Real name: Joseph Frank Keaton
Born: October 4, 1895, Los Angeles, California, USA
Died: February 1, 1966
Discovered: At the age of three, Keaton began performing with his parents in The Three Keatons. He first appeared on stage in 1899 in Wilmington, Delaware. The act was mainly a comedy sketch. Myra played the saxophone to one side, while Joe and Buster performed on center stage. The young Keaton would goad his father by disobeying him, and the elder Keaton would respond by throwing him against the scenery, into the orchestra pit, or even into the audience.
Romance: In 1921, Keaton married Natalie Talmadge, sister-in-law of his boss, Joseph Schenck, and sister of actresses Norma Talmadge and Constance Talmadge. During the first three years of the marriage, the couple had two sons, James (19222007) and Robert (b. 1924), but after the birth of Robert, the relationship began to suffer.
In 1933, he married his nurse, Mae Scriven, during an alcoholic binge about which he afterwards claimed to remember nothing (Keaton himself later called that period an "alcoholic blackout").
In 1940, Keaton married Eleanor Norris (19181998), who was 23 years his junior. She has been credited with saving his life by stopping his heavy drinking, and helped to salvage his career. The marriage lasted until his death.
Filmography:
The Saphead (1920)
Three Ages (1923)
Our Hospitality (1923)
Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
The Navigator (1924)
Seven Chances (1925)
Go West (1925)
Battling Butler (1926)
The General (1927)
College (1927)
Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928)
The Cameraman (1928)
Spite Marriage (1929)
Free and Easy (1930)
Estrellados (1930, Spanish language version)
Doughboys (1930)
De frente... marchen (1930, Spanish language version)
Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931)
Sidewalks of New York (1931)
Casanova wider Willen (1931)
The Passionate Plumber (Plombier amoureux, Le) (1932)
Speak Easily (1932)
What! No Beer? (1933)
Le Roi des Champs-?lys?es (1934)
The Invader (also known as An Old Spanish Custom) (1936)
Moderno Barba Azul, El (also known as A Modern Bluebeard and Boom in the Moon) (1946)
Buster Keaton Rides Again (1965, documentary about the making of The Railrodder)
Trivia:
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.
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.
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.
Not only did Keaton do all his own stunts, but, when needed, he acted as a stunt double for other actors in the films.
Quotes:
"All my life I have been happiest when the folks watching me said to each other, "Look at the poor dope, will ya?"" - Buster Keaton
"Dumb show is best for screen people, if they must appear in public." - Buster Keaton
"Only things that one could imagine happening to real people, I guess, remain in a person's memory." - Buster Keaton
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