Keith Knight's 10 Best Movie & TV Roles, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes
A Canadian by birth, film and TV actor, Keith Knight, is best known for his roles in movies like Meatballs and Owning Mahowny. However, it is his roles on stage and that as a voice actor on children’s TV series such as The Busy World Of Richard Scarry and The Care Bears Adventures in Wonderland that won him worldwide recognition. Known for his wry comedic sense on screen and hugely versatile voice, it is an unfortunate truth that few people know about him, or even his most notable works in movies and TV.
While Rotten Tomatoes is usually an extremely reliable website on which to find critics and audience reviews for most movies and TV shows, shows that Keith Knight has worked on are sparsely rated or do not have enough reviews to merit a "Tomatometer" score. Regardless, there exists those few that have enjoyed a rating from either the audience or the critics and therefore, make up the list of his 10 best roles.
10 Laughter On The 23rd Floor (2001): 40%
Laughter on the 23rd Floor is a 2001 television movie directed by Richard Benjamin and based on the eponymous play written in 1993 by Marvin Neil Simon. The story of the movie revolves around a comedy star Max Prince, who is working on a live television show in 1954.
Based partly on the experiences of Simon when he was a junior writer during the early phases of his career, the movie sees Prince tackling pressure at work from sources both inside the network and outside of it. Keith Knight plays the character of Brutus in this accurate depiction of the Golden Age of Television, and the movie garnered an average audience rating of 40% on Rotten Tomatoes.
9 My Bloody Valentine (1981): 58%
Taking a detour from his comedic debut on screen, Knight introduced himself to the genre of horror, with the 1981 slasher-movie My Bloody Valentine. A movie ripe with many memorable kills, My Bloody Valentine shows the morbid fate of a group of friends who go against the rules of a fabled murderer, taking him too lightly, only to realize that he is not only real but also quite evil.
As the events take place on Valentine’s Day, Knight plays his role as Hollis to perfection, until he gets murdered with a shot from a nail gun. This George Mihalka directed movie enjoys a 58% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.
8 Switching Goals (1999): 47%
Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen of Full House fame star in this 1999 David Steinberg-directed movie. Amongst the many things that fans have forgotten about movies that feature the Olsen-twins is the fact that Switching Goals also features many familiar faces, like Adrian Griffin, Michael Cera, Alexi Lalas, and Keith Knight, playing the role of Willard Holmes.
This movie tells the tale of two sisters who play football, but for different teams, and make plans of switching their sides without anyone becoming the wiser. However, the drama unfolds both on the pitch and also off of it, as their plan progresses. The movie has accrued a 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
7 Looking For Angelina (2005): 64%
Looking for Angelina is a 2005 independent movie directed by Sergio Navarretta and stars Lina Felice and Keith Knight. Based on the real-life murder case involving Angelina Napolitano, a woman sentenced to death for having apparently murdered her husband using an ax, Knight plays the role of the famous criminal lawyer Uriah McFadden.
Arguably one of his best acting performances, Looking for Angelina enjoys an average audience score of 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, with more than 250 ratings given to it by appreciative fans.
6 Molly: An American Girl On The Home Front (2006): 68%
Part of the American Girl series and based on the books of the same name, An American Girl on the Home Front, is the third movie in the series and it tells the story of Molly McIntire, a young girl from Jefferson County, Illinois whose life, as well as that of her family, starts getting affected as World War II begins.
Keith Knight stars in this television movie as Principal Stevens, which also features actors like Molly Ringwald and David Aaron Baker. It has a rating of 68% on Rotten Tomatoes.
5 Meatballs (1979): 72%
While Meatballs is not one of Bill Murray's best performances, it is arguably one of Keith Knight's best. The fact that makes it even better is that this is Knight's first venture into acting for a feature film.
With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 72% on the Tomatometer, Meatballs is a hilarious movie depicting the road to glory for the young members of Camp Northstar as they fight to defeat their arch-rivals, the members of Camp Mohawk. Directed by Ivan Reitman, Meatballs also stars Chris Makepeace and Kate Lynch.
4 Queer As Folk (2000): 71%
Queer As Folk is a dramatic series created by Daniel Lipman and Ron Cowen and based on the original British-television series of the same name created by Russell T. Davies. The series portrays the lives of gay and lesbian friends living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is arguably one of the best LGBTQ+ shows ever to be on television.
Keith Knight makes a guest appearance in the second season of the show, during the episode "The Wedding," where the entire group pitches in to plan the perfect wedding for Mel and Lindsay. Knight plays the role of Dr. Beamer in the episode, which enjoys an average audience score of 98%, as well as a Tomatometer score of 71% for its first season.
3 Class Of 1984 (1982): 75%
Class of 1984 is a street-gang action movie directed by Mark L. Lester and it stars the skilled actor Perry King, who plays the role of a new music teacher at a high school. However, the mood inside the school is anything but ideal, as the students indulge in violence, drugs, and sex in an unabashed fashion.
Determined to bring the students back on track, the music teacher must adopt any means necessary to battle the debauchery in the school that has been accepted as normal. Keith Knight plays the role of Barnyard in this movie and is part of the antagonist group, The Neo-Nazis. Having already established himself as a talented comedic actor, with roles in Gas and Meatballs, Class of 1984 is Knight's commendable attempt at a negative role, in a movie that enjoys a handsome 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
2 The Adventures Of Tintin (1991 - 1992): 89%
The adventures of the investigative reporter Tintin, along with his trusted dog Snowy and dear friends Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus, are childhood treasures for many, and therefore, it can only be assumed how big of a deal it was when the comics by Herge were adapted into an animated series in 1991-92.
Keith Knight played an important role in this series, having lent his voice to many of the supporting characters featured in The Adventures of Tintin. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 89% for the first season, Knight's contribution is indeed deserving of the exclamation "Blistering barnacles!"
1 Owning Mahowny (2003): 79%
Keith Knight stars as a Surveillance Operator in this thriller/drama movie from 2003, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Hurt. While Owning Mahowny is not one of Hoffman's top performances on Rotten Tomatoes, it still ranks quite high and is definitely one of Knight's best-ranked movies on the platform.
The movie tells the story of Dan Mahowny, a bank employee who embezzles funds from the bank to keep up his gambling habit and clear his debts. As his debts start to accumulate, his life falls into a downward spiral, putting both his personal and professional life, as well as his reputation, at risk. The movie received a Tomatometer score of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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