Keiko, the most famous resident of the Oregon coast Aquarium in Newport, died at an age considered old for a whale in captivity. However, he was back in the wild when he died. Author: KGW Staff ...

According to a release from The Good Whale, after Free Willy became an unexpected hit, fans learned the orca who played Willy in the movie — a killed whale named Keiko — was ill and living in ...

Keiko was the orca set free after a huge outcry and publicity campaign spurred by his appearance in the movie "Free Willy." Moved to Iceland and painstakingly trained to be set free, Keiko never ...

OSLO, Norway -- For kids, Keiko the killer whale was the charming hero of "Free Willy." For biologists, he was the focus of fierce debate on whether captive animals can be returned to the wild ...

Who was Keiko? Keiko was a male orca captured in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland in 1979 as a 2-year-old. He was sold to the Icelandic Aquarium in Hafnarfjörður soon after.

But when word got out that the real whale who played Willy, an orca named Keiko, was dangerously sick and stuck in a tiny pool at an amusement park in Mexico City, fans pleaded for his release.

Keiko the killer whale, who was the star of the "Free Willy" movies, swims in his tank at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport in this Jan. 22, 1998, file photo.

The orca Keiko was taken from the wild as a young whale before spending most of his life in captivity. Once fans, especially children, of the 1993 film learned that the animal star didn't enjoy ...

It's been about a year since Keiko was freed from his pen -- and swam straight back to human companionship. With the killer whale drawing 200 to 400 fans a day, the bay he calls home seems more ...

The killer whale, whose real name was Keiko, died in December 2003, at about 26 years old. Despite efforts to integrate him with wild killer whales in Iceland towards the end of his life, he ...

Dave Phillips was one of the numerous whale experts who helped the orca star of Free Willy return to the wild Now, Phillips is working to help two other whales in captivity at a closed marine park ...

Keiko the killer whale, who never seemed to lose his love of humans, succumbs to pneumonia. OSLO, Norway -- For kids, Keiko the killer whale was the charming hero of "Free Willy." ...