Buster Keaton

Joseph Frank Keaton VI
1895 - 1966 (lung cancer)
American born Pickway

Nickname The Great Stone Face, Malic . Height 5' 6" (1.68 m) . 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 (1927), 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. 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.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) , Due marines e un generale (1966) , Film (1965) , Sergeant Dead Head (1965) , How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) , The Railrodder (1965) , "The Donna Reed Show" (1958) , The Man Who Bought Paradise (1965) , Pajama Party (1964) , "Burke's Law" (1964) , "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1964) , It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1963) , The Triumph of Lester Snapwell (1963) , "Route 66" (1962) , "The Twilight Zone" (1961) , The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960) , "Sunday Showcase" (1960) , "Playhouse 90" (1958) , "You Asked for It" (1958) , Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) , "Producers' Showcase" (1956) , "Screen Directors Playhouse" (1955) , "The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater" (1955) , "The Best of Broadway" (1954) , "Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents" (1954) , Incantevole nemica, L' (1953) , "Four Star Revue" (1952) , Limelight (1952) , "The Colgate Comedy Hour" (1952) , Paradise for Buster (1952) , "Life with Buster Keaton" (1951) , Sunset Blvd. (1950) , The Misadventures of Buster Keaton (1950) , "The Buster Keaton Show" (1950) , "The Ed Wynn Show" (1949) , In the Good Old Summertime (1949) , You're My Everything (1949) , The Lovable Cheat (1949) , Colmillo de Buda, El (1949) , Moderno Barba Azul, El (1946) , God's Country (1946) , She Went to the Races (1945) , That Night with You (1945) , That's the Spirit (1945) , San Diego I Love You (1944) , Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) , Forever and a Day (1943) , She's Oil Mine (1941) , General Nuisance (1941) , Screen Snapshots Series 21, No. 1 (1941) , So You Won't Squawk (1941) , His Ex Marks the Spot (1940), Li'l Abner (1940) , The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940) , The Spook Speaks (1940) , New Moon (1940), The Taming of the Snood (1940) , Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 6 (1940) , Pardon My Berth Marks (1940) , Nothing But Pleasure (1940) , Mooching Through Georgia (1939) , Pest from the West (1939) , Love Nest on Wheels (1937) , Ditto (1937) , Jail Bait (1937) , Mixed Magic (1936) , The Chemist (1936) , Blue Blazes (1936) , Grand Slam Opera (1936) , Three on a Limb (1936) , The Timid Young Man (1935) , The E-Flat Man (1935) , Tars and Stripes (1935) , Hayseed Romance (1935) , One Run Elmer (1935) , Palooka from Paducah (1935) , The Invader (1935) , Roi des Champs-Élysées, Le (1934) , Allez Oop (1934) , The Gold Ghost (1934) , What! No Beer? (1933) , Speak Easily (1932) , The Passionate Plumber (1932) , Plombier amoureux, Le (1932) , Casanova wider Willen (1931) , Sidewalks of New York (1931) , The Slippery Pearls (1931) , Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931) , Buster se marie (1931) , Wir schalten um auf Hollywood (1931) , Doughboys (1930) , Free and Easy (1930) , The March of Time (1930) , Estrellados (1930) , De frente, marchen (1930) , The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) , Spite Marriage (1929) , The Cameraman (1928) , Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) , College (1927) , The General (1927) , Battling Butler (1926) , Go West (1925) , The Iron Mule (1925) , Seven Chances (1925) , The Navigator (1924) , Sherlock Jr. (1924) , Our Hospitality (1923) , Three Ages (1923) , The Love Nest (1923) , The Balloonatic (1923) , Daydreams (1922) , The Electric House (1922) , The Frozen North (1922) , The Blacksmith (1922) , My Wife's Relations (1922) , Cops (1922) , The Paleface (1922) , The Boat (1921) , The Play House (1921) , The Goat (1921) , The 'High Sign' (1921) , Hard Luck (1921) , The Haunted House (1921) , Neighbors (1920) , The Scarecrow (1920) , Convict 13 (1920) , The Saphead (1920) , The Round-Up (1920) , One Week (1920) , The Garage (1919) , The Hayseed (1919) , Back Stage (1919) , The Cook (1918) , Good Night, Nurse! (1918) , Moonshine (1918), The Bell Boy (1918) , Out West (1918) , A Country Hero (1917) , Coney Island (1917) , Oh Doctor! (1917) , His Wedding Night (1917) , The Rough House (1917) , The Butcher Boy (1917)