Irwin Keyes was a tall and commanding character actor, standing at 6'1", with an affable personality. Born on March 16, 1952, in New York City, he grew up in Amityville, New York, and graduated from Amityville Memorial High School in 1970.
During his college years, Keyes acted in his first play, "The Lower Depths" by Maxim Gorky, which marked the beginning of his acting career. He went on to play a diverse range of roles in various movie genres, including horror, comedy, thriller, science fiction, and action.
Some of his notable film appearances include "Friday the 13th," "Guilty as Charged," "House of 1000 Corpses," "The Private Eyes," "Zapped!," "Intolerable Cruelty," "Dream Lover," "Oblivion," "The Warriors," "The Exterminator," and its sequel.
In addition to his film work, Keyes achieved his greatest enduring popularity with his recurring role as Hugo Majelewski, the lovable but slightly oafish bodyguard, on the hit sitcom "The Jeffersons." He also made guest appearances on various TV shows, including "Laverne & Shirley," "Police Squad!," "Moonlighting," "Married with Children," "thirtysomething," "Growing Pains," "Tales from the Crypt," and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
Keyes was not only an accomplished actor but also a talented voice actor, providing voice overs for video games. He lived in Los Angeles, California, and continued to act with pleasing regularity until his death at the age of 63 on July 8, 2015.
