On June 16, 2018, the International Buster Keaton Society laid a four-foot plaque in honor of both Keaton and Charles Chaplin on the corner of the shared block (1021 Lillian Ave) where each had made many of their silent comedies in Hollywood. He also admitted to borrowing the idea of the changing room scene in The Cameraman for his own film Silent Movie. By 1923, Keaton was making full-length features. TCM voice-over, October 2011, "Buster Keaton Month". [32], Aside from Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), Keaton's most enduring feature-length films include Our Hospitality (1923), The Navigator (1924), Sherlock Jr. (1924), Seven Chances (1925), The Cameraman (1928), and The General (1926). The General was a Civil War romance, that featured many impressive chase scenes and one very expensive special effects shot. Sarah Porter , Joseph Judson, Isabeau de DAMPIERRE , John de FIENNES, Brangre de CASTILLE , Alfonse Ix de CASTILLE. Joseph Frank Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, to Joe Keaton and Myra Keaton. By the time he was three, Keaton had become part of his parents' act, renamed "The Three Keatons." He stars as a great fortune's sole heir that falls in love with the daughter of his family's greatest rival, played by . He kept getting it mixed up. Keaton, Eleanor and Jeffrey Vance. Caryn James wrote in The New York Times, "Keaton's television appearances are warm and enduring. He was also a great director. Beginning in his early twenties, he enjoyed a decade-long stretch as the director, star, stuntman, editor, and all-around mastermind of some of the greatest silent comedies . Son of Joseph Frank Hallie Keaton and Myra Edith Keaton During this period, he made another film in England, The Invader (released in the United States as An Old Spanish Custom in 1936).[45]. [106], Comedian Richard Lewis stated that Keaton was his prime inspiration, and spoke of having a close friendship with Keaton's widow Eleanor. [37], Keaton's last three features had been produced and released independently, under Keaton's control, and fell short of financial expectations at the box office. Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression that earned him the nickname "The Great Stone Face". In this film, he broke his neck, but did not discover it until ten years later. Keaton starred in five films for American International Pictures: Pajama Party (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, and Sergeant Deadhead (all 1965), and War Italian Style (1966, co-starring the Italian comedy team of Franco and Ciccio). Buster Keaton in a still from the 1927 film The General. Born the same year as the film industry in 1895, Buster Keaton began his career as the child star of a family slapstick act reputed to be the most violent in vaudeville. "The Three Keatons," a poor vaudeville family consisting of Joe, his wife Myra and their seven-year-old son Buster, arrive in Fargo, North Dakota on a snowy winter's day in 1904, with dreams of becoming stars. Advertisement. He was 70 years old. [49], Keaton accepted various character roles in both "A" and "B" features. . Buster Keaton With Family Rare Candid 8x10 Photo. In 1914, he told the Detroit News: "The secret is in landing limp and breaking the fall with a foot or a hand. [46] Keaton had a free hand in staging the films, within the studio's budgetary limits and using its staff writers. [42] MGM refused, because the film was more valuable in silent form; it could be shown around the world in theaters that had not converted to sound. [38] But, given Schenck's desire to keep things "in the family" and Keaton's having to admit that his independent pictures hadn't done well, Keaton agreed to sign with MGM. Born on October 4, 1895, in Piqua, Kansas, as Joseph Francis Keaton. The director was usually Jules White, whose emphasis on slapstick and farce made most of these films resemble White's famous Three Stooges shorts. once in English, once in Spanish, and once in either French or German, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), "Deadpan but alive to the future: Buster Keaton the revolutionary", "The 50 Greatest Directors and Their 100 Best Movies", "AFI Recognizes the 50 Greatest American Screen Legends", "The General: the greatest comedy of all time? Two years later, he appeared with Charlie Chaplin for the only time in Limelight. He re-enacted a famous Keaton stunt for the finale of Jackass Number Two. [78], Buster Keaton's comedy endures not just because he had a face that belongs on Mount Rushmore, at once hauntingly immovable and classically American, but because that face was attached to one of the most gifted actors and directors who ever graced the screen. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with the latest celebrity news, but don't worry we have you covered. A Buster Keaton Granddad. In 1949, comedian Ed Wynn invited Keaton to appear on his CBS Television comedy-variety show, The Ed Wynn Show, which was televised live on the West Coast. Buster KEATON from tree Compton-Queen Family Tree_2011-02-01. Although forces opposed to child labor tried to keep him off the stage, Keaton soon became an integral part of the show. . His father owned a traveling show called the 'Mohawk Indian Medicine Company' along with Harry Houdini. He had his sound debut in The Hollywood Revue of 1929, then made eight more films under his Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract. Upon Keaton's return to Hollywood in 1934, he made a screen comeback in two-reel comedies for Educational Pictures. [98] A 1987 documentary, Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow, directed by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill, won two Emmy Awards.[99]. Look at his faceas beautiful but as inhuman as a butterflyand you see that utter failure to identify sentiment. After the company shut its doors in 1937, Keaton was re-signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but only as a gagman. When she saw the little house, she flew into a rage: she thought the house was much too small, with no place for servants. Buster had broken up his family's vaudeville act, "The Three Keatons", at the age of 21, when his father's drinking made their rough-and-tumble act too difficult and dangerous. 29. He made a series of two-reel comedies, including One Week (1920), The Playhouse (1921), Cops (1922), and The Electric House (1922). Keaton is rumored to have gotten the name Buster from Harry Houdini himself. 8 'A Woman of Paris'. Keaton soon discovered that his brand of comedy, especially his deadpan facial expressions, worked very well on film. [70], One of his most biting parodies is The Frozen North (1922), a satirical take on William S. Hart's Western melodramas, like Hell's Hinges (1916) and The Narrow Trail (1917). Buster Keaton Remembered. By the time he left the act to star in motion pictures with Fatty Arbuckle at age 22, he had already been doing slapstick comedy for over 86% of his life. [105], Actor and stunt performer Johnny Knoxville cites Keaton as an inspiration when coming up with ideas for Jackass projects. They are the work of a man who, after decades of obscurity, found a way to perpetuate his comic images by embracing a new medium." At my studio they would have the characters I wanted in 10 minutes. "Medicine Man" was completed but not aired. Imitators of our act don't last long, because they can't stand the treatment. His father was Joseph Hallie "Joe" Keaton, a native of Vigo County, Indiana. From acclaimed cultural and film historian James Curtis--a major biography, the first in more than two decades, of the legendary comedian and filmmaker who elevated physical comedy to the highest of arts and whose ingenious films remain as startling, innovative, modern--and irresistible--today as they . It soon. He began performing with his parents as a three year old in the act 'The Three Keatons', first . Man Humor. Keatan balanced his work in front and behind the camera very well. His mother, sister and brother (and his family) all lived with him. John Schneider, commander of the Toledo post, announced. He had cameos in such films as In the Good Old Summertime (1949), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Keaton supported himself throughout the 1940s by appearing on stage in Europe and the United States, and writing gags for MGM and 20th Century-Fox. As a baby, he tumbled all the way down a flight of stairs to the landing below. These guys didn't realizethey still don't realizethat the best comedies are simple. He took the camera back to his hotel room where he dismantled and reassembled it by morning. However, Thalberg did allow Keaton to stage the gags, including long stretches of pantomime, and agreed to send a crew to Keaton's own mansion for exterior shots. [61][62][63][64][65], Meanwhile, Keaton's big-screen career continued. The studio replaced Edwards, who had substance-abuse problems, with nightclub comedian Jimmy Durante. "[44] Keaton made the film anyway, and was amazed that it became his biggest box office success. Last year, she went to Germany for a Buster Keaton Film Festival. [92] The marriage lasted until his death. Anyone who thinks that the movie-within-a-movie is a recent conceit, the province of The Purple Rose of Cairo and Last Action Hero, should check out Sherlock Jr., a film in which Keaton dreams himself into another film: he strolls up the aisle of the theatre, hops into the action, and fights to keep up with the breakneck changes of scene. Garry Moore recalled, "I asked (Keaton) how he did all those falls, and he said, 'I'll show you.' Most of these parodies targeted acts with which Keaton had shared the bill. [100] Hirschfeld said that modern film stars were more difficult to depict, that silent film comedians such as Laurel and Hardy and Keaton "looked like their caricatures". His impassive features gave him the nickname "The Great Stone Face.". It marked the first time that a character walks off a movie screen and into "real life." [53] Keaton also found steady work as an actor in TV commercials for Colgate, Alka-Seltzer, U.S. Steel, 7-Up, RCA Victor, Phillips 66, Milky Way, Ford Motors, Minute Rub, and Budweiser, among others. It was clear that Mr. Keaton and Mrs. Keaton had different ideas and lifestyles. He ran to meet misfortune and never failed to make connections. This is discussed in the TCM documentary Buster Keaton: So Funny it Hurt, with Keaton complaining about having to shoot lousy films not just once, but three times. His parents, Joe and Myra, were both veteran vaudevillian actors, and Keaton himself first began performing at the age of 3 when . With complete artistic control, he developed his own working methodology and made about two pictures per year. I n the shadow of a massive dune known as Pigeon Hill. Keaton also directed three one-reel novelty shorts for the studio, but these did not result in further directorial assignments. Film critic David Thomson later described Keaton's style of comedy: "Buster plainly is a man inclined towards a belief in nothing but mathematics and absurdity like a number that has always been searching for the right equation. In Go West (1925), he is stared down by a herd of cattle. In 2023, Keatons life and work was depicted in the graphic novel biography Buster: A Life in Pictures written by Ryan Barnett and illustrated by Matthew Tavares. In 1950, he played himself in Sunset Boulevard. With the exception of Seeing Stars, a minor publicity film produced in 1922, Limelight was the only time in which the two would ever appear together on film. The sequence furnished one of the most memorable images of his career. The innovative special effects he developed for The Playhouse made him an early leader in the field. [29] Keaton later said[where?] [21] In Keaton's retelling, he was six months old when the incident occurred, and Harry Houdini gave him the nickname (though the family did not get to know Houdini until later). Keaton also appeared in a comedy routine about two inept stage musicians in Charlie Chaplin's Limelight (released in 1952), recalling the vaudeville of The Playhouse. that MGM fired him after the filming was completed, despite the film being a commercial hit. Lost after the comedy epic's "roadshow" exhibition, the audio of that scene was discovered and combined with still pictures to recreate the scene.). No Beer? Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 February 1, 1966)[1] was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Much of the film was shot on location on the Sacramento River, which doubled for the Mississippi River setting of Twain's book. The young Keaton goaded his father by disobeying him, and the elder Keaton responded by throwing him against the scenery, into the orchestra pit, or even into the audience. The first was Sherlock Jr., in which a daydreaming projectionist who longs to be a detective becomes part of the movie he is showing. . He was a motion picture comic actor, writer, producer, and director of the 1910s thru 1960s. Joseph Frank Keaton was born October 4, 1895 to Joe, a comedic acrobat whose main aid was a table, and Myra, one of the . Keaton thought the premise was totally unsuitable, and was uncomfortable with his directors Jules White and Zion Myers, who emphasized blunt slapstick. Buster Keaton Remembered. . His distributor, United Artists, insisted on a production manager who monitored expenses and interfered with certain story elements. Keaton was born into a vaudeville family. Husband of Eleanor Ruth Keaton At the end of the day, he asked to borrow one of the cameras to get a feel for how it worked. One of the best of this era was Grand Slam Opera. Later, the family had two more children. . He then moved to feature-length films; several of them, such as Sherlock Jr. (1924), The General (1926), Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), and The Cameraman (1928), remain highly regarded. The film version was released as "A Buster Keaton Production" in 1931. While the movie had an impressive tornado sequence and an interesting topic (a Mississippi riverboat race) which pleased critics, Steamboat Bill Jr. was not a commercial success. While his films were technically and creatively interesting, they were either critical or box office failures. Six of his films have been included in the National Film Registry, making him one of the most honored filmmakers on that list: One Week (1920), Cops (1922), Sherlock Jr. (1924), The General (1926), Steamboat Bill, Jr., and The Cameraman (both 1928)[97], A 1957 film biography, The Buster Keaton Story, starring Donald O'Connor as Keaton was released. Today, she regularly travels around the country, attending film festivals and conventions in his honor. Buster Keaton got his name in true slapstick fashion. Three Kids. [85] After attempts at reconciliation, she divorced him in 1932, and changed the boys' surname to "Talmadge". He'd say, "How about this?" Geni requires JavaScript! Educational primarily distributed short subjects; it is best known for its series of comedies starring Buster Keaton (1934-37) and the earliest screen appearances . Melissa Talmadge Cox wonderful talk about her grandpa, Buster Keaton and the Talmadge sisters and family. Service.[73]. The following year, United Artists hired Keaton; he made ten shorts in the next two years. Like Arbuckle before him, Keaton began directing films that he appeared in. Most of these 16 films are simple visual comedies, with many of the gags supplied by Keaton himself, often recycling ideas from his family vaudeville act and his earlier films. On May 31, 1921, Keaton was married time to Natalie Talmadge. Keaton's widow, Eleanor, attended for a couple of years. Harry N. Abrams, 2001, pg. After returning to the U.S. in 1919, Keaton appeared in several more Arbuckle short films such as A Country Hero (1919). Dedicated to bringing greater public attention to Keaton's life and work, the membership includes many individuals from the television and film industry: actors, producers, authors, artists, graphic novelists, musicians, and designers, as well as those who simply admire the magic of Buster Keaton. 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