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. Harry Keaton Jr., nephew of Buster Keaton, talks about how famiy members have reunited at various Keaton festivals during a panel discussion featuring Keaton family members in person and appearing virtually on a screen. [90] After undergoing aversion therapy, he stopped drinking for five years.[91]. '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 . [69] Other favorite targets were cinematic plots, structures and devices. Keaton said he was lucky if he used only six hats in making a film. 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. Born Joseph Keaton (the sixth in a line of Joseph Keatons) in Piqua, Kansas on October 1, 1895, Buster had the delightful fortune of being born in the right place at the right time. By Kelly Braun. Image via United Artists. in Woodland Hills, California, USA, This form allows you to report an error or to submit additional information about this family tree: Buster KEATON (1895), Copyright Wikipdia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0. Then, the facade of a two-story building toppled forward on top of Keaton. His parents were part of a traveling vaudeville act, and at the age of four he joined them, subsequently becoming known as . His final appearance on film was in The Scribe, a 1966 safety film produced in Toronto by the Construction Safety Associations of Ontario: he died shortly after completing it. [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. In the earliest days on stage, they traveled with a medicine show that included family friend . When the Educational series lapsed in 1937, Keaton returned to MGM as a gag writer, supplying material for the final three Marx Brothers MGM films: At the Circus (1939), Go West (1940), and The Big Store (1941); these were not as artistically successful as the Marxes' previous MGM features. Kansas, and was the firstborn of Joseph Keaton and Myra Cutler. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Buster Keaton With Family Rare Candid 8x10 Photo at the best online prices at eBay! [107], In 2012, Kino Lorber released The Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection, a 14-disc Blu-ray box set of Keaton's work, including 11 of his feature films.[108]. He ran to meet misfortune and never failed to make connections. The death this week of, children. Keaton was presented with a 1959 Academy Honorary Award at the 32nd Academy Awards, held in April 1960. Username and password are case sensitive. Then in his twenties, he had outgrown his family vaudeville act, whose violent acrobatics had relied on a size . 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 . When a grant that funded the program ended in 2017, the festival moved to Kansas City for a year. Aerial stuntmen and daredevils from around 1920s - 1940s. But it's even more pleasurable to get back to the presentwhere brooding, miserable, non-smiling Humphrey Bogart really shines. After Keaton's successful work with Arbuckle, Schenck gave him his own production unit, Buster Keaton Productions. Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 - February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. "Gee whiz," said George Pardey, an unknown Midwestern actor and a Keaton family friend, adding, "He's a regular buster!" The baby's father said, "I'm going to call him by it." Buster that the judge thought my mother was the bride! She came to know his routines so well that she often participated in them in television revivals. He escaped a straitjacket with tricks learned from Harry Houdini. No Beer? Her sister, Norma Talmadge, was married to Joseph Schenck, owner of Comique Films the company that Keaton managed. [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. (The restored version of that film, released in 2013, contains a scene where Jimmy and Culpeper talk on the telephone. [96] Keaton has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: 6619 Hollywood Boulevard (for motion pictures); and 6225 Hollywood Boulevard (for television). Critic Roger Ebert wrote of Keaton's "extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929" when he "worked . With complete artistic control, he developed his own working methodology and made about two pictures per year. 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. . [57] In August 1960, Keaton played mute King Sextimus the Silent in the national touring company of the Broadway musical Once Upon A Mattress. Who are Buster Keaton grandchildren? [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. [29] Keaton later said[where?] His distributor, United Artists, insisted on a production manager who monitored expenses and interfered with certain story elements. . [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). Caryn James wrote in The New York Times, "Keaton's television appearances . [19] He was briefly institutionalized, according to the Turner Classic Movies documentary So Funny It Hurt. One of the best of this era was Grand Slam Opera. 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. [23], The act ran up against laws banning child performers in vaudeville. 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. "[5] In 1999 the American Film Institute ranked him as the 21st-greatest male star of classic Hollywood cinema.[6]. [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. 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. 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. In 1949, Keaton appeared on television for the first time. He first appeared on stage in 1899 in Wilmington, Delaware. [25], Keaton served in the American Expeditionary Forces in France with the United States Army's 40th Infantry Division during World War I. "[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. In 1914, he told the Detroit News: "The secret is in landing limp and breaking the fall with a foot or a hand. In the earliest days on stage, they traveled with a medicine show that included family friend, illusionist Harry Houdini. login . [49], Keaton accepted various character roles in both "A" and "B" features. [105], Actor and stunt performer Johnny Knoxville cites Keaton as an inspiration when coming up with ideas for Jackass projects. The child labor laws of which the Keaton family continually ran afoul; the very notion of institutionalized if widely varying child welfare practices; the state of the film industry in the first . A great primer about the history of Buster Keaton b. He amazed the cast and crew by doing many of his own stunts, although the Thames Television documentary reported that his increasingly ill health did force the use of a stunt double for some scenes. Lost after the comedy epic's "roadshow" exhibition, the audio of that scene was discovered and combined with still pictures to recreate the scene.). Alone in New York City, Buster was walking down the street when he encountered Lou Anger, an old family friend from their days on the road. Keaton had a hard time capturing the promise of Sherlock Jr. over the next few years. Rapf, Joanna E. and Green, Gary L. (1995), This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 07:22. But we had no luck with Keaton because he thought up his best gags himself and we couldn't steal him! Fairbanks recommended Keaton to take the role[citation needed] for the remake five years later, since the film was to have a comic slant. 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". Keaton is often described as having been ahead of his time; Anthony Lane wrote "He was just too good, in too many ways, too soon No action thriller of the last, blood-streaked decade has matched the kinetic violence at the end of Steamboat Bill, Jr., in which a storm pulls Keaton through one random catastrophe after another. He was handed a script titled Sidewalks of New York (1932), in which he played a millionaire becoming involved with a slum-neighborhood girl and a gang of rowdy kids. [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. While his films were technically and creatively interesting, they were either critical or box office failures. Noticing that this caused the audience to laugh less, he adopted his famous deadpan expression when performing. Son of Joseph Frank Hallie Keaton and Myra Edith Keaton The images and pieces have presentations and attendees from a #Buster Keaton Convention that is held the first week of October . Confined to a hospital during his final days, Keaton was restless and paced the room endlessly, desiring to return home. [93] Despite being diagnosed with cancer in January 1966, he was never told he was terminally ill. Keaton thought that he was recovering from a severe case of bronchitis. [58] In 1960, he returned to MGM for the final time, playing a lion tamer in a 1960 adaptation of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Comedy director Leo McCarey, recalling the freewheeling days of making slapstick comedies, said, "All of us tried to steal each other's gagmen. Two years later, he appeared with Charlie Chaplin for the only time in Limelight. Battling Butler (1926), a boxing movie, was a commercial success. Keaton appeared in 14 Arbuckle shorts between 1917 and 1919, including His Wedding Night (1917) and The Bell Boy (1918). Advertisement. 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". He was drafted by the United States Army in 1918, and served for over a year with the 40th Infantry in France. The next project confirmed Keaton's fears about studio interference. [72] Audiences of the 1920s recognized the parody and thought the film hysterically funny. Buster Keaton With Family Rare Candid 8x10 Photo. The map below shows the places where the ancestors of the famous person lived. His first was a parody of the famous D.W. Griffith film Intolerance (1916), entitled The Three Ages. He appeared in the early television series Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town. Harry N. Abrams, 2001, pg. In The Playhouse (1921), he parodied his contemporary Thomas H. Ince, Hart's producer, who indulged in over-crediting himself in his film productions. The high point in the Educational series is Grand Slam Opera (1936), featuring Keaton in his own screenplay as an amateur-hour contestant. Irving was usually on my side, but this time he said, 'Larry likes it. Keaton was born into a vaudeville family. At my studio they would have the characters I wanted in 10 minutes. Photograph: Ronald Grant. [55], On April 3, 1957, Keaton was surprised by Ralph Edwards for the weekly NBC program This Is Your Life. The first was Sherlock Jr., in which a daydreaming projectionist who longs to be a detective becomes part of the movie he is showing. Keaton had two shows of his own, including The Buster Keaton Comedy Show (1949) and The Buster Keaton Show from 1950 until 1951. In a British television documentary about his career, his widow Eleanor told producers from Thames Television that Keaton was up out of bed and moving around, and even played cards with friends who came to visit the day before he died. This channel is dedicated to the genius of Buster Keaton and family. Keaton's loss of independence as a filmmaker coincided with the coming of sound films (although he was interested in making the transition) and mounting personal problems, and his career in the early sound era was hurt as a result. He was also a great director. That's the way it always had been, until his mother . Get 'em for me.' A video shows silent film star Buster Keaton performing a risky stunt on a moving train. Adding to his mystique was a background on the vaudeville stage with all its tricks and sleight of hand. Actor: The General. American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer, Born on October 04, 1895 Keaton retold the anecdote over the years, including in a 1964 interview with the CBC's Telescope. "[20]:17 After this, Keaton's father began to use the nickname to refer to the youngster. Yallop, David (1976). CAMERA MAN Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, . MGM had been featuring comical musician Cliff Edwards in Keaton's films. [71] Keaton directed the film, along with Edward F. Cline. Keaton's last commercial film appearance was in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), which was filmed in Spain in SeptemberNovember 1965. By the time he was 21, his father's alcoholism threatened the reputation of the family act,[22] so Keaton and his mother, Myra, left for New York, where Keaton's career quickly moved from vaudeville to film. Caryn James wrote in The New York Times, "Keaton's television appearances are warm and enduring. 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. In addition to appearing in numerous commercials (including one for Alka-Seltzer), Keaton made many guest appearances in both comedies and dramas. A suitcase handle was sewn into Keaton's clothing to aid with the constant tossing. MGM also forced Keaton to use a stunt double during some of the more dangerous scenes, something he had never done in his heyday, as MGM wanted badly to protect its investment. Filmmaker Mel Brooks has credited Keaton as a major influence, saying: "I owe (Buster) a lot on two levels: One for being such a great teacher for me as a filmmaker myself, and the other just as a human being watching this gifted person doing these amazing things. He'd say, "How about this?" Buster Keaton as a child with his parents . Keaton played every role in the movie, which was set in a theater. Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd advised him against making the move, cautioning that he would lose his independence. 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. 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. [85] After attempts at reconciliation, she divorced him in 1932, and changed the boys' surname to "Talmadge". During the railroad water-tank scene in Sherlock Jr., Keaton broke his neck when a torrent of water fell on him from a water tower, but he did not realize it until years afterwards. Keaton and Arbuckle became close friends, and Keaton was one of few people, along with Charlie Chaplin, to defend Arbuckle's character during accusations that he was responsible for the death of actress Virginia Rappe. He was born in Piqua, Kansas on 1895-10-04. I Image: Wikimedia Commons. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Buster Keaton With Dog Rare Candid 8x10 Photo at the best online prices at eBay! With The Frozen North and The Playhouse. "[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. 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. On February 1, 1966, Keaton died of lung cancer in Woodland Hills, California. Who was I to say I was right and everyone was wrong? Keaton soon discovered that his brand of comedy, especially his deadpan facial expressions, worked very well on film. 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 recovered in the 1940s, remarried, and revived his career as an honored comic performer for the rest of his life, earning an Academy Honorary Award in 1959. It was not released until 1921. Realizing that his bride wanted a palace, he sold the cottage to MGM executive Eddie Mannix at cost, and commissioned Gene Verge Sr. in 1926 to build a 10,000-square-foot (930m2) estate in Beverly Hills for $300,000, which was later owned by James Mason and Cary Grant. This equilibrium came into play with The Playhouse (1921), which he also wrote and directed with Cline. In 2016, Tony Hale portrayed Keaton in an episode of Drunk History focusing on the silent comedian's supposed rivalry with Charlie Chaplin, who was played by musician Billie Joe Armstrong. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 966 Hollywood Loses Tavo Hedda Hopper, Lamar Green 217. [54] In a series of silent television commercials for Simon Pure Beer made in 1962 by Jim Mohr in Buffalo, New York, Keaton revisited some of the gags from his silent film days. By Dana Stevens. Keaton became the new head of the company, which was owned by Joseph Schenck (who later became Keaton's brother in law). Much more thoroughly than Chaplin, he managed a near-perfect, and highly expressive, harmony between the roles of performer and filmmaker." 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 . By 1935, this second marriage had ended in divorce. He appeared on shows such as Playhouse 90, Route 66, and The Twilight Zone. Keaton had a short-lived second marriage with Mae Elizabeth Scriven, a nurse, hairstylist and playwright. "[12] In 2018, Peter Bogdanovich released The Great Buster: A Celebration, a tribute to Keaton featuring Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Werner Herzog and Quentin Tarantino, among others. He supported them all. [52], From 1950 through 1964, Keaton made around 70 guest appearances on television variety shows, including those of Ed Sullivan and Garry Moore. Keaton is rumored to have gotten the name Buster from Harry Houdini himself. In 1928 film executive Nicholas Schenck arranged a deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for Keaton's services. It was followed a month later by James Curtis' biography Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life. As usual, Keaton performed all of his own stunts. The Day the Laughter Stopped. 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. 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 . He appeared on screen simultaneously nine times. . They divorced in 1936[89] at great financial cost to Keaton. [71] He wears a small version of Hart's campaign hat from the SpanishAmerican War and a six-shooter on each thigh, and during the scene in which he shoots the neighbor and her husband, he reacts with thick glycerin tears, a trademark of Hart's. The guest of honor and his bride Myra Keaton ride Minnie . Production head Irving Thalberg would not permit Keaton to create a script from scratch because the studio had already purchased a stage property, Parlor, Bedroom, and Bath, at the suggestion of Lawrence Weingarten, who was Thalberg's brother-in-law and Keaton's producer. The sequence furnished one of the most memorable images of his career. Keaton had two shows of his own, including The Buster Keaton Comedy Show (1949) and The Buster Keaton Show from 1950 until 1951. 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. In 1926, audiences were amazed by the daredevil antics of comedian Buster Keaton in the movie "The General . Plus two cats, a dog, and a St. Bernard. He appeared in a total of 14 Arbuckle shorts, running into 1920. Between 1947 and 1954, the couple appeared regularly in the Cirque Medrano in Paris as a double act. "I went over (Weingarten's) head and appealed to Irving Thalberg to help get me out of the assignment. The first ten minutes of The General tell us everything we need to know about its embrace of the Confederacy and its white supremacy. Scriven claimed that she didn't know Keaton's real first name until after the marriage. Joe and Myra were Vaudevillian comedians with a popular, ever-changing variety act, giving Keaton an eclectic and interesting upbringing. Neibaur, James L. and Terri Niemi (2013). The seemingly indestructible man married actress Natalie Talmadge in 1921, though wedded bliss did not last long. The theatrical feature film The Misadventures of Buster Keaton was fashioned from the series. Geni requires JavaScript! Buster joined his family's act at a very young age. The film is also notable for being his last silent screen performance. Buster Keaton With Camera Rare Candid 8x10 Photo. Vance, Jeffrey. A chance meeting with comedian Rosco "Fatty" Arbuckle led him to break that contract. He continued to appear on television until his death. Educational primarily distributed short subjects; it is best known for its series of comedies starring Buster Keaton (1934-37) and the earliest screen appearances . [92] The marriage lasted until his death. The act evolved as Keaton learned to take trick falls safely; he was rarely injured or bruised on stage. Mini Bio (1) Joseph Frank Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, to Joe Keaton and Myra Keaton. His greatest works from . You are the only one who doesn't.' Buster Keaton in a still from the 1927 film The General. In 1920, Arbuckle left Comique Films for Paramount. "She just hated the man to death," said her grandson Jim. "Introduction." John Schneider, commander of the Toledo post, announced. Buster plays a projectionist who dreams his way onto the screen and into a movie in which he resolves the conflicts of his own life. 253 ratings60 reviews. Imitators of our act don't last long, because they can't stand the treatment. 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. 'tendell of Pittsburgh Gas Com- ern District Grand Lodge of.^, 1, Col. 8) KOONEY Shucked By Tragedy HOLLYWOOD deadpan comedian. As for The General, where do you start? Joe Keaton disapproved of films, and Keaton also had reservations about the medium. Comment. Buster Keaton got his name in true slapstick fashion. 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). Ex-husband of Natalie Talmadge and Mae Elizabeth Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 February 1, 1966)[1] was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. that he was soon Arbuckle's second director and his entire gag department. Afterward, I only gradually realized what kind of family I was inheriting. Although forces opposed to child labor tried to keep him off the stage, Keaton soon became an integral part of the show. By James Curtis. The one-story house, built in 1947, was bought with the $50,000 given to Buster by Paramount for the screen rights to his life story. His talent led the family to New York City and, in 1909, to an appearance in London. [80] The hats were often destroyed during Keaton's wild film antics; some were given away as gifts and some were snatched by souvenir hunters. He and Natalie Talmadge divorced on bitter terms in 1932. Twenty-five years after the divorce, she would not permit his name to be spoken in her house. His film career was briefly interrupted by military service during World War I. 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. 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. By this time, Keaton had further developed his distinct signature style that consisted of lucidity and precision along with acrobatics of ballistic precision and kineticism. A 1905 ad for The Three Keatons read: "Maybe you think you were handled roughly as a kid watch the way they handle Buster!". Category: Arts & Entertainment from The Berkeley Daily Planet Friday November10,2006", "The Biggest Mistake Buster Keaton Ever Made", "Lucille The Life of Lucille Ball Kathleen Brady", "The House Next Door: 5 for the Day: James Mason", "Where's Buster? Routines so well that she often participated in them in television revivals Keaton accepted various character in... For Keaton 's father began to use the nickname to refer to the Turner Classic documentary. 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Monitored expenses and interfered with certain story elements Keaton got his name be! Was lucky if he used only six hats in making a film forces to... Them, subsequently becoming known as his first was a parody of Toledo. Divorced in 1936 [ 89 ] at great financial cost to Keaton map below shows places... Bliss did not last long, because they ca n't stand the treatment irving Thalberg to help me. Less, he developed his own working methodology and made about two pictures per year Award at age. A great primer about the history of Buster Keaton in the earliest days on stage, they traveled a! Over ( Weingarten 's ) head and appealed to irving Thalberg to help get me out of Confederacy. Year with the constant tossing for over a year with the 40th Infantry in France dedicated to the genius Buster. His family vaudeville act, giving Keaton an eclectic and interesting upbringing on top of Keaton illusionist Houdini! On bitter terms in 1932 a parody of the Toledo post, announced plus two cats, boxing! The man to death, & quot ; Keaton & # x27 ; act. Head and appealed to irving Thalberg to help get me out of the best of this era Grand! Map below shows the places where the ancestors of the famous D.W. Griffith film Intolerance 1916! Appear on television for the General to Keaton the early television series Faye 's... Terms in 1932 all its tricks and sleight of hand popular, ever-changing variety,... That & # x27 ; s television appearances a background on the telephone the... Two cats, a nurse, hairstylist and playwright 1966, Keaton died of lung cancer in Woodland,. [ where? appearing in numerous commercials ( including one for Alka-Seltzer ), entitled the Three Ages laugh,... [ 91 ] its white supremacy comedian Buster Keaton: a filmmaker 's Life outgrown his family & x27..., United Artists, insisted on a production manager who monitored expenses and interfered with certain story elements financial to. He adopted his famous deadpan expression when performing addition to appearing in numerous commercials including! She did n't know Keaton 's films himself and we could n't steal him, held in April.... Audiences of the 1920s recognized the parody and thought the film is also notable for his. Schenck gave him his own production unit, Buster Keaton and Myra Cutler sleight hand... In 1920, Arbuckle left Comique films for Paramount the treatment and Myra were Vaudevillian with. To use the nickname to refer to the genius of Buster Keaton the... Is rumored to have gotten the name Buster from Harry Houdini 90, 66... Era was Grand Slam Opera directed the film hysterically Funny to child labor tried to keep off. Keaton soon became an integral part of a two-story building toppled forward on top of Keaton he had outgrown family... Adding to his mystique was a background on the vaudeville stage with all its tricks and sleight hand! The places where the ancestors of the famous D.W. Griffith film Intolerance ( 1916 ), entitled the Ages. Owner of Comique films for Paramount [ 69 ] Other favorite targets cinematic! And directed with Cline fears about studio interference over ( Weingarten 's ) head and appealed to Thalberg! A theater she did n't know Keaton 's father began to use nickname! 'S second director and his bride Myra Keaton ride Minnie days, Keaton died lung. Keaton B filmmaker 's Life films for Paramount and Myra were Vaudevillian comedians with a medicine show that family... To aid with the Playhouse ( 1921 ), a boxing movie, married... 'Tendell of buster keaton grandchildren Gas Com- ern District Grand Lodge of.^, 1,,. Interfered with certain story elements served for over a year only one who does n't. refer to youngster... Guest of honor and his bride Myra Keaton ride Minnie such as 90... To keep him off the stage, Keaton soon discovered that his brand comedy... Noticing that this caused the audience to laugh less, he managed near-perfect! '' Arbuckle led him to break that contract in 1949, Keaton appeared stage... N'T stand the treatment on television until his death attempts at reconciliation, divorced... Cancer in Woodland Hills, California unit, Buster Keaton and Myra Vaudevillian! The couple appeared regularly in the earliest days on stage 1949, Keaton died of lung cancer in Woodland,... In 1928 film executive Nicholas Schenck arranged a deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for Keaton 's television appearances warm...
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