Brian Keith Wife: Who He Married Across Three Marriages and Family Life
If you’re searching “brian keith wife,” you’re really looking for the full relationship timeline behind the beloved actor best remembered as Uncle Bill on Family Affair and Mitch Evers in Disney’s The Parent Trap. Brian Keith was married three times, and each marriage marked a different era of his life—early career, rising fame, and the long stretch when he was already a familiar face on TV. Here’s who he married, when, and what’s known about his family life.
Brian Keith at a glance
Brian Keith (born Robert Alba Keith) built a career playing sturdy, charismatic men—fathers, military types, ranchers, and reluctant softies who usually had a big heart under a tough exterior. That on-screen warmth is part of why people remain curious about his off-screen life, especially the marriages that ran parallel to decades of film and television work.
While his professional résumé is long, his personal life is often summarized in one clean line: he married three times and had seven children. The details are straightforward, but they’re frequently repeated incorrectly online, so it helps to lay them out clearly in one place.
So who was Brian Keith’s wife?
Brian Keith’s wife at the time of his death was Victoria Young-Keith, whom he married in 1970 and remained married to until he died in 1997. She is the spouse most people mean when they ask the question in the singular—because she was his longest-lasting partner and the one connected to his later life.
However, Brian Keith was married twice before Victoria. His earlier wives were Frances Helm and Judith “Judy” Landon. All three marriages are well documented in major biographical sources.
First wife: Frances Helm
Brian Keith’s first marriage was to Frances Helm. They married in 1948 and divorced in 1954. Frances Helm was an actress, and her name shows up in classic entertainment records for work spanning film and television.
This first marriage belonged to Brian Keith’s early adult years—before his most famous television roles cemented him as a household name. If you’re looking at his career arc, it’s the period when he was still building momentum and carving out a steady identity in Hollywood.
It’s also the marriage that often gets overlooked simply because it ended earlier and because his later fame tends to dominate the public memory. But in timeline terms, Frances Helm was his first wife and the beginning of a pattern that would repeat: Brian Keith’s personal life remained quieter than his professional life, even as his career grew louder.
Second wife: Judith “Judy” Landon
After divorcing Frances Helm, Brian Keith married his second wife, Judith “Judy” Landon, in 1954. They divorced in 1969.
You’ll sometimes see her first name written as “Judith” in more formal biographical listings, while other sources use “Judy.” The key point is the same person: she was his spouse through a long, important stretch of mid-career growth.
This marriage overlapped with years when Brian Keith’s work output was heavy and varied—film roles, television appearances, and the kind of steady industry presence that turns a working actor into a recognizable personality. If you think of his life as eras, this second marriage covers the bridge between “successful actor” and “widely familiar star.”
Brian Keith had several children, and most mainstream biographies attribute the largest portion of his children to this second marriage. In total, across all marriages, he is widely reported to have had seven children.
Third wife: Victoria Young-Keith
Brian Keith married Victoria Young on January 9, 1970, and they remained married until his death in 1997. She is often listed as Victoria Young-Keith, reflecting her married name.
Victoria was also an actress, and her background is frequently described as multicultural, with Hawaiian ties often mentioned. In many write-ups, she’s the most visible spouse simply because her marriage to Brian Keith lasted the longest and because the later years of his life—especially the tragic end—are the years most often revisited in retrospectives.
They had children together, including a daughter named Daisy, whose death became a devastating turning point in the family’s story.
How many times was Brian Keith married?
Brian Keith was married three times:
1) Frances Helm (1948–1954)
2) Judith “Judy” Landon (1954–1969)
3) Victoria Young-Keith (1970–1997)
That’s the cleanest answer if you’re trying to build a timeline without the clutter of rumor sites and recycled bios.
Brian Keith’s children and family life
Across his three marriages, Brian Keith is widely reported to have had seven children. The public record does not consistently list every child in the same way across every source, which is part of why you’ll see conflicting “complete lists” online. What remains consistent is the number: seven.
Family, however, was not a simple footnote in his story. In the final year of his life, Brian Keith experienced a profound personal tragedy when his daughter Daisy died by suicide in April 1997. Six weeks later, Brian Keith died by suicide in June 1997.
It’s an unbearably painful chapter, and it’s often mentioned in biographies because it contextualizes his final months. Several accounts also note that he had serious health issues around that time, adding another layer of hardship to an already devastating period.
Why Brian Keith’s marriages still draw attention
Brian Keith wasn’t the type of celebrity whose personal life dominated headlines. He wasn’t known for flashy romance stories or public relationship drama. If anything, the curiosity today comes from the contrast: he played dependable, paternal characters so convincingly that viewers naturally wonder what his private world looked like.
There’s also the longevity factor. A three-marriage timeline spanning 1948 through 1997 covers nearly half a century of adult life. People see that and want the “who, when, and how long” details in one simple place.
And finally, there’s the emotional imprint of his most famous roles. When someone becomes your “TV dad” or your comfort-watch actor, you don’t just remember the performances—you feel attached to the person behind them.
How his best-known roles shape the way people see his personal life
For many fans, Brian Keith will always be Uncle Bill from Family Affair—a man learning to parent on the fly, softening as love grows in the house. That role, in particular, stamped him as a symbol of reluctant tenderness: strong exterior, steady presence, unexpectedly gentle core.
Then you add roles like Mitch Evers in The Parent Trap, where the story revolves around family, love, and reconnection. These roles don’t just entertain; they imprint. They make viewers associate Brian Keith with “home,” “fatherhood,” and “family.”
So when people search “brian keith wife,” they’re often doing something more emotional than they realize: trying to connect the on-screen family man with the real-life person. The truth is that his real life included long stretches of partnership and parenting, but it also included heartbreak that doesn’t fit the tidy arc of a sitcom.
Quick facts about Brian Keith’s wives
Frances Helm: first wife, married 1948–1954.
Judith “Judy” Landon: second wife, married 1954–1969.
Victoria Young-Keith: third wife, married 1970–1997.
Featured Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Keith
