The act evolved as Keaton learned to take trick falls safely; he was rarely injured or bruised on stage. Buster Keaton Remembered. Upon Keaton's return to Hollywood in 1934, he made a screen comeback in two-reel comedies for Educational Pictures. Keaton died of lung cancer on February 1, 1966, aged 70, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 February 1, 1966)[1] was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Buster Keaton was one of three great silent film comedians (along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd). In 1920, Keaton made his first full-length feature, The Saphead, playing the straight man, Bertie "The Lamb" Van Alstyne. Two years later, he appeared with Charlie Chaplin for the only time in Limelight. Known as "The Great Stone Face," Keaton got big laughs out of his relentlessly blank expression in silent film comedies like The Saphead (1920), Sherlock, Jr. (1924), and his famous The General (1927). [49], Keaton accepted various character roles in both "A" and "B" features. Buster Keaton was an American actor, comedian, stage artist, writer, and director who has been credited as "the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies" by critic and historian Roger Ebert. Diane Keaton knew she made the best decision of her life when she pursued adoption more than two decades ago. The resulting film, The Buster Keaton Story (1957) starring Donald O'Connor, was frankly terrible (Eleanor recalled attending a preview with Buster and how they "felt like crawling out on our hands and knees"), but it did give them the ability to finally . Afterward, I only gradually realized what kind of family I was inheriting. Keaton spent $42,000 on sending a train into a burning bridge. Go Outside. "I went over (Weingarten's) head and appealed to Irving Thalberg to help get me out of the assignment. "Introduction." The International Buster Keaton Society was founded on October 4, 1992: Keaton's birthday. No Beer? Though it would come to be regarded as Keaton's greatest achievement, the film received mixed reviews at the time. A 1905 ad for The Three Keatons read: "Maybe you think you were handled roughly as a kid watch the way they handle Buster!". [68], Keaton started experimenting with parody during his vaudeville years, where most frequently his performances involved impressions and burlesques of other performers' acts. [84] Natalie's extravagance was another factor, spending up to a third of her husband's earnings. However, Hart himself was not amused by Keaton's antics, particularly the crying scene, and did not speak to Keaton for two years after he had seen the film. . By the time he was 9, his reputation as a performer had reached both coasts of the US, which Stevens' details alongside evolving child abuse and labor law reform in . Keaton had little to say about the details of the MGM contract; he would no longer have any financial responsibility for his films, and even his salary had been pre-negotiated, without his own input. He was, in fact, the star and a skilled acrobat. He was named "Joseph" to continue a tradition on his father's sidehe was sixth in a line bearing the name Joseph Keatonand "Frank" for his maternal grandfather, who disapproved of the parents' union. He was eventually billed as "The Little Boy Who Can't Be Damaged", and the overall act as "The Roughest Act That Was Ever in the History of the Stage". (Thirty years later, both Keaton and Durante had cameo roles in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, albeit not in the same scenes. I just stood there, and everybody is hassling. The "Great Stone Face" died in 1966, aged 70. Lewis was particularly moved by the fact that Eleanor said his eyes looked like Keaton's. Buster Keaton's in laws: Buster Keaton's father in law was Ralph Norris Buster Keaton's mother in law is Lot Norris Buster Keaton's grandmother in law is Harriet Norris Buster Keaton's sister in law is Jane Norris Buster Keaton's father in law was Avert M Scriven Buster Keaton's mother in law was Lucy Scriven Buster Keaton's brother in law was . Kinescopes were made for distribution of the programs to other parts of the country, since there was no transcontinental coaxial cable until September 1951. He returned to the program in 1965 in the episode "Now You See It, Now You Don't". The images and pieces have presentations and attendees from a #Buster Keaton Convention that is held the first week of October . Battling Butler (1926), a boxing movie, was a commercial success. 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. John Schneider, commander of the Toledo post, announced. Fairbanks recommended Keaton to take the role[citation needed] for the remake five years later, since the film was to have a comic slant. Although forces opposed to child labor tried to keep him off the stage, Keaton soon became an integral part of the show. Buster Keaton With Family Rare Candid 8x10 Photo. Then, the facade of a two-story building toppled forward on top of Keaton. In 1939, Columbia Pictures hired Keaton to star in 10 two-reel comedies; the series ran for two years, and comprise his last series as a starring comedian. By James Curtis. Photograph: Ronald Grant. This channel is dedicated to the genius of Buster Keaton and family. [92] The marriage lasted until his death. 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. The director was usually Jules White, whose emphasis on slapstick and farce made most of these films resemble White's famous Three Stooges shorts. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with the latest celebrity news, but don't worry we have you covered. The son of . This will be the festival's return to Iola. Keaton played every role in the movie, which was set in a theater. When she saw the little house, she flew into a rage: she thought the house was much too small, with no place for servants. 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. He was 70 years old. [109] In honor of the event, the City of Los Angeles declared the date "Buster Keaton Day."[110]. Buster Keaton does some excellent comedy falls." With a new picture set to start, Keaton's salary was bumped to $75 a week, a measure of the added value he brought to . [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. During his time in uniform, he suffered an ear infection that permanently impaired his hearing. This equilibrium came into play with The Playhouse (1921), which he also wrote and directed with Cline. I n the shadow of a massive dune known as Pigeon Hill. He had his sound debut in The Hollywood Revue of 1929, then made eight more films under his Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract. Record information. Son of Joseph Frank Hallie Keaton and Myra Edith Keaton In one sequence, Keaton even danced with himself. Keaton's periodic television appearances during the 1950s and 1960s helped to revive interest in his silent films. The break brought new opportunities for Keaton. Advertisement. He made his last starring feature, El Moderno Barba Azul (1946), in Mexico; the film was a low-budget production, and it may not have been seen in the United States until its release on VHS in the 1980s, under the title Boom in the Moon. His talent led the family to New York City and, in 1909, to an appearance in London. 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. Melissa Talmadge Cox wonderful talk about her grandpa, Buster Keaton and the Talmadge sisters and family. Keaton also directed three one-reel novelty shorts for the studio, but these did not result in further directorial assignments. He was every member of the audience as well as every performer. That's the way it always had been, until his mother . 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. "It was as long as War and Peace," Keaton recalled. Twenty-five years after the divorce, she would not permit his name to be spoken in her house. "[44] Keaton made the film anyway, and was amazed that it became his biggest box office success. Keaton observed that during his silent period, such a hat cost him around two dollars (~$2733 in 2022 dollars); at the time of his interview, he said, they cost almost $13 (~$116 in 2022 dollars). Later, Keaton changed his middle name to "Francis". It soon. Keaton thought the premise was totally unsuitable, and was uncomfortable with his directors Jules White and Zion Myers, who emphasized blunt slapstick. Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd advised him against making the move, cautioning that he would lose his independence. They became enthralled with the area, and beginning in 1907, the family returned annually. I Image: Wikimedia Commons. The program also promoted the release of the biographical film The Buster Keaton Story with Donald O'Connor. Keaton said that he canceled the filmed series himself, because he was unable to create enough fresh material to produce a new show each week. He estimated that he and his wife Eleanor made thousands of hats during his career. "[76] Gilberto Perez commented on "Keaton's genius as an actor to keep a face so nearly deadpan and yet render it, by subtle inflections, so vividly expressive of inner life. $49.99. A drastic shift for silent film icon Charlie Chaplin, A Woman of Paris exchanged slapstick comedy for romantic drama and was the first of only . Keaton kept trying to persuade his bosses to let him do things his way. In 1934, with his MGM contract now terminated, Keaton filed for bankruptcy. Since then, the Something's Gotta . Why did Buster Keaton stop making movies? Between 1947 and 1954, the couple appeared regularly in the Cirque Medrano in Paris as a double act. He was born in Piqua, Kansas on 1895-10-04. "[40], When the studio began making talking films, Keaton was enthused about the new technology and wanted to make his next film, Spite Marriage, with sound. [7] The General is viewed as his masterpiece: Orson Welles considered it "the greatest comedy ever madeand perhaps the greatest film ever made". A vaudeville child star, Keaton grew up to be a tinkerer, an athlete, a visual mathematician; his films offer belly laughs of mind-boggling physical invention and a spacey determination that nears philosophical grandeur. In Go West (1925), he is stared down by a herd of cattle. This was witnessed by the magician Harry Houdini (or, some say, actor George Pardey), who christened the hearty boy Buster. Named a Best Book of 2022 by The New Yorker, Publishers Weekly, and NPR In this genre-defying work of cultural history, the chief film critic of Slate places comedy legend and acclaimed filmmaker Buster Keaton's unique creative genius in the context of his time. He escaped a straitjacket with tricks learned from Harry Houdini. His father owned a traveling show called the 'Mohawk Indian Medicine Company' along with Harry Houdini. ", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buster_Keaton, http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/buster-keaton.html, http://www.biography.com/articles/Buster-Keaton-9361442, http://www.answers.com/topic/buster-keaton. Keaton's other 1924 film, The Navigator, was shot on an ocean liner and directed with Donald Crisp. Keaton made his first full-length feature film, "Our Hospitality," in 1923. [57] In August 1960, Keaton played mute King Sextimus the Silent in the national touring company of the Broadway musical Once Upon A Mattress. Shortly after his son's birth, Joseph Keaton changed his son's name to Joseph Francis Keaton. Keaton was convinced to star in a short film with Arbuckle, called The Butcher Boy (1917). Despite Renewed Interest, Only a Handful of Buster Keaton's Classic Comedies Are on Tape", "Buster Keaton For Simon Pure Beer Brookston Beer Bulletin", "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960)", "Buster Keaton in Maryvale, Arizona in 1961", "Buster Keaton at Maryvale Shopping City in 1961", "Buster Keaton at the Bowlero in 1961, Maryvale, Arizona", "Buster Keaton at the Lantern Inn in 1961, Maryvale, Arizona", "Buster Keaton Rides Again: Return of 'The Great Stone Face', "Why Buster Keaton is today's most influential actor", "The City of Beverly Hills: Historic Resources Inventory (19851986)", "Interviews: Melissa Talmadge Cox (Buster Keaton's Granddaughter)", "Buster Keaton's Second Wife Sues Him for Divorce", "Buster Keaton, 70, Dies on Coast. 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