Keith and Kevin Schultz

In 1966, Keith and Kevin landed starring roles on the television series The Monroes, portraying twin brothers Jefferson "Big Twin" Monroe and Fennimore "Little Twin" Monroe respectively.[6][7][8] The series, which also starred Michael Anderson, Jr., Barbara Hershey and Tammy Locke, centered around a frontier family of five orphan siblings as they attempted to make a new life in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.[9] Although only lasting one season, the series launched the Schultz brothers as popular child stars of the day and the twins were routinely in demand to make celebrity appearances to meet with young fans across the United States during the height of the show's popularity.[7][8][10]

After The Monroes, the Schultz brothers auditioned for the Hanna-Barbera television series The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, loosely based on the characters from the Mark Twain novel.[11][12][13] Eventually beating out his brother for the role, Kevin co-starred as Tom Sawyer alongside Michael Shea as Huck Finn and LuAnn Haslam as Becky Thatcher, navigating weekly adventures within an animated world as they attempted to outrun a vengeful "Injun Joe", played by Ted Cassidy.[13][14][15] All less than a year apart in age, the show's three teenage stars were tutored together for three hours a day on the set between scenes, with each episode reportedly taking approximately four hours to film and six months to animate.[14]

Premiering on NBC on September 16, 1968, The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn aired in over 15 countries and was the first weekly television series to combine live-action performers with animation.[12][13][16] In a departure from the network's usual Saturday morning cartoon schedule, the series aired Sunday nights and made its three young stars popular teen idols of the era.[2][11][17] Although another series that lasted only one season, the show continued to air in reruns as part of The Banana Splits syndication package, becoming well known to subsequent generations for the next four decades.[11][18]

In addition to The Monroes and The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Schultz brothers continued to appear in various other film and television roles, with Keith guest-starring on such television series as Gunsmoke, The Flying Nun and Cannon, and Kevin guest-starring on such television series as The Iron Horse, Lucas Tanner, and Eight is Enough, as well as appearing in the feature film Big Wednesday. Keith and Kevin's final appearance would be together as brothers Ken and K.C. Zeigler on the Showtime comedy series Brothers in the episode titled "Two-Timin' Man" which aired August 6, 1986.[4][5]

In 1967, following the notoriety they'd achieved on The Monroes, the Schultz brothers embarked on a music career, forming their own four-piece musical group "The Monroe Doctrine" with Greg Reinhardt and their elder brother Ric Schultz.[3] Keith played rhythm guitar and Kevin played bass while both sang harmony to Ric's lead vocals.[3] By 1970, the group was known as "Keith, Kevin & Air" and featured the twins performing songs written by their brother Ric, as well as other group members, Brad Driver, Keith Fogel, Tim Henderson and Jim Purvis.[10][19] In 1970, Keith, Kevin & Air signed a record deal with Pzazz Records and released a 7" single which included the songs "Euphoria" and "Michael's Theme".[10][19]

Following their show business careers in front of the camera, the Schultz brothers transitioned to a joint career behind the camera as celebrity photographers.[20] According to their website SchultzBrosPhoto.com, the brothers had developed a passion for photography while working as child actors in Hollywood.[20] Keith is the photographer of the team while Kevin handles the lighting, retouching and restoration elements.[20] After 30 years of experience, the brothers are perhaps best known for their celebrity "head shots" of such child stars as Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Raven-Symoné and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, among others.[20]