Keith Prentice (February 21, 1940 – September 27, 1992)

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Keith Prentice (February 21, 1940 – September 27, 1992) was a Dayton, Ohio-born American TV, film and stage actor, whose most famous role was the part of Larry in both the original stage and film versions of The Boys in the Band. Prentice also appeared on the classic TV soap Dark Shadows during the series' final months in 1971. Until just several years ago, his picture was displayed on the Tasters Choice coffee label.

Prentice studied in New York City at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. His stage musical credits include Sail Away, The Sound of Music, Paint Your Wagon, and The King and I. In 1968, he appeared off-Broadway in the non-musical The Boys in the Band, a once controversial play featuring gay characters at a dramatic birthday party - the Summer before the Stonewall gay civil rights riots. He also appeared in the movie version of the play. In 1971 Keith joined the cast of Dark Shadows playing Morgan Collins in the show's 1841PT plot line. Prentice also appeared as Nils Fowler in the 1972 film The Legend of Nigger Charley and had a small role in the 1980 film Cruising which, like Boys in the Band, was directed by William Friedkin.

In 1982 Keith Prentice co-founded Kettering Theatre Under The Stars, and directed summer shows there until the year of his death. He died of AIDS-related cancer on September 27, 1992 in Kettering, Ohio.




The cast of "Boys in the Band" with playwright Mart Crowley, left. Next to him are Laurence Luckinbill as Hank, the late Frederick Combs as Donald, the late Robert La Tourneaux as 'Cowboy,' the late Kenneth Nelson as Michael, the late Leonard Frey as Harold, the late Cliff Gorman as Emory, the late Keith Prentice as Larry, Peter White as Alan and Reuben Greene as Bernard.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Prentice

Further Readings:

The Boys in the Band: 40th Anniversary Edition by Mart Crowley
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Alyson Books; 40 Anv edition (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593500750
Amazon: The Boys in the Band: 40th Anniversary Edition

“Boys can still hold its own . . . [Mart] Crowley’s point is about how the humor is shaped and defined by the pain.”—The New York Times

The Boys in the Band was the first commercially successful play to reveal gay life to mainstream America. Alyson is proud to release a special fortieth anniversary edition of the play, which includes an original preface by acclaimed writer Tony Kushner (Angels in America), along with previously unpublished photographs of Mart Crowley and the cast of the play/film.

Mart Crowley’s other plays include the autobiographical A Breeze from the Gulf (1973) and The Men from the Boys (2002).