The Public Trust, as well as its TYA arm The Lollipop Theatre for Children, Barbara's traded wit in live sketch comedy with Fred Willard, and raised money for worthy organizations co-starring in benefits with legends such as Shelley Berman, Robert Mandan, Bernie West, Sammy Shore, Marion Ross and Edward Asner, while making a decent living in her "day job" starring in hundreds of commercials and infomercials worldwide. A self-taught music prodigy, playing piano since eighteen months of age, Ms. Keegan was keyboardist/vocalist for femme rockers The Pickups, and has worked numerous live gigs and recording sessions for The Naked Apes, This Side Up, South American pop star Santiago, and more recently the Van Dyke Bros Band starring her husband Tom Van Dyke. For the record, she's never actually performed as a mermaid in Weeki Wachee, but has worn the crown of Miss Miami Beach, and squeezed into that very snug Starfleet uniform as a half-human, half-Vulcan in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. She's been immortalized as Cate Blanchett's favorite photo double "evil twin", and has shared a soundstage "hotel room" with a Mr. B. Pitt. She also does a spot-on tribute to Davy Jones singing Daydream Believer. On stage, and come to think of it, off stage as well, Barbara's been compared to Peter Sellers, Peter Tork, Pee Wee Herman, Eddie Izzard, Groucho and Harpo Marx, Shirley MacLaine (yeah, we threw her in just to have a female in the mix)...and Hamlet. HAMLET. She's decided to take it as a compliment.