Keith David

Keith David is the American actor who voices the Cheshire Cat on ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.

Biography

Keith David Williams, professionally known as Keith David, was born on June 4, 1956, in New York City, New York^[1] to Delores Dickenson, a manager at New York Telephone in New York, and Lester Williams, a director of payroll operations at BQ Cable in Flushing, Queens.^[2] He first performed as a child, singing in the All Borough Chorus, and later attended the prestigious High School of Performing Arts. Shortly after graduating from Juilliard's School of Drama,^[3] where he studied voice and theater, David landed a role in a production of Coriolanus, starring opposite Christopher Walken, at Joseph Papp Public Theater. He made his Broadway debut in Edward Albee's The Lady From Dubuque in 1980 and, two years later, had his first film role in John Carpenter's The Thing. His next feature film was in Oliver Stone's Platoon in 1986. He appeared in five films in 1988, including Clint Eastwood's Bird, where he gave a memorable performance as jazz sax player Buster Franklin. In 1992, David showed his considerable skill as a singer and dancer and won a Tony Award nomination for starring in the musical Jelly's Last Jam opposite Gregory Hines. David's film career really picked up in the mid-1990s, with roles ranging from a gunslinger in Sam Raimi's The Quick and a cop in Spike Lee's Clockers to an amputee who owns a pool parlor in Dead Presidents. In 1998, David had a brief but memorable role as Cameron Diaz's boisterous stepfather in the Farrelly brothers' zany There's Something About Mary.^[4]

He is also well known to animation fans for his voice work in, among other projects, Disney's Gargoyles, HBO's Spawn, and the English-dubbed version of the Japanese-animated film Princess Mononoke. In 2000, Keith appeared in Requiem for a Dream, Pitch Black, and Where the Heart Is, as well as providing the narration of Ken Burns' documentary on the history of jazz. He continued to work steadily in a variety of projects including Barbershop, 29 Palms, Agent Cody Banks, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and the 2005 Oscar winner for Best Picture, Crash. His numerous other film credits were in Transporter 2, The Oh in Ohio, Meet Monica Velour, Lottery Ticket, and the 2010 remake of Death at a Funeral.^[4]

Keith was formerly married to Margit Edwards, and secondly married to Dionne Lea. He has one daughter, Mae Lee.^[5]

Trivia

Was set to return in "Home".^[6] However, it did not happen for unknown reasons.

Appearances

*Once Upon a Time in Wonderland*
"Down the Rabbit Hole":	"Trust Me":	"Forget Me Not":	"The Serpent":	"Heart of Stone":	"Who's Alice":	"Bad Blood":
Voice Only	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Home":	"Nothing to Fear":	"Dirty Little Secrets":	"Heart of the Matter":	"To Catch a Thief":	"And They Lived...":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent