Biography for
Buster Keaton More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

4 October 1895, Piqua, Kansas, USA

Date of Death

1 February 1966, Los Angeles, California, USA (lung cancer)

Birth Name

Joseph Frank Keaton VI

Nickname

The Great Stone Face
Malec

Height

5' 5" (1.65 m)

Mini Biography

When at six months he tumbled down a flight of stairs unharmed he was given the name "Buster" by Harry Houdini who, along with W.C. Fields, Bill Robinson ("Bojangles"), Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson shared headlines with The Three Keatons: Buster, his father Joe Keaton and mother Myra Keaton. Their act, one of the most dangerous in vaudeville, was about how to discipline a prankster child. Buster was thrown all over the stage and even into the audience. No matter what the stunt, he was poker-faced. By age 21 his father was so alcoholic the stunts became too dangerous to perform and the act dissolved. He first saw a movie studio in March 1917 and on April 23 his debut film, 'Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle' 's The Butcher Boy (1917), was released. He stayed with Fatty through 15 two-reelers, even though he was offered much more to sign with Fox or Warner Bros. after returning from ten months with the U.S. Army (40th Infantry Division) in France. His first full-length feature, The Saphead (1920), established him as a star in his own right. By the middle of 1921 he had his own production company--Buster Keaton Productions--and was writing, directing and starring in his own films. With a small and close team around him, Keaton created some of the most beautiful and imaginative films of the silent era. The General (1926), his favorite, was one of the last films over which he had artistic control. In 1928, he reluctantly signed with MGM after his contract with independent producer Joe Schenk expired. MGM quickly began to enforce their rigid, mechanized style of film-making on Keaton, swamping him with gag-writers and scripts. He fought against it for a time, and the compromise was initially fruitful, his first film for MGM - _Cameraman, The (1928)_ - being one of his finest. But with his creativity becoming increasingly stifled, he began to drink excessively, despondent at having to perform material that was beneath him. Ironically, his films around 1930 were his most successful to date in terms of box-office, which confirmed to MGM that their formula was right. His drinking led to a disregard for schedules and erratic behaviour on the MGM lot, and a disastrous confrontation with Louis Mayer resulted in him being fired. The diplomatic producer Irving Thalberg attempted to smooth things over but Keaton was past caring. By 1932 he was a divorced alcoholic, getting work where he could, mostly in short comedies. In 1935 he entered a mental hospital. MGM rehired him in 1937 as a $100-a-week gag-man (his salary ten years before was more than ten times this amount). The occasional film was a boost to this steady income. In 1947 his career rebounded with a live appearance at Cirque Medrano in Paris. In 1952 James Mason, who then owned Keaton's Hollywood mansion, found a secret store of presumably lost nitrate stock of many of Buster's early films; film historian and archivist Raymond Rohauer began a serious collection/preservation of Buster's work. In 1957 Buster appeared with Charles Chaplin in Limelight (1952) and his film biography, The Buster Keaton Story (1957) was released. Two years later he received a special Oscar for his life work in comedy, and he began to receive the accolades he so richly deserved, with festivals around the world honoring his work. He died at 70 years of age.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan

Mini Biography

Joseph Francis Keaton Jr. was born on October 4th 1895 in Piqua, Kansas to Joe and Myra Keaton. Joe and Myra were stage comedians and they were very successful especially with the renowned magician Harry Houdini. At one time the Keaton family was at a hotel and Keaton fell down a full flight of stairs and surprisingly he was unharmed and Houdini said 'Some Buster!' and the name stuck. Joe Keaton thought to himself it would be a good name for the boy and so he has been known like that for over 100 years. At age 4 Buster had already began acting with his parents on the stage and for several years his father did all sorts of things to Buster by throwing him all over the stage and the audiences loved it. After several years The Three Keatons as they were now known toured America until some circumstances occurred were the act was then broken up. Buster was a stage veteran at the age of 21.On one wet New York day the successful comedian and director, Roscoe Arbuckle, was walking down the street when he spotted Keaton and invited him to start in films together and so Keaton's reputation was launched forever.

Arbuckle had begun appearing in comedies in 1909 when it the comedy genre was just starting out in America and in 1913 he joined Mack Sennett's Keystone Film company as a Keystone Kop and then a talented comedian. He ranked second to Charlie Chaplin in world popularity also because they had done a few films together in 1914. Arbuckle quit the Keystone studios in 1916 and in 1917 he and producer Joe Schenck built their own studio in Hollywood. The first film Arbuckle directed at the new Comique-Paramount Studio was The Butcher Boy (1917) with Arbuckle in the lead with his side-kick Al St. John who was his nephew. Keaton later became several times more popular than St. John; however the 3 comedians worked well together in several films from 1917 to 1919.

In 1920 when the last Keaton-Arbuckle short, The Garage, was released Arbuckle moved into feature films and Schenck bought Keaton his own studio and Keaton was headed for stardom. After several feature films, Arbuckle was involved in a scandal and while he was not guilty he never returned to be the comedian he was. Keaton helped him get back into films and he did direct several films under the name of William Goodrich but Buster Keaton and Roscoe Arbuckle were best friends.

The first short film Keaton made was The High Sign but after the film was completed he was dissatisfied with the result and he needed something bigger and better to get the public's attention. So during that time Keaton assembled his production team with Eddie Cline as co-writer and co-director with strong man Joe Roberts and leading ladies Sybil Seely and Virginia Fox. The first film the public saw was the comedy sensation of the year One Week (1920) in which Keaton wrote, directed and starred. Arbuckle took a while to learn the filmmaking process but Keaton just watched Arbuckle do it and that's all there was to it. One Week remains one of Keaton's greatest short films and certainly one of his funniest. After several more comedy shorts over the years including his classics such as The Boat (1921) and his best short Cops (1922) Keaton then decided to make the step into feature films. He first made The Three Ages (1923) which was made in the same style as his shorts but the system had to be changed so that the public would like it, Keaton would have to introduce romance, simple comedy and lots more. Next he made Our Hospitality (1923) which remains one of his best silent features but not until he made The Navigator in 1924, was he regarded as one of the greats of silent comedy. The Navigator put him high on a position which many silent comedians could not reach. Chaplin had reached that point as did Lloyd and finally Keaton did.

The most famous of Keaton's comedies is Sherlock Jr. (1924) which he directed entirely himself and reviews for the films were not the best probably because Hollywood had never seen anything like it. This spectacular Keaton feature had special effects never attempted before. Sherlock Jr. (1924) has Buster working in a local moving-picture theatre where after his work hours he goes to visit his girlfriend and as usual there is a rival. Shortly after Buster falls asleep in the projection room where, in his dream, he enters the movie and with his skilled cinematographer, Elgin Lessley, Keaton made one of the greatest films of all time, but his more complex and more funnier work was still to come. Now basically making one feature film per year, Keaton made lots of money with Seven Chances (1925) and Battling Butler (1926). After those films were released Keaton's producer Joe Schenck made a heap of money and now let Keaton do his own solo project.

So in 1926 Buster Keaton made the greatest civil-war film of all time, The General. Keaton's The General remains the most famous of all silent films and certainly one of the best films of all time from any era and of any genre. Keaton took a page out of the history books adapting the American civil-war of the 1860s and delivered his best performance. With him also in the director's chair, the audience could count on a good film. After the film's top climax sequence where a steam engine goes across a bridge where the bridge then collapses and the engine falls into the river, that scene alone was the most expensive single shot of the entire silent era, but it certainly paid off. Unfortunately, however, not with the finances. The General suffered at the box office because much of the film is not funny and many gags are in bad taste but it should be appreciated more as an epic-film.

After a couple more silent features including College (1927) and Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) Keaton had then found out that his contract was sold to MGM. Just the thing a father-in-law would do, the father-in-law being his producer Joe Schenck. His first film with MGM was The Cameraman (1928) which in fact remains one of the best silent comedies but after the film was released Keaton never regained his independence. He made one more silent at MGM entitled Spite Marriage (1929) before the sound era arrived. MGM never gave Keaton his independence in the 1930s and the public's memory of the great stone face of the silent era was fading. He later got fired and made several low-budget shorts. Over the next 10 to 15 years his films were awful, however, a 1936 short entitled Grand Slam Opera is now ranked with Keaton's silent work and is a pleasure to watch him in his finest hour of his most miserable years of his life. After several more years of hardship, finally in 1949, Keaton's silent films were rediscovered and he was back!

Keaton had begun live television appearances and he toured with his silent films around America and Europe and the film he first showed to a new generation of the 1950s was his own personal favourite, The General (1926). After several more film appearances in the 1960s Keaton died in 1966 after completing well over 100 films. Since his death, Keaton's reputation has soared and all of his films but a few have been put on DVD and they will live forever.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Daniel Dopierala moviecrazy27@hotmail.com

Spouse

Eleanor Keaton	(28 July 1940 - 1 February 1966) (his death)
Mae Scriven	(8 January 1933 - 1936) (divorced)
Natalie Talmadge	(31 May 1921 - 25 July 1932) (divorced) 2 children

Trade Mark

Porkpie hat, slapshoes, deadpan expression

His films contain elaborate gadgets of his own devising.

Used the camera to help comedy, e.g to create effect of rocking boat in beginning of The Boat (1921).

Trivia

Son of Joe Keaton.

Son of Myra Keaton.

Father of Buster Keaton Jr. and Bob Talmadge.

Brother of Harry Keaton and Louise Keaton.

His older son was born during his marriage to Natalie Talmadge.

Unlike many silent movie stars, Buster was eager to go into sound considering he had a fine baritone voice with no speech impediments and years of stage experience, so dialogue was not a problem.

Interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA.

Pictured on one of ten 29¢ US commemorative postage stamps celebrating stars of the silent screen, issued 27 April 1994. Designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, this set of stamps also honored Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, Charles Chaplin, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, Zasu Pitts, Harold Lloyd, Theda Bara, and the Keystone Kops.

Fractured his neck while filming Sherlock Jr. (1924) and did not learn about it until a doctor saw X-rays of his neck during a routine physical examination many years later.

Died quietly at home, in his sleep, shortly after playing cards with his wife.

He was already quite ill with the cancer that would eventually kill him by the time he made his last completed film, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966). He used a stunt double in this film, as well as most of the films he made as an MGM contract player. Before signing with MGM in 1928, he had performed all of his own stunts, and even doubled for cast members in his own films, as in Sherlock Jr. (1924), where he played both himself, riding on the handlebars of a motorcycle, and the man who falls off the back of it.

His mother was of British/German heritage, and his father was of Scottish/Irish heritage.

Because most of his childhood was spent on vaudeville with his parents, he had few peers. However, he enjoyed a more regular childhood during his family's annual summer getaways to an Actor's Colony on Lake Michigan in Muskegon, Michigan. In fact, the city of Muskegon has erected a historical marker to note his stomping ground.

First married Mae Scriven in Mexico on 1 January 1932 before his divorce from Natalie Talmadge was final, then again legally in 1933.

He became an alcoholic when he his career collapsed around 1930, only kicking his habit and regaining his self-esteem when he married Eleanor Norris (Eleanor Keaton), who was his wife from 1940 to his death in 1966.

Was voted the 7th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly, making him the highest rated comedy director. Charles Chaplin didn't make the list.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 523-531. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.

He was voted the 35th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

When he married Natalie Talmadge, the Talmadge family was one of the great acting dynasties in both theater and film, and the gossip in Hollywood was that Keaton married her to gain respect in the industry, a rumor he never quite lived down during his peak. Ironically, Keaton is now a film legend, while most people would be hard-pressed to answer who the Talmadges are.

Not only did Keaton do all his own stunts, but, when needed, he acted as a stunt double for other actors in the films.

He often surrounded himself with tall and heavy-set actors in his films, typically as his antagonist, to make his character seem to be at as much of a physical disadvantage as possible. The similarly diminutive Charlie Chaplin (Charles Chaplin) also did this.

The three top comedians in silent era Hollywood were Keaton, Charlie Chaplin (Charles Chaplin) and Harold Lloyd. All three comics produced, controlled and owned their own films. Keaton was convinced to sell his studio and films to MGM in the 1920s, while Chaplin and Lloyd retained ownership of their films. Chaplin and Lloyd became wealthy, while Keaton endured years of financial and personal problems.

In one scene in the film Sherlock Jr. (1924) at a train station, he was hanging off of a tube connected to a water basin. The water poured out and washed him on to the track, fracturing his neck. This footage appears in the released film.

Was named the 21st Greatest Actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends List by the American Film Institute

Was hearing-impaired since 1918, when he was in Germany fighting the war.

Is portrayed by Ian Mune in Lucy (2003) (TV) and 'Donald O'Connor (I)' in The Buster Keaton Story (1957).

Met Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle for the first time strolling down Broadway in New York City. Arbuckle was with Keaton's old vaudeville acquittance Lou Anger, who introduced them. Arbuckle immediately asked Keaton to visit the Colony Studio, where he was set to begin a series of comedies for Joseph M. Schenck. The famous comedy team was born.

Loved to play baseball. He would sometimes play baseball between takes on the movie set.

Said he learned everything about movie-making and comedy from 'Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle' .

The Navigator (1924) was his most successful movie according to the gross.

There is much legend regarding the conception of his nickname, Buster. Many attribute the name to the legendary Harry Houdini, who was the partner of Joe Keaton (Buster's father) in the medicine-show group "Kathleen Marownen", after he saw a young Buster fall down a set of stairs without any injury. Others have said that it was Joe who conceived the name after he saw Buster's accident, while still others say that Joe Keaton fabricated the incident for a good story to tell on vaudeville. Which of these stories is actually true is unknown.

He and his parents formed an acrobatic group called "The three Keatons" in his early youth.

Wanted to become an engineer as a child

His performance as Johnny Gray in The General (1926) is ranked #34 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

Grand-uncle of Camille Keaton.

His last film work was The Railrodder (1965), but because it was such a short film it was released before other movies, like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), which had completed filming before "The Railrodder".

Is mentioned in the song "Cinéma" by Paola Del Medico.

When he was three years old, he got his right index finger caught in a clothes wringer and it was crushed and had to be amputated at the first knuckle. The injury is most clearly visible in "The Garage", when Keaton steadies Arbuckle's head with his right hand while wiping oil off his face with his left.

He died the same day as his The Slippery Pearls (1931), Speak Easily (1932) and Sunset Blvd. (1950) co-star Hedda Hopper.

In 1952 while remodeling his home, James Mason discovered several reels of Keaton's "lost" films (Mason had purchased Keaton's Hollywood mansion) and immediately recognized their historical significance. He took upon himself the responsibility for their preservation.

He is believed to be the first person to use "Buster" as a name, and popularized its usage ever after.

Personal Quotes

No man can be a genius in slapshoes and a flat hat.

Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.

I gotta do some sad scenes. Why, I never tried to make anybody cry in my life! And I go 'round all the time dolled up in kippie clothes-wear everything but a corset . . . can't stub my toe in this picture nor anything! Just imagine having to play-act all the time without ever getting hit with anything!

[when told to cheer up at an MGM film premiere, the reporter asked, "Are you happy to be here?"] Of course, I got off location for this!

What used to get my goat at MGM were comedians like The Marx Brothers or Abbott and Costello who never worried about the script or the next scene. My God, we ate, slept and dreamed our pictures.

Is Hollywood the cruelest city in the world? Well, it can be. New York can be like that, too. You can be a Broadway star here one night, and something happens, and then you're out - nobody knows you on the street. They forget you ever lived. It happens in Hollywood, too.

The first thing I did in the studio was to want to tear that camera to pieces. I had to know how that film got into the cutting room, what you did to it in there, how you projected it, how you finally got the picture together, how you made things match. The technical part of pictures is what interested me. Material was the last thing in the world I thought about. You only had to turn me loose on the set and I'd have material in two minutes, because I'd been doing it all my life.

They say pantomime's a lost art. It's never been a lost art and never will be, because it's too natural to do.

[on his time working as an uncredited gag writer for The Marx Brothers at MGM] It was an event when you could get all three of them on the set at the same time. The minute you started a picture with the Marx brothers you hired three assistant directors, one for each Marx brother. You had two of 'em while you went to look for the third one and the first two would disappear.

Think slow, act fast.

Silence is of the gods; only monkeys chatter.

[on the differences between his and Charles Chaplin's characters] Charlie's tramp was a bum with a bum's philosophy. Lovable as he was, he would steal if he got the chance. My little fellow was a working man and honest.

All my life I have been happiest when the folks watching me said to each other, "Look at the poor dope, will ya?"

Not long ago a friend asked me what was the greatest pleasure I got from spending my whole life as an actor. There have been so many that I had to think about that for a moment. Then I said, "Like everyone else, I like to be with a happy crowd."

Dumb show is best for screen people, if they must appear in public.

I've had few dull moments [in my life] and not too many sad and defeated ones. In saying this I am by no means overlooking the rough and rocky years I've lived through. But I was not brought up thinking life would be easy. I always expected to work hard for my money and to get nothing I did not earn. And the bad years, it seems to me, were so few that only a dyed-in-the-wool grouch who enjoys feeling sorry for himself would complain.

Only things that one could imagine happening to real people, I guess, remain in a person's memory.

Salary

Sunset Blvd. (1950)	$1,000
Love Nest on Wheels (1937)	$2,500
Ditto (1937)	$2,500
Jail Bait (1937)	$2,500
Mixed Magic (1936)	$2,500
The Chemist (1936)	$2,500
Blue Blazes (1936)	$2,500
Grand Slam Opera (1936)	$2,500
Three on a Limb (1936)	$2,500
The Timid Young Man (1935)	$2,500
The E-Flat Man (1935)	$2,500
Tars and Stripes (1935)	$2,500
Hayseed Romance (1935)	$2,500
One Run Elmer (1935)	$2,500
Palooka from Paducah (1935)	$2,500

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