Kathryn Keats

Kathryn Keats (b. Ellen Christian Munger in Evansville, November 12, 1963 - ) – Singer, songwriter, actress, and key-note speaker. Born and raised in Evansville, Keats (then Ellen Christian Munger) showed extreme talent at a young age and performed at the Grand Ole Opry in her teens. In 1978, she moved to New York City to break into musical theatre and landed a role in an off-Broadway touring production of Let My People Come. During the run of that show, she started a romance and musical partnership with pianist and musical director Ken Ford. When the show was on break, she and Ford performed together as a cabaret act. In the second year of their living together, Ford, who suffered from Schizophrenia, became abusive to the point that in 1983 he held her captive for 54 days in their Oakland apartment. Next came a death threat. With the help of a victims’ protection program, she assumed a new identity in California as Kathryn Keats. In 2005, she learned of Ford’s death in Philadelphia and came out of hiding. After having married and succeeded in a career in film finance during her years of silence, she returned to her previous life as a cabaret singer, and she also became a key-note speaker for victims of violent crimes. She has sung with a small band at The Knitting Factory in L.A., The Bitter End in New York, The Plush Room in San Francisco, and the Throckmorton Theatre. In 2007, she released her first full-length CD called After the Silence, produced by Tony Valenziano on Smile Records. Currently, she is working on a new CD with Grammy-winning producer Narada Michael Walden.