THOUSAND OAKS, CA - Veteran actor Stacy Keach will discuss his long and successful careerfrom 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, at California Lutheran University.

Keach will speak before students and community members in the Preus-Brandt Forum as part of the free “Conversations With …” series. Actor and director Markus Flanagan, who teaches at CLU, will moderate an informal one-hour discussion on the craft of acting. A question-and-answer session with the audience will follow.

Although Keach is best known for his TV portrayal of the hard-boiled detective Mike Hammer, he has a long list of stage and screen credits as well. During the last year, he starred in the critically acclaimed “Other Desert Cities” on Broadway and appeared in the summer blockbuster “The Bourne Legacy.”

A Fulbright scholar to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Keach began his professional career in 1964 with the New York Shakespeare Festival. He received three Obie Awards for his off-Broadway performances in the 1960s and 1970s. More recently, he received three Helen Hayes Awards, which honor theater productions in Washington, D.C., for his lead roles in “The Kentucky Cycle” in 1994, “Frost/Nixon” in 2009 and “King Lear” in 2010.

His television series roles have included Ken Titus in “Titus” from 2000 to 2002, Warden Henry Pope in “Prison Break” from 2005 to 2007, and Pops in “Lights Out” in 2011. He won a Golden Globe for his performance of the title role in the 1988 miniseries “Hemingway.” His many guest roles have included Chelsea’s gay father on “Two and a Half Men” and the father of Marty Weaver on the Thanksgiving episode of the new series “The Neighbors.”

Keach began his film career in 1968 in “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” and starred as over-the-hill boxer Billy Tully in the 1972 movie “Fat City” directed by John Huston. His many other movies include “Doc,” “Luther” and “Honeydripper.”

Born with a cleft lip that was repaired, Keach is the honorary chairman of the Cleft Palate Foundation.

The “Conversations With …” talks provide theatre arts students and other aspiring actors with advice from professionals. They take the approach laid out in Flanagan’s book, “One Less Bitter Actor: The Actor’s Survival Guide,” which explains how to make it in the business of acting while staying sane and focused.

Farm Fresh Clothing Co. is sponsoring the free 2012-2013 series.

Preus-Brandt Forum is located south of Olsen Road near Mountclef Boulevard on the Thousand Oaks campus. For more information, call 805-493-3415 or email info@westlakeactingstudio.com.