The story of Keiko is a fascinating and tragic one. The male orca was born in the waters off Iceland in 1977 and was nearly two years old when he was captured by fishermen. He was taken in the ...

Keiko’s apparent love of human company — and his popularity — frustrated handlers’ dreams that he would one day leave them in search of food on his own. Millions of dollars were spent trying to teach ...

Controversy still surrounds the fate of the killer whale Keiko, who was the star of the feel-good 1993 movie “Free Willy.” That movie climaxed with a fairy-tale leap over a jetty, as Willy escaped ...

Nearly 700 people, some wiping away tears, turned out to bid farewell to Keiko, the killer whale who starred in the popular “Free Willy” movies, and died overseas in December. The crowd gathered ...

THE real-life orca star of blockbuster movie Free Willy was never truly free. The killer whale who starred in the 1993 classic, named Keiko, died an agonising death in 2003 after tragically failing to ...