Among his critically acclaimed roles are those of the tribal king Rouma Boll in Yeelen and as Mambi in Guimba, un tyrant, une époque.
Keïta initially worked as a middleman trader, buying fish and rice from Mopti and Dioro and reselling them in Bamako.
In 1960, he managed to obtain a job with the National Theater (then under the Haut Commissariat à la jeunesse - the High Commission for Youth).
In 1965, Keïta travelled to the People's Republic of China with a Malian team to duplicate three films of socialist ideology in Bambara.
He died in Bamako in 2001 of pulmonary emphysema partially due to heavy lifelong smoking habits, and is survived by ten children.