As 2005 winds down to a close, I reflect on the events of the past year with a mixture of joy and sadness.  Malgosia, my wife, and I were in Thailand a few months ago (I was shooting Blackbeard for the Hallmark channel) and we drove from one side of the country to the other and witnessed the aftermath of the devastating Tsunami.  We stayed at the Rayavahde hotel outside of Krabbe, where many people lost their lives, and saw where the water had overwhelmed both homes and other structures along the coast, leaving thousands dead or homeless.  The power of Nature’s fury also made itself known to all of us with hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Kashmir, the famine and disease in Africa, and I have often wondered if we humans have indeed made the Gods angry by our preoccupation with selfishness, with war, greed, and intolerance.  I recall my Dad saying whenever he witnessed a tragedy, “there but for the grace of God go I” and that saying has certainly resonated with me over the past months.

 

     For me personally, I think the great lesson of this year has been in re-evaluating priorities in terms of what is important in our day-to-day lives.  I consider myself blessed to have wonderful friends, fans, and family, but I am less inclined take good health, peace, and prosperity for granted.  One never knows when tragedy may strike, so I feel that it is important to live each day to the fullest, with an eye towards helping others in need, and to take nothing for granted.

I am also blessed in having had the unique privilege of working with and knowing some extraordinary people who are no longer with us, among them Arthur Miller, Anne Bancroft, Sir John Mills, Ossie Davis, and Eddie Albert Sr. 

    

     On a more positive note, I am happy to say that 2005 has been a year of professional success for the Keach family.  Prison Break, it seems, is a resounding hit for Fox, and I am pleased to be a part of it.  I have made two films for the Hallmark channel, the above-mentioned Blackbeard, and a western with Patrick Duffy currently entitled Desolation Canyon, both scheduled to air in the coming year.  Robert Falls, artistic director for the Goodman Theater in Chicago, where I appeared last season in Arthur Miller’s last play, Finishing The Picture, has asked me to play King Lear there next year, and I think that, at 64, I had better answer the call while I can still muster the necessary energy to climb that majestic mountain.  I am also planning on shooting River of Doubt, the story of Teddy Roosevelt’s trip down the Amazon with his son Kermit.  

 

     In matters of a more personal nature, I am very proud of my son, Shannon, now a senior in high school, for doing well on his SATs and completing his application forms to various colleges(he wants to go to UCLA but is still uncertain as to what his major will be).  I am equally proud of my daughter, Karolina, now 15 and a 9th grader, for demonstrating a talent for writing beautiful prose (naturally, I’m biased). Also, brother James for a first-rate job of producing Walk The Line (the Johnny Cash film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon).  Finally, I am happy to report that my wonderful wife, Malgosia, and I will celebrate 20 years of marriage this coming June, and I am so grateful to her for putting up with all my foibles these past years.  So, in spite of all the turmoil in the world, I sincerely feel that we have so much to be thankful for, and I want to take this opportunity to wish all of my beloved fans an abundance of health and happiness as we leave 2005 and enter 2006.  May the coming year be filled with love and beauty and peace and dreams coming true for each one of you.

 

Thanks again for all of your wonderful support.

 

Happy New Year!

Stacy Keach & Family