Harvey Keitel's First Hollywood Break Was On A Classic Horror-Themed Soap Opera

Like so many before him, the great Harvey Keitel got his start on screen taking smaller, uncredited roles in whatever productions he could. His earliest credit is playing a random German soldier in a 1966 episode of "Hogan's Heroes." He played a soldier again in 1967, also uncredited, in John Huston's drama "Reflections in the Golden Eye." 

His first notable film role was in Martin Scorsese's "Who's That Knocking On My Door" from the same year, so it appears Keitel made the right connections at the right age. Keitel would go on to star in several other Scorsese movies, including "Mean Streets," "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," "Taxi Driver" (which changed the script just for him), "The Last Temptation of Christ," and "The Irishman." He has worked with Abel Ferrara, Spike Lee, Jane Campion, Wayne Wang, Wes Anderson, and even Adam Sandler. 

In the 1990s, Keitel became one of the heroes of the indie movie scene, co-producing and starring in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs," and appearing in the violent ultra-hit "Pulp Fiction." He was also in ... You know what? It would take far too long to delve into Keitel's filmography here. Needless to say, he is one of the most prolific and intense actors of his generation, who, at 87, is still acting.

One of those early uncredited gigs for Keitel was particularly notable. Way back in 1966, Keitel appeared on camera in an unnamed role on the ultra-plentiful vampire soap opera "Dark Shadows." He played a dancer at a bar called The Blue Whale. He was in episode 33 in the show's first season, but you need to look closely to see him.

"Dark Shadows" was a daily soap opera that was filmed quickly and on the cheap. Thumbing through old episodes reveals many weird production errors and rushed scenes that give the show an ethereal feeling. The standout character was the vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid), but he didn't appear on the show until its 211th episode. Because "Dark Shadows" was a daily series, episode #211 aired during its first season. The series lasted only six seasons but ran for 1,225 episodes. The series has a massive legion of fans who appreciate both its earnest melodrama and its shabbiness. Listen to the "This American Life" episode about a "Dark Shadows" convention. It's very insightful. 

Harvey Keitel's first episode was handily summed up on the website DarkShadowsCommentary.com, described as "The One with Harvey Keitel." The scene in which Keitel appears shows Joe (Joel Crothers) getting drunk because Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) won't marry him. He goes home drunk, scaring Victoria (Alexandra Isles), and forcing her to go to the Blue Whale herself. She begins dancing with a random man at the bar. The random man is Harvey Keitel.

IMDb lists that Harvey Keitel was also in the following episode, but the DarkShadowsCommentary website notes that he left before the next episode began. 

Keitel would go on to become, well, Keitel. "Dark Shadows" would become the object of a fervent cult, and be revived several times. There were two spinoff movies, "House of Dark Shadows" and "Night of Dark Shadows," in 1970 and 1971, respectively. There was a 1991 revival, an attempted pilot for a new series in 2004, and a comedic riff on the show directed by Tim Burton in 2012. 

Keitel wasn't in any of those.