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." ...

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 ...

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.

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.

OSLO, Norway -- Keiko, the killer whale made famous by the "Free Willy" movies, has died in Norwegian coastal waters where he remained after millions of dollars and a decade of work failed to coax ...

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 ...

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 ...

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.

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 ...

Keiko was in his early 20s — still young for an orca — when he was brought to Iceland in 1998. To teach him to hunt, trainers would launch fish around his pen with a sling shot.

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 ...