
Biography
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. 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". Critic Roger Ebert wrote of Keaton's "extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929" when he "worked without interruption" as having made him "the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies". In 1996, Entertainment Weekly recognized Keaton as the seventh-greatest film director, writing that "More than Chaplin, Keaton understood movies: He knew they consisted of a four-sided frame in which resided a malleable reality off which his persona could bounce. 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 1999 the American Film Institute ranked him as the 21st-greatest male star of classic Hollywood cinema.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). 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 General is viewed as his masterpiece: Orson Welles considered it "the greatest comedy ever made...and perhaps the greatest film ever made". Welles said Keaton "was beyond all praise...a very great artist, and one of the most beautiful men I ever saw on the screen. He was also a great director. In the last analysis, no one came near him." 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. Keaton's art has inspired full academic study. The General has placed highly on the Sight & Sound poll, and Our Hospitality, Sherlock Jr. and The Navigator also received multiple votes.
His career declined when he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and lost his artistic independence. His wife divorced him, and he descended into alcoholism. 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. Late in his career, Keaton made cameos in Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, Chaplin's Limelight, Samuel Beckett's Film and the Twilight Zone episode "Once Upon a Time".
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. 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. As for The General, where do you start? It's a film about a train, but it's also a spirited romance, peppered with bickering and longing, and its evocation of the Civil War period has never been surpassed... He is the first action hero; to be precise, he is a small, pale-faced American who is startled, tripped, drenched and inspired into becoming a hero."
Filmography
All 218
Movies 200
Self 45
TV Shows 18
Director 9
Writter 8
Producer 2

Bank Robbers: The Last Great Heist (2022)

Flickering Ghosts of Love Gone By (2022)

A Possible Future... (2022)

Time Travelers (2020)

Barney's Wall (2019)

The Great Buster: A Celebration (2018)

Buster Keaton The Shorts Collection 1917-1923 (2016)

Buster Keaton: The Genius Destroyed by Hollywood (2016)

Chaplin/Keaton: Duel of Legends (2016)

Looking for Charlie: Or, the Day the Clown Died (2016)

Notfilm (2015)

And the Oscar Goes To... (2014)

Laurel & Hardy: Their Lives and Magic (2011)

Blue Skies Beyond the Looking Glass (2008)

Kings of Comedy: Masters of the Silent Screen (2007)

Legends (2006)

Edge of Outside (2006)

Buster Keaton: From Silents to Shorts (2006)

Hollywood Rivals: Chaplin vs Keaton (2006)

Industrial Strength Keaton (2006)

So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & MGM (2004)

Arbuckle & Keaton, Volume Two (2001)

Arbuckle & Keaton, Volume One (2001)

That's Entertainment! III (1994)

Funny Business (1992)

Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend (1987)

Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (1987)

Going Hollywood: The '30s (1984)

The Hollywood Clowns (1979)

That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)

It's Showtime (1976)

That's Entertainment! (1974)

Double Headed Eagle: Hitler's Rise to Power 1918-1933 (1973)

4 Clowns (1970)

The Great Stone Face (1968)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)

The Scribe (1966)

War Italian Style (1965)

Salute to Stan Laurel (1965)

Buster Keaton Rides Again (1965)

Film (1965)

Sergeant Dead Head (1965)

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)

The Railrodder (1965)

Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)

Pajama Party (1964)

The Big Parade of Comedy (1964)

The Hollywood Palace (1964)

Breathdeath (1963)

The Sound of Laughter (1963)

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

Burke's Law (1963)

The Greatest Show on Earth (1963)

30 Years of Fun (1963)

There's No Business Like No Business (1963)

The Triumph of Lester Snapwell (1963)

The Great Chase (1962)

Simon Pure Beer (1962)

Crazy Days (1962)

Return of the General (1962)

Langlois-Keaton à Paris (1962)

The New March of Dimes Presents: The Scene Stealers (1962)

The Home Owner (1961)

The Devil To Pay (1960)

Route 66 (1960)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960)

When Comedy Was King (1960)

Lifetime of Comedy (1960)

The Twilight Zone (1959)

The Donna Reed Show (1958)

The Adventures of Mr. Pastry (1958)

Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)

The Rosemary Clooney Show (1956)

The Silent Partner (1955)

Make the Connection (1955)

The Best of Broadway (1954)

The Awakening (1954)

L'incantevole nemica (1953)

Limelight (1952)

This Is Your Life (1952)

Paradise for Buster (1952)

Excuse My Dust (1951)

The Slappiest Days of Our Lives (1951)

Life with Buster Keaton (1951)

The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950)

Truth or Consequences (1950)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

What's My Line? (1950)

The Misadventures of Buster Keaton (1950)

The Ed Wynn Show (1949)

In the Good Old Summertime (1949)

You're My Everything (1949)

The Lovable Cheat (1949)

The Ed Sullivan Show (1948)

Cynthia (1947)

A Duel to the Death (1947)

Boom in the Moon (1946)

Easy to Wed (1946)

God's Country (1946)

She Went to the Races (1945)

That Night with You (1945)

That's the Spirit (1945)

San Diego I Love You (1944)

Take It or Leave It (1944)

Forever and a Day (1943)

She's Oil Mine (1941)

General Nuisance (1941)

So You Won't Squawk (1941)

His Ex Marks the Spot (1940)

Go West (1940)

Li'l Abner (1940)

The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940)

The Spook Speaks (1940)

New Moon (1940)

The Taming of the Snood (1940)

Pardon My Berth Marks (1940)

Nothing But Pleasure (1940)

At the Circus (1939)

Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)

Quick Millions (1939)

Mooching Through Georgia (1939)

Pest from the West (1939)

The Jones Family in Hollywood (1939)

Hollywood Hobbies (1939)

Too Hot to Handle (1938)

Streamlined Swing (1938)

Hollywood Handicap (1938)

Life in Sometown, U.S.A. (1938)

Love Nest on Wheels (1937)

Ditto (1937)

Jail Bait (1937)

Mixed Magic (1936)

The Chemist (1936)

Blue Blazes (1936)

Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs (1936)

Grand Slam Opera (1936)

Three on a Limb (1936)

The Invader (1936)

La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935)

A Night at the Opera (1935)

The Timid Young Man (1935)

The E-Flat Man (1935)

Tars and Stripes (1935)

Hayseed Romance (1935)

One Run Elmer (1935)

Palooka from Paducah (1935)

The King of the Champs-Élysées (1934)

Allez Oop (1934)

The Gold Ghost (1934)

What! No Beer? (1933)

Hollywood on Parade No. A-6 (1933)

Plumber in love (1932)

Speak Easily (1932)

The Passionate Plumber (1932)

Casanova wider Willen (1931)

Sidewalks of New York (1931)

We're switching to Hollywood (1931)

The Stolen Jools (1931)

Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931)

Forward, March! (1930)

Doughboys (1930)

Crashed (1930)

Screen Snapshots Series 9, No. 21 (1930)

Free and Easy (1930)

The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)

Spite Marriage (1929)

The Baby Cyclone (1928)

The Cameraman (1928)

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

Character Studies (1927)

College (1927)

Life in Hollywood No. 1 (1927)

The General (1926)

Battling Butler (1926)

Go West (1925)

The Iron Mule (1925)

Seven Chances (1925)

The Navigator (1924)

Sherlock Jr. (1924)

Our Hospitality (1923)

Three Ages (1923)

The Love Nest (1923)

The Balloonatic (1923)

Day Dreams (1922)

Seeing Stars (1922)

The Electric House (1922)

The Frozen North (1922)

The Blacksmith (1922)

My Wife's Relations (1922)

Cops (1922)

The Paleface (1922)

The Boat (1921)

The Play House (1921)

The Goat (1921)

The High Sign (1921)

Hard Luck (1921)

The Haunted House (1921)

Neighbors (1920)

The Scarecrow (1920)

Convict 13 (1920)

The Round-Up (1920)

The Saphead (1920)

One Week (1920)

The Garage (1920)

The Hayseed (1919)

Back Stage (1919)

The Cook (1918)

Good Night, Nurse! (1918)

The Moonshine (1918)

The Bell Boy (1918)

Out West (1918)

A Country Hero (1917)

Coney Island (1917)

Oh, Doctor! (1917)

His Wedding Night (1917)

The Rough House (1917)

A Reckless Romeo (1917)

The Butcher Boy (1917)
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Information
Known forActing
GenderMale
Birthday1895-10-04
Deathday1966-02-01 (70 years old)
Birth nameJoseph Frank Keaton
Place of birthPiqua, United States of America
Height
RelationshipsEleanor Keaton (1940-01-01 - 1966-01-01), Natalie Talmadge (1921-05-31 - 1932-07-25)
ChildrenRobert Talmadge Keaton, Joseph Talmadge Keaton
FatherJoe Keaton
MotherMyra Keaton
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
ResidencesBeverly Hills, United States of America
Also known asThe Great Stone Face, Joseph Frank Keaton, 버스터 키튼, バスター・キートン, Keaton, 巴斯特·基顿
Awardsstar on Hollywood Walk of Fame, Academy Honorary Award
This article uses material from Wikipedia.