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The British actor, best known for his starring role in the BBC sci-fi series Blake's 7, passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, May 17, his agent Dan Ireson confirmed Thursday. Keating had been struggling with dementia in the period before his death.
Born in Edmonton, Middlesex on February 10, 1947, Keating began his acting career in the late 1960s with guest appearances across a string of British television productions. His first credited role came in a 1969 episode of Special Branch, and early work followed in shows including Doctor Who, where he appeared in the 1977 story The Sun Makers during Tom Baker's celebrated run as the Fourth Doctor.
His big break arrived in 1978 when he was cast as Vila Restal in Blake's 7, a cunning and wily petty thief who became the heart of the BBC's beloved dystopian space drama. The show, which ran from 1978 to 1981, followed a band of rebels fighting a totalitarian regime that had seized control of Earth. Keating's Vila was the only character to appear in all 52 episodes of the series, cementing his place in British television history.
Decades later, he brought the role back to life through audio productions for Big Finish, reprising Vila across multiple podcast series throughout the 2010s and early 2020s.
"What a joy it was to work with Michael," said Big Finish producer Peter Anghelides. "His cheery presence on studio days was always most welcome. I would sit at the back of the control room hooting with laughter at his comic timing."
Big Finish remembered Keating as someone who was "warm, wily, honest about his own limitations, and almost impossible not to love."
Beyond Blake's 7, Keating was also warmly regarded for his decade-long run on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, where he played Reverend George Stevens across 54 episodes between 2005 and 2017, presiding over the fictional town of Walford through countless christenings, weddings and funerals.
