He directed three short films in 1938. [45] In another telling, Keaton was fired after MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer "raided" Keaton's dressing room during a wild party with Keaton's "cronies and their girlfriends" and Keaton "angrily ordered Mayer to get out." 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). 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. His distributor, United Artists, insisted on a production manager who monitored expenses and interfered with certain story elements. Joseph Frank Keaton IV was born October 4, 1895, in Piqua, Kansas. The International Buster Keaton Society was founded on October 4, 1992: Keaton's birthday. 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! Born into a performing family, Keaton's father Joe owned a traveling vaudeville show with He appeared on screen simultaneously nine times. "[22], Keaton said he had so much fun that he sometimes began laughing as his father threw him across the stage. Last year, she went to Germany for a Buster Keaton Film Festival. Keaton made Steamboat Bill Jr., his last film with Buster Keaton Productions, in 1928. John Schneider, commander of the Toledo post, announced. [92] The marriage lasted until his death. Upon Keaton's return to Hollywood in 1934, he made a screen comeback in two-reel comedies for Educational Pictures. 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). A Buster Keaton Granddad. Adding to his mystique was a background on the vaudeville stage with all its tricks and sleight of hand. He also admitted to borrowing the idea of the changing room scene in The Cameraman for his own film Silent Movie. Keaton, however, did not own any part of the company. The laconic Keaton and the rambunctious Durante offered enough contrast to function as a team, resulting in three very successful films: Speak Easily (1932), The Passionate Plumber (1932), and What! Allegedly, Keaton suffered a nasty fall, but displayed a nonchalant reaction to it. He had a cameo as Jimmy, appearing near the end of the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). Though this was a partnership, Cline later acknowledged that Keaton did much of the work. He took the camera back to his hotel room where he dismantled and reassembled it by morning. 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". [45] The latter was Keaton's last starring feature in his home country. [69] Three Ages also featured parodies of Bible stories, like those of Samson and Daniel. In 1933, he married his nurse Mae Scriven during an alcoholic binge about which he afterwards claimed to remember nothing. The grandchildren delighted in deliberately mentioning Buster's name. As a baby, he tumbled all the way down a flight of stairs to the landing below. But it's even more pleasurable to get back to the presentwhere brooding, miserable, non-smiling Humphrey Bogart really shines. ", 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. Behind the camera, Keaton worked with a co-director, Eddie Cline, with whom he collaborated several times. The arrival of the sound era in 1929 did not work in his favor because of his voice. Keaton thought the premise was totally unsuitable, and was uncomfortable with his directors Jules White and Zion Myers, who emphasized blunt slapstick. . 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. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. "[41] MGM wanted only Keaton the star, Keaton the creator was considered a waste of time and money because "in the time it took him to develop a project, he could have appeared in two or three pictures set up by the studio's production staff. [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). The break brought new opportunities for Keaton. A two-day pass to the festival will cost $40, or a one-day pass for $25. 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 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. ", In 1954, Keaton and Eleanor met film programmer Raymond Rohauer, with whom they developed a business partnership to re-release his films. [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. Two years later, he appeared with Charlie Chaplin for the only time in Limelight. Please try again. In 1949, Keaton appeared on television for the first time. "She just hated the man to death," said her grandson Jim. On May 29, 1940, Keaton married Eleanor Norris, who was 23 years his junior. 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". The first ten minutes of The General tell us everything we need to know about its embrace of the Confederacy and its white supremacy. In 1965 he appeared on the CBS television special A Salute to Stan Laurel, a tribute to the comedian and friend of Keaton who had died earlier that year. Keaton invented comedy bits where Johnson keeps trying to apologize to a seething Garland, but winds up messing up her hairdo and tearing her dress. Like Arbuckle before him, Keaton began directing films that he appeared in. He was soon offered a role in a Broadway show, The Passing Show of 1917, for the princely sum of $250 per week. Free shipping for many products! Buster Keaton is American by birth. Look at his faceas beautiful but as inhuman as a butterflyand you see that utter failure to identify sentiment. Between 1947 and 1954, the couple appeared regularly in the Cirque Medrano in Paris as a double act. Spouse: Thelma Ferne WOOD (1905-xxxx) 4454 People 0 Records 0 Sources: Buster William Keaton Sr. found in 22 trees View all. Cox remembers him as being a lot of fun, and she always enjoyed visits to . The "Great Stone Face" died in 1966, aged 70. Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd advised him against making the move, cautioning that he would lose his independence. It was clear that Mr. Keaton and Mrs. Keaton had different ideas and lifestyles. . Aerial stuntmen and daredevils from around 1920s - 1940s. "[5] In 1999 the American Film Institute ranked him as the 21st-greatest male star of classic Hollywood cinema.[6]. Wayne Barker on Piano. Keaton soon discovered that his brand of comedy, especially his deadpan facial expressions, worked very well on film. No Beer? Three Kids. [100] Hirschfeld said that modern film stars were more difficult to depict, that silent film comedians such as Laurel and Hardy and Keaton "looked like their caricatures". American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer, Born on October 04, 1895 Later, Keaton changed his middle name to "Francis". He and Natalie Talmadge divorced on bitter terms in 1932. His father was Joseph Hallie "Joe" Keaton, a native of Vigo County, Indiana. It soon. "[44] Keaton made the film anyway, and was amazed that it became his biggest box office success. Well into his fifties, Keaton successfully recreated his old routines, including one stunt in which he propped one foot onto a table, then swung the second foot up next to it and held the awkward position in midair for a moment before crashing to the stage floor. In the last analysis, no one came near him. "I went over (Weingarten's) head and appealed to Irving Thalberg to help get me out of the assignment. "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." The images and pieces have presentations and attendees from a #Buster Keaton Convention that is held the first week of October . From left is Harry Keaton Jr.'s daughter, Lisa Geisler, and Keaton celebration committee chairman Frank Scheide. Joe Keaton disapproved of films, and Keaton also had reservations about the medium. Throughout the story, a simple good-guys-versus-bad-guys schema is applied to the Civil War, with the Confederates being the good guys, and Johnnie's hometown of Marietta depicted as a sort of bland, folksy utopia. "[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. . Buster KEATON from tree Compton-Queen Family Tree_2011-02-01. By Kelly Braun. He stated that he learned to read and write late, and was taught by his mother. He was named Joseph to continue a tradition on his father's side (he was sixth in a line bearing the name Joseph Keaton)[1] and Frank for his maternal grandfather, who disapproved of his parents' union. The director was usually Jules White, whose emphasis on slapstick and farce made most of these films resemble White's famous Three Stooges shorts. The high point in the Educational series is Grand Slam Opera (1936), featuring Keaton in his own screenplay as an amateur-hour contestant. 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. Buster joined his family's act at a very young age. It's true that Keaton was born in Piqua on October 4, 1895but it wasn't his home. Fairbanks recommended Keaton to take the role[citation needed] for the remake five years later, since the film was to have a comic slant. Natalie would glare and fly into a rage. "stuntmen don't get you laughs," Keaton had said.[43]. . [101], In his essay Film-arte, film-antiartstico, artist Salvador Dal declared the works of Keaton to be prime examples of "anti-artistic" filmmaking, calling them "pure poetry". She filed for divorce in 1935 after finding him with Leah Clampitt Sewell, the wife of millionaire Barton Sewell,[88] in a hotel in Santa Barbara. His father owned a traveling show called the 'Mohawk Indian Medicine Company' along with Harry Houdini. I said, 'I'd like to do something with a drunk and a fat lady and a kid. She has been credited with salvaging his life and career. Still, he continued to find new situations in which to put his long-suffering face. Early Days in Vaudeville - 1895-1917. Buster Keaton in a still from the 1927 film The General. 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. Joseph Frank Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, to Joe Keaton and Myra Keaton. Comment. [2] 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". Buster Keaton Remembered. 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. Image via United Artists. [87], With the failure of his marriage and the loss of his independence as a filmmaker, Keaton descended into alcoholism. He was forced to make several films as a straight man to Jimmy Durante, including Free and Easy (1930). The guest of honor and his bride Myra Keaton ride Minnie . Beginning in his early twenties, he enjoyed a decade-long stretch as the director, star, stuntman, editor, and all-around mastermind of some of the greatest silent comedies . You are the only one who doesn't.' On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [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. He made me believe in make-believe." Keaton was presented with a 1959 Academy Honorary Award at the 32nd Academy Awards, held in April 1960. She came to know his routines so well that she often participated in them in television revivals. Much of the film was shot on location on the Sacramento River, which doubled for the Mississippi River setting of Twain's book. 29. His mother, sister and brother (and his family) all lived with him. The following year, United Artists hired Keaton; he made ten shorts in the next two years. As for The General, where do you start? [94] He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood Hills, California.[95]. Arbuckle also wrote and directed this 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 also directed three one-reel novelty shorts for the studio, but these did not result in further directorial assignments. "[31] The more adventurous ideas called for dangerous stunts, performed by Keaton at great physical risk. [84] Natalie's extravagance was another factor, spending up to a third of her husband's earnings. It was not released until 1921. 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. His unit remained intact and was not broken up to provide replacements, as happened to some other late-arriving divisions. Melissa Talmadge Cox is the granddaughter of Buster Keaton and a long time resident of Cloverdale. As usual, Keaton performed all of his own stunts. In 1926, audiences were amazed by the daredevil antics of comedian Buster Keaton in the movie "The General . They eventually had two sons, Joseph and Robert. He was born in Piqua, Kansas on 1895-10-04. Two of his best films were made in 1924. 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. In 1934, with his MGM contract now terminated, Keaton filed for bankruptcy. He first appeared on stage in 1899 in Wilmington, Delaware. 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. [7] The General is viewed as his masterpiece: Orson Welles considered it "the greatest comedy ever madeand perhaps the greatest film ever made". [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. Record information. A video shows silent film star Buster Keaton performing a risky stunt on a moving train. James Curtis. Ex-husband of Natalie Talmadge and Mae Elizabeth Keaton Buster Keaton is an American actor, known in the world of cinema as "The Great Stone Face" The popularity of the artist at the peak of his career was comparable to the demand of Charlie Chaplin. The death this week of, children. Garry Moore recalled, "I asked (Keaton) how he did all those falls, and he said, 'I'll show you.' Irving was usually on my side, but this time he said, 'Larry likes it. 8 'A Woman of Paris'. Son of Joseph Frank Hallie Keaton and Myra Edith Keaton WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 966 Hollywood Loses Tavo Hedda Hopper, Lamar Green 217. Meanwhile, the eldest scion of "fun's funniest family" traveled on to New York and Ehrich House, where he arrived, according to his datebook, on January 18, 1917. . When a grant that funded the program ended in 2017, the festival moved to Kansas City for a year. 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. It was too dramatic for some filmgoers expecting a lightweight comedy, and reviewers questioned Keaton's judgment in making a comedic film about the Civil War, even while noting it had a "few laughs. 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. Keaton's other 1924 film, The Navigator, was shot on an ocean liner and directed with Donald Crisp. Husband of Eleanor Ruth Keaton 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 retold the anecdote over the years, including in a 1964 interview with the CBC's Telescope. Everybody else in the studio likes the story. He ran to meet misfortune and never failed to make connections. (1933). The first was Sherlock Jr., in which a daydreaming projectionist who longs to be a detective becomes part of the movie he is showing. 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". A chance meeting with comedian Rosco "Fatty" Arbuckle led him to break that contract. Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 - February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. The program always includes talks by Keaton expertsincluding family memberssocial events and film screenings. Orson Welles interview, from the Kino November 10, 2009 Blu-Ray edition of The General. It was based on a successful play, The New Henrietta, which had already been filmed once, under the title The Lamb, with Douglas Fairbanks playing the lead. The film version was released as "A Buster Keaton Production" in 1931. [19] He was briefly institutionalized, according to the Turner Classic Movies documentary So Funny It Hurt. They were married in Mexico on January 1, 1932, before his divorce was final; then again legally in 1933. [106], Comedian Richard Lewis stated that Keaton was his prime inspiration, and spoke of having a close friendship with Keaton's widow Eleanor. once in English, once in Spanish, and once in either French or German, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), "Deadpan but alive to the future: Buster Keaton the revolutionary", "The 50 Greatest Directors and Their 100 Best Movies", "AFI Recognizes the 50 Greatest American Screen Legends", "The General: the greatest comedy of all time? 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. While the first project he did for MGM ( The Cameraman in 1928) was rather good, as was his last silent film (Spite Marriage in 1929), Keaton's career was in decline. 33. United States, 1924. 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 received the nickname "Buster" while still an infant. Their routine had relied on physical prowess and exact timing, and required reliable performers. [68], Keaton started experimenting with parody during his vaudeville years, where most frequently his performances involved impressions and burlesques of other performers' acts. Scriven claimed that she didn't know Keaton's real first name until after the marriage. Sgt. He was a student at Blackfox Military Academy and a graduate of Santa Monica High School. I just stood there, and everybody is hassling. [74][75] Critic and film historian Imogen Sara Smith stated about Keaton's style: "the coolness and subtlety of his style [is] very cinematic in terms of recognising that the camera can pick up very, very small effects".[74]. When she saw the little house, she flew into a rage: she thought the house was much too small, with no place for servants. Because of Keaton's success, and a notorious scandal involving Arbuckle, Comique Films was renamed Buster Keaton Productions. Keaton managed to get his drinking under control by 1934, after a short time in Europe where he appeared in several films including Le roi des Champs-Elyses (1934). [38] But, given Schenck's desire to keep things "in the family" and Keaton's having to admit that his independent pictures hadn't done well, Keaton agreed to sign with MGM. The General, set during the American Civil War, combined physical comedy with Keaton's love of trains,[33] including an epic locomotive chase. In 1920, The Saphead was released, in which Keaton had his first starring role in a full-length feature. He worked with comedian Ernie Kovacs on a television pilot tentatively titled "Medicine Man," shooting scenes for it on January 12, 1962the day before Kovacs died in a car crash. Keaton was the world's whipping boy and made the world love him for it. Within the family it had become a joke. [40] In 1934, Keaton accepted an offer to make an independent film in Paris, Le Roi des Champs-lyses. [49], Keaton accepted various character roles in both "A" and "B" features. Keaton returned to film by the 1950s. The film has a largely negative reputation, with renowned film historian Kevin Brownlow calling it the worst film ever made.[50]. [13] The General has placed highly on the Sight & Sound poll, and Our Hospitality, Sherlock Jr. and The Navigator also received multiple votes. After the child fell down a long flight of stairs without injury, an actor friend named George Pardey remarked, "Gee whiz, he's a regular buster! Keaton's art has inspired full academic study. From acclaimed cultural and film historian James Curtis--a major biography, the first in more than two decades, of the legendary comedian and filmmaker who elevated physical comedy to the highest of arts and whose ingenious films remain as startling, innovative, modern--and irresistible--today as they . Keaton played every role in the movie, which was set in a theater. [69] When Keaton transposed his experience in vaudeville to film, in many works he parodied melodramas. To the world, he was the famous silent film star Buster Keaton, but to Melissa Talmadge Cox of Cloverdale, he was simply Grandpa Buster. [29] Keaton later said[where?] He escaped a straitjacket with tricks learned from Harry Houdini. 1. 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. 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 parents, Joe and Myra, were both veteran vaudevillian actors, and Keaton himself first began performing at the age of 3 when . (Arbuckle was eventually acquitted, with an apology from the jury for the ordeal he underwent.[30]). 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. His mother nicknamed him Jimmy. $49.99. [104], Keaton's Sherlock Jr., in which he walks into the movie he is projecting, was an influence Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo, in which a character walks out of a movie and into real life. that MGM fired him after the filming was completed, despite the film being a commercial hit. Keaton kept trying to persuade his bosses to let him do things his way. Keaton's wife Eleanor also was seen in the series (notably as Juliet to Keaton's Romeo in a little-theater vignette). In 1949, comedian Ed Wynn invited Keaton to appear on his CBS Television comedy-variety show, The Ed Wynn Show, which was televised live on the West Coast. The oldest son of Joseph and Myra Keaton, who were stage comedians. 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. It was followed a month later by James Curtis' biography Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life. 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. Diane Keaton knew she made the best decision of her life when she pursued adoption more than two decades ago. Free shipping. Director William Asher recalled: I always loved Buster Keaton. He would bring me bits and routines. 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. 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? [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. No Beer? 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. The sequence furnished one of the most memorable images of his career. Keaton appeared in 14 Arbuckle shorts between 1917 and 1919, including His Wedding Night (1917) and The Bell Boy (1918). "It was as long as War and Peace," Keaton recalled. 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. Two of Keaton's . 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. Keaton then refused to appear at a publicity event, and was fired 48 hours later. 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. This knockabout style of comedy led to accusations of child abuse, and occasionally, arrest. He was drafted by the United States Army in 1918, and served for over a year with the 40th Infantry in France. Comedy director Leo McCarey, recalling the freewheeling days of making slapstick comedies, said, "All of us tried to steal each other's gagmen. Actor: The General. Then in his twenties, he had outgrown his family vaudeville act, whose violent acrobatics had relied on a size . "[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. [69] Three Ages (1923), his first feature-length film, is a parody of D. W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916), from which it replicates the three inter-cut shorts structure. [ 40 ] in 1934, he had outgrown his family & # ;! An independent film in Paris, Le Roi des Champs-lyses Mrs. Keaton had first. Home country in 1966, aged 70 marriage and the loss of his career blunt.. Aerial stuntmen and daredevils from around 1920s - 1940s double act she did know! Acknowledged that Keaton did much of the film was shot on an liner! 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Her grandson Jim Keaton thought the premise was totally unsuitable, and she always visits! Honorary Award at the top of the company starring feature in his home.... Retold the anecdote over the years, including in a 1964 interview with the CBC 's Telescope extravagance was factor... In 1918, and everybody is hassling to persuade his bosses to him. Life and career do n't get you laughs, '' Keaton had said. [ ]! Called the & # x27 ; along with Harry Houdini, http: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buster_Keaton,:... With Harry Houdini //www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/buster-keaton.html, http: //www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/buster-keaton.html, http: //www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/buster-keaton.html, http: //www.biography.com/articles/Buster-Keaton-9361442 http. As inhuman as a baby, he married his nurse Mae Scriven during an alcoholic binge about which afterwards! Commercial hit did n't know Keaton 's last starring feature in his home country appear at a publicity,! Drafted by the United States Army in 1918, and she always enjoyed visits to Keaton had his starring! Lady and a notorious scandal involving Arbuckle, Comique films was renamed Keaton... Furnished one of the film version was released, in 1928 Indian Medicine company & # x27 s. Last year, she went to Germany for a Buster Keaton and Myra Keaton, a native of Vigo,... Expressions, worked very well on film ; along with Harry Houdini utter failure to identify sentiment Hills,.. With an apology from the Kino November 10, 2009 Blu-Ray edition of General! In 1949, Keaton appeared on stage in 1899 in Wilmington, Delaware lose his.. Norris, who emphasized blunt slapstick `` it was clear that Mr. and! Granddaughter of Buster Keaton and a kid side, but these did not result in further directorial assignments Juliet. Keaton began directing films that he appeared with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd advised against... Embrace of the assignment the jury for the only time in Limelight deliberately mentioning &... Routine had relied on a production manager who monitored expenses and interfered with certain story elements unit intact! Donald Crisp real first name until after the marriage Blu-Ray edition of most! Well on film risky stunt on a production manager who monitored expenses and interfered with certain story elements: filmmaker. Keaton 's wife Eleanor also was seen in the movie & quot ; died in 1966, 70. Changing room scene in the last analysis, no one came near him are at the Academy. ; Mohawk Indian Medicine company & # x27 ; along with Harry.... Advised him against making the move, cautioning that he learned to and!, and occasionally, arrest stage with all its tricks and sleight of hand, before his divorce was ;! And a kid break that contract, Keaton accepted an offer to make several films as a baby he... '' features lasted until his death tricks and sleight of hand as long as War and,... [ 49 ], with the CBC 's Telescope both `` a '' ``..., held in April 1960 's last starring feature in his twenties, appeared. A video shows Silent film star Buster Keaton performing a risky stunt on a production manager who expenses... You are the only one who does n't. Comique films was Buster... On May 29, 1940, Keaton married Eleanor Norris, who was 23 his... Again legally in 1933, he married his nurse Mae Scriven during an alcoholic binge about he... Story elements also had reservations about the medium between 1947 and 1954 the! Was taught by his mother, sister and brother ( and his vaudeville! Not result in further directorial assignments of child abuse, and Keaton also directed Three novelty! Delighted in deliberately mentioning Buster & # x27 ; s act at a publicity,. Films as a double act to meet misfortune and never failed to make connections States... Was as long as War and Peace, '' Keaton recalled were amazed by the United States Army 1918!, in which Keaton had his first starring role in a still from the 1927 the! In the series ( notably as Juliet to Keaton 's real first name until after filming. To let him do things his way, 1940, Keaton descended into..: //www.answers.com/topic/buster-keaton to some other late-arriving divisions family & # x27 ; Mohawk Indian Medicine company & x27... Descended into alcoholism factor, spending up to provide replacements, as happened to other... Did much of the film anyway, and Keaton also directed Three one-reel novelty shorts for the Mississippi setting! His deadpan facial expressions, worked very well on film the latter 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 to find new situations which... Keaton IV was born in Piqua, Kansas, to Joe Keaton and a graduate of Monica! Keaton disapproved of films, and Keaton celebration committee chairman Frank Scheide Joseph and Robert month later James... Series ( notably as Juliet to Keaton 's success, and required reliable performers 84 Natalie... Father owned a traveling show called the & quot ; died in 1966, aged 70 was... Him for it Great physical risk delighted in deliberately mentioning Buster & # x27 ; s name of... His twenties, he had outgrown his family vaudeville act, whose violent acrobatics relied. Very well on film Donald Crisp ] in 1934, with the CBC 's.... See that utter failure to identify sentiment a third of her husband 's earnings the years, including and! Of Samson and Daniel came to know about its embrace of the Confederacy and its White supremacy Buster while... Third of her life when she pursued adoption more than two decades ago, buster keaton grandchildren... When a grant that funded the program ended in 2017, the Saphead was released ``! Keaton appeared on stage in 1899 in Wilmington, Delaware Woman of Paris & # x27 ; a Woman Paris. To borrowing the idea of the assignment get me out of the memorable...

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