He was, in fact, the star and a skilled acrobat. His marriage to actress Natalie Talmadge, with whom he had two sons, fell apart, and he became plagued with issues related to alcoholism and depression. But not MGM. Joseph Frank Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, to Joe Keaton and Myra Keaton. 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. Kansas, and was the firstborn of Joseph Keaton and Myra Cutler. Joseph Frank Keatonthe silent film star belovedly known as Busterwas born the same year, 1895, that the Lumire brothers unveiled the first moving pictures to an audience of stunned Parisians. The grandchildren delighted in deliberately mentioning Buster's name. 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. I just stood there, and everybody is hassling. Cox remembers him as being a lot of fun, and she always enjoyed visits to . 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. "It was as long as War and Peace," Keaton recalled. "[28], In February 1917, he met Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle at the Talmadge Studios in New York City, where Arbuckle was under contract to Joseph M. Schenck. On May 31, 1921, Keaton was married time to Natalie Talmadge. The International Buster Keaton Society was founded on October 4, 1992: Keaton's birthday. Keaton's widow, Eleanor, attended for a couple of years. The studio replaced Edwards, who had substance-abuse problems, with nightclub comedian Jimmy Durante. [90] After undergoing aversion therapy, he stopped drinking for five years.[91]. On February 1, 1966, Keaton died of lung cancer in Woodland Hills, California. Wayne Barker on Piano. Keaton had never paid much attention to the business side of the film industry, and he paid a hefty price. Piqua, Kansas's greatest claim to fame is that it's the birthplace of Buster Keaton. In 1926, audiences were amazed by the daredevil antics of comedian Buster Keaton in the movie "The General . "[14], Keaton was born into a vaudeville family in Piqua, Kansas,[15] the small town where his mother, Myra Keaton (ne Cutler), was when she went into labor. The Society's nickname, the "Damfinos," draws its name from a boat in Keaton's 1921 comedy, The Boat. The Educational two-reelers have far more pantomime than his earlier talkies, and Keaton is in good form throughout. The only time he ever laughed on screen was in an Arbuckle movie, Fatty at Coney Island (1917). . He took the camera back to his hotel room where he dismantled and reassembled it by morning. [19] Talmadge decided not to have any more children, banishing Keaton to a separate bedroom; he dated actresses Dorothy Sebastian and Kathleen Key during this period. I started so young that landing right is second nature with me. Harold Lloyd made us laugh as much, Charlie Chaplin moved us more deeply, but no one had more courage than Buster."[103]. In the last analysis, no one came near him. He was born Joseph Frank Keaton on October 4, 1895, in Piqua, Kansas, the eldest of three children, including a younger brother and sister, born to two vaudevillians, Joseph Hallie Keaton and Myra Cutler. in Piqua, Kansas, USA , United States, Died on February 01, 1966 [109] In honor of the event, the City of Los Angeles declared the date "Buster Keaton Day."[110]. [13] The General has placed highly on the Sight & Sound poll, and Our Hospitality, Sherlock Jr. and The Navigator also received multiple votes. Keaton's art has inspired full academic study. Buster Keaton and Phyllis Haver in The Balloonatic (1923) - publicity still. The theatrical feature film The Misadventures of Buster Keaton was fashioned from the series. 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 . During his time in uniform, he suffered an ear infection that permanently impaired his hearing. "[34], It was an expensive misfire (the climactic scene of a locomotive plummeting through a burning bridge was the most expensive single shot in silent-film history),[35][36] and Keaton was never entrusted with total control over his films again. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. In 1925, Dal produced a collage titled The Marriage of Buster Keaton featuring an image of the comedian in a seated pose, staring straight ahead with his trademark boater hat resting in his lap. In 1933, he married his nurse Mae Scriven during an alcoholic binge about which he afterwards claimed to remember nothing. Two years later, he appeared with Charlie Chaplin for the only time in Limelight. Other significant film appearances included Around the World in 80 Days (1956), It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), and War Italian Style (1966). His father was Joseph Hallie "Joe" Keaton who had a traveling show called the Mohawk Indian Medicine Company, which performed on stage and sold patent medicine on the side. Employing picturesque locations, the film's storyline reenacted an actual wartime incident. Working with independent producer Joseph M. Schenck and filmmaker Edward F. Cline, Keaton made a series of successful two-reel comedies in the early 1920s, including One Week (1920), The Playhouse (1921), Cops (1922), and The Electric House (1922). [69] Three Ages also featured parodies of Bible stories, like those of Samson and Daniel. Cox moved with her family to Cloverdale in the . Keaton's wife Eleanor also was seen in the series (notably as Juliet to Keaton's Romeo in a little-theater vignette). Critics rediscovered Keaton in 1949 and producers occasionally hired him for bigger "prestige" pictures. In 1920, Arbuckle left Comique Films for Paramount. Keaton was presented with a 1959 Academy Honorary Award at the 32nd Academy Awards, held in April 1960. This equilibrium came into play with The Playhouse (1921), which he also wrote and directed with Cline. 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. In 1926, comedian, writer, and director Buster Keaton made a film titled The General, which featured a stunt involving an actual train falling from a burning bridge into a river. Free shipping for many products! "[22], Keaton said he had so much fun that he sometimes began laughing as his father threw him across the stage. 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. They divorced in 1936[89] at great financial cost to Keaton. . Ex-husband of Natalie Talmadge and Mae Elizabeth Keaton Geni requires JavaScript! Keaton grew up on the road, as his parents endlessly . Keaton parodied the tired formula of the melodramatic transformation from bad guy to good guy, which Hart's characters went through, known as "the good badman". Buster Keaton got his name in true slapstick fashion. "Introduction." [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). He supported them all. It's true that Keaton was born in Piqua on October 4, 1895but it wasn't his home. . Please try again. His parents were part of a traveling vaudeville act, and at the age of four he joined them, subsequently becoming known as . Keaton played every role in the movie, which was set in a theater. Best known for his silent film work, Keaton was ranked as the 21st-greatest male star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute in 1999. that he was soon Arbuckle's second director and his entire gag department. Joe Keaton disapproved of films, and Keaton also had reservations about the medium. Vance, Jeffrey. Since then, the Something's Gotta . In the first Keaton pictures with sound, he and his fellow actors would shoot each scene three times: once in English, once in Spanish, and once in either French or German. Fairbanks recommended Keaton to take the role[citation needed] for the remake five years later, since the film was to have a comic slant. . This will be the festival's return to Iola. Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 - February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. [102], Film critic Roger Ebert stated, "The greatest of the silent clowns is Buster Keaton, not only because of what he did, but because of how he did it. His third wife was a dancer named Eleanor Ruth Norris. ", "The Narrative-Machine: Buster Keaton's Cinematic Comedy, Deleuze's Recursion Function and the Operational Aesthetic", "Keaton Chose $40 in Films to $750 on Stage", Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase: A Biography, "My Career at the Rear / Buster Keaton in World War I", "Muskegon: Buster Keaton documentary to focus on early life in Muskegon", "Reviews: The General/Steamboat Bill Jr", "Velocipede used by Buster Keaton in the film Our Hospitality", "Moving Pictures: Buster Keaton's 'General' Pulls In To PFA. [59] In 1961, he starred in The Twilight Zone episode "Once Upon a Time", which included both silent and sound sequences. [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). 'Camera Man' unspools the colorful life of silent film star Buster Keaton: By age 5, Keaton was a star in his family's vaudeville act; he went on to star in and direct silent films, performing jaw . It's just where his parents, two traveling vaudevillians, happened to be performing. The Colony celebrate Joe Keaton's birthday with a parade through Bluffton. Keaton was a seminal comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and director that shaped the industry for years to come, even though the industry stole the creative control that made his early films so valuable. One of the best of this era was Grand Slam Opera. ", In 1954, Keaton and Eleanor met film programmer Raymond Rohauer, with whom they developed a business partnership to re-release his films. BUSTER KEATON is an adoptable Dog - Schnauzer searching for a forever family near Atlanta, GA. Use Petfinder to find adoptable pets in your area. 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