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. In 1934, with his MGM contract now terminated, Keaton filed for bankruptcy. "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." An unnamed author of Keaton's obituary in Variety, wrote, "The secret to his lasting success as a master comedian was his universally recognized character - the unhappy, doleful fall guy to whom 'everything' happened. The film is also notable for being his last silent screen performance. Now that many women are having their first child in their 30s, many men in their 70s are spending time with toddlers or pre-school kids. "[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. While his films were technically and creatively interesting, they were either critical or box office failures. Keaton had two shows of his own, including The Buster Keaton Comedy Show (1949) and The Buster Keaton Show from 1950 until 1951. Username and password are case sensitive. Rapf, Joanna E. and Green, Gary L. (1995), This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 07:22. His first directorial effort, The High Sign, was a short that apparently did not work very well. Later, Keaton changed his middle name to "Francis". [29] Keaton later said[where?] "[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. But it's even more pleasurable to get back to the presentwhere brooding, miserable, non-smiling Humphrey Bogart really shines. Shortly after his son's birth, Joseph Keaton changed his son's name to Joseph Francis Keaton. Several times I'd have been killed if I hadn't been able to land like a cat. [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." [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. $49.99. Everybody else in the studio likes the story. Buster Keaton, original name Joseph Frank Keaton IV, (born October 4, 1895, Piqua, Kansas, U.S.died February 1, 1966, Woodland Hills, California), American film comedian and director, the "Great Stone Face" of the silent screen, known for his deadpan expression and his imaginative and often elaborate visual comedy. [16][17][18] According to a frequently repeated story, which may be apocryphal,[19] Keaton acquired the nickname Buster at the age of 18 months. By Kelly Braun. 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 . [71] Keaton directed the film, along with Edward F. Cline. 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. Buster Keaton got his name in true slapstick fashion. [98] A 1987 documentary, Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow, directed by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill, won two Emmy Awards.[99]. Between 1947 and 1954, the couple appeared regularly in the Cirque Medrano in Paris as a double act. Comedy director Leo McCarey, recalling the freewheeling days of making slapstick comedies, said, "All of us tried to steal each other's gagmen. Free shipping for many products! He lost creative control of his pictures, and, like his father before him, developed a nasty drinking problem. [22] Decades later, Keaton said that he was never hurt by his father and that the falls and physical comedy were a matter of proper technical execution. [87], With the failure of his marriage and the loss of his independence as a filmmaker, Keaton descended into alcoholism. Two years later, he appeared with Charlie Chaplin for the only time in Limelight. Employing picturesque locations, the film's storyline reenacted an actual wartime incident. 'tendell of Pittsburgh Gas Com- ern District Grand Lodge of.^, 1, Col. 8) KOONEY Shucked By Tragedy HOLLYWOOD deadpan comedian. [59] In 1961, he starred in The Twilight Zone episode "Once Upon a Time", which included both silent and sound sequences. 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! As a baby, he tumbled all the way down a flight of stairs to the landing below. On May 31, 1921, Keaton was married time to Natalie Talmadge. Two of Keaton's . MGM had been featuring comical musician Cliff Edwards in Keaton's films. Buster Keaton as a child with his parents . They divorced in 1936[89] at great financial cost to Keaton. [56] In December 1958, Keaton was a guest star in the episode "A Very Merry Christmas" of The Donna Reed Show on ABC. [26][27], Keaton spent the summers of 19081916 "at the 'Actor's Colony' in the Bluffton neighborhood of Muskegon, along with other famous vaudevillians. It marked the first time that a character walks off a movie screen and into "real life." He was a motion picture comic actor, writer, producer, and director of the 1910s thru 1960s. He was also a great director. Cox remembers him as being a lot of fun, and she always enjoyed visits to . Buster Keaton in a still from the 1927 film The General. 29. Sherlock Jr. will be Keaton's most enduring commentary on the art of cinema. He had cameos in such films as In the Good Old Summertime (1949), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Jimmy assists Spencer Tracy's character, Captain C. G. Culpepper, by readying Culpepper's ultimately-unused boat for his abortive escape. 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. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 966 Hollywood Loses Tavo Hedda Hopper, Lamar Green 217. American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer, Born on October 04, 1895 Buster Keaton's most dangerous stunt (Steamboat Bill Jr., 1928) by Shpongo Loid on YouTube In 1927, at the peak of his fame and success, Keaton made what he later called "the worst mistake of my . Keaton was convinced to star in a short film with Arbuckle, called The Butcher Boy (1917). [69] When Keaton transposed his experience in vaudeville to film, in many works he parodied melodramas. Arbuckle also wrote and directed this film. 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. 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. [25], Keaton served in the American Expeditionary Forces in France with the United States Army's 40th Infantry Division during World War I. Whenever a TV show wanted to simulate silent-movie comedy, Keaton answered the call and guested in such successful series as The Ken Murray Show, You Asked for It, and The Garry Moore Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. The medium revitalized his career. [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. Buster William Keaton Sr. from tree Keaton Family Tree. Critic Roger Ebert wrote of Keaton's "extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929" when he "worked . Two years later she changed their sons' last name to Talmadge. His large, deep eyes are the most eloquent feature; with merely a stare, he can convey a wide range of emotions, from longing to mistrust, from puzzlement to sorrow. Their routine had relied on physical prowess and exact timing, and required reliable performers. Look at his faceas beautiful but as inhuman as a butterflyand you see that utter failure to identify sentiment. Critics rediscovered Keaton in 1949 and producers occasionally hired him for bigger "prestige" pictures. 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". It's just where his parents, two traveling vaudevillians, happened to be performing. By 1935, this second marriage had ended in divorce. Keaton's character emerged unscathed, due to a single open window. in Piqua, Kansas, USA , United States, Died on February 01, 1966 Diane Keaton knew she made the best decision of her life when she pursued adoption more than two decades ago. Still, he continued to find new situations in which to put his long-suffering face. 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. [72] Audiences of the 1920s recognized the parody and thought the film hysterically funny. Keaton's other 1924 film, The Navigator, was shot on an ocean liner and directed with Donald Crisp. In his presentation for The General, filmmaker Orson Welles hailed Buster Keaton as "the greatest of all the clowns in the history of the cinema a supreme artist, and I think one of the most beautiful people who was ever photographed". Keaton also appeared in a comedy routine about two inept stage musicians in Charlie Chaplin's Limelight (released in 1952), recalling the vaudeville of The Playhouse. His great period began in 1923 when he appeared in The Three Ages and a year later he made a full length comedy . Much of the film was shot on location on the Sacramento River, which doubled for the Mississippi River setting of Twain's book. Harold Lloyd made us laugh as much, Charlie Chaplin moved us more deeply, but no one had more courage than Buster."[103]. [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. The high point in the Educational series is Grand Slam Opera (1936), featuring Keaton in his own screenplay as an amateur-hour contestant. The first ten minutes of The General tell us everything we need to know about its embrace of the Confederacy and its white supremacy. Wrong username or password. 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. 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. . Keaton's art has inspired full academic study. In 1994, caricaturist Al Hirschfeld penned a series of silent film stars for the United States Post Office, including Rudolph Valentino and Keaton. In the physical comedy routines performed with his father, Keaton became an expert at pratfalls and developed an impassive face that delighted audiences. Era By BOB THOMAS H list grows thin. Noticing that this caused the audience to laugh less, he adopted his famous deadpan expression when performing. New York: St. Martin's Press. The sequence furnished one of the most memorable images of his career. Kinescopes were made for distribution of the programs to other parts of the country, since there was no transcontinental coaxial cable until September 1951. ), Keaton was so demoralized during the production of 1933's What! An error has occured while loading the map. Two of his best films were made in 1924. 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. [92] The marriage lasted until his death. In the last analysis, no one came near him. 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). Though it would come to be regarded as Keaton's greatest achievement, the film received mixed reviews at the time. "[77] Critic Anthony Lane also noted Keaton's body language: The traditional Buster stance requires that he remain upstanding, full of backbone, looking ahead [in The General] he clambers onto the roof of his locomotive and leans gently forward to scan the terrain, with the breeze in his hair and adventure zipping toward him around the next bend. Michigan, but due to Covid-19 it will be online, with screenings, rare footage and appearances by family members. In this film, he broke his neck, but did not discover it until ten years later. 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 . 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". The director was usually Jules White, whose emphasis on slapstick and farce made most of these films resemble White's famous Three Stooges shorts. A scene from "Our Hospitality," the feature film at the 2013 Buster Keaton Convention in Muskegon. [61][62][63][64][65], Meanwhile, Keaton's big-screen career continued. Comment. Go Outside. [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). Born into a performing family, Keaton's father Joe owned a traveling vaudeville show with Educational primarily distributed short subjects; it is best known for its series of comedies starring Buster Keaton (1934-37) and the earliest screen appearances . Buster KEATON from tree Compton-Queen Family Tree_2011-02-01. The program also promoted the release of the biographical film The Buster Keaton Story with Donald O'Connor. He'd say, "How about this?" [57] In August 1960, Keaton played mute King Sextimus the Silent in the national touring company of the Broadway musical Once Upon A Mattress. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. The Day the Laughter Stopped. He escaped a straitjacket with tricks learned from Harry Houdini. His career declined when he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and lost his artistic independence. In 1949, Keaton appeared on television for the first time. "The Three Keatons," a poor vaudeville family consisting of Joe, his wife Myra and their seven-year-old son Buster, arrive in Fargo, North Dakota on a snowy winter's day in 1904, with dreams of becoming stars. He had a cameo as Jimmy, appearing near the end of the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). Buster Keaton. [86] On July 1, 1942, the 18-year-old Robert and the 20-year-old Joseph made the name change permanent after their mother won a court petition. The next project confirmed Keaton's fears about studio interference. 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. He made his last starring feature, El Moderno Barba Azul (1946), in Mexico; the film was a low-budget production, and it may not have been seen in the United States until its release on VHS in the 1980s, under the title Boom in the Moon. Harry N. Abrams, 2001, pg. "I went over (Weingarten's) head and appealed to Irving Thalberg to help get me out of the assignment. Actor: The General. . No Beer? . [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. 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? Sarah Porter , Joseph Judson, Isabeau de DAMPIERRE , John de FIENNES, Brangre de CASTILLE , Alfonse Ix de CASTILLE. [49], Keaton accepted various character roles in both "A" and "B" features. Vance, Jeffrey. Joseph Frank Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, to Joe Keaton and Myra Keaton. 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 . Buster Keaton With Camera Rare Candid 8x10 Photo. 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. In 1965, Keaton appeared in a short film written and shot by French existentialist playwright Samuel Beckett entitled simply Film. "[44] Keaton made the film anyway, and was amazed that it became his biggest box office success. [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". 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