He was among the first stage actors to star in Hollywood, and he pursued work in film features for a number of years.

Born to Irish Catholic parents in Dubuque, Iowa, Keenan acquired his education both there and at Boston College.

At one point, he briefly operated his own theater, the Berkeley Lyceum in New York, which brought him recognition as both actor and director.

[4] His wife Katherine died in 1924; the same year, he married a young music teacher, Margaret White, from Los Angeles, but divorced her in 1927.

By October 1928, at age 70, Frank Keenan remarried again, to a 41-year-old actress, Leah May from Atlanta, Georgia.