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You are here: Home / Buster Keaton / Buster Keaton: 22 Fast Facts About a Silent Film Legend and an Old Hollywood GENIUS!

Buster Keaton: 22 Fast Facts About a Silent Film Legend and an Old Hollywood GENIUS!

April 22, 2019 By Joi

Buster Keaton and Phyllis Haver in The Balloonatic

Buster Keaton and Phyllis Haver in The Balloonatic

  1. Joseph Frank Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas. He would become one of the world’s biggest stars, Buster Keaton.
  2. Unlike many silent film stars, Buster was eager to go into movies with sound. Not only was he was blessed with a wonderful voice, he had years of stage experience behind him, so memorizing and reciting dialogue was not a problem for him.
  3. He fractured his neck while filming Sherlock Jr. (1924) but didn’t learn about it until many years later when a doctor saw X-rays of his neck during a routine physical examination.
  4. Sadly, he became a victim of alcoholism when he his career collapsed around 1930.  He defeated the disease, however, when he married Eleanor Norris Keaton. They were married from 1940 until his death in 1966.
  5. Keaton was voted the seventh Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly, making him the highest rated comedy director! Charles Chaplin, surprisingly (to me, anyway) did not make the list.
  6. He was voted the 35th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly…. let’s say it together… “Should have been higher!”
  7. Not only did he do all his own stunts, but he often acted as a stunt double for other actors.
  8. Wanted to become an engineer as a child.
  9. He often surrounded himself with tall, even heavyset actors, in his films, typically in the roles of antagonists. This caused his size to seem at a much larger disadvantage, heightening the humor. Charlie Chaplin also used this clever casting trick.
  10. Was hearing-impaired after serving in Germany fighting World War I.
  11. In one scene in Sherlock Jr. (1924), Keaton was hanging from a tube connected to a water basin. The water poured out and washed him on to the track, fracturing his neck. The footage appears in the released film.
  12. Buster loved to play baseball and would sometimes play between takes on the movie set.
  13. Said he learned everything about movie-making and comedy from his friend Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle.
  14. His 1924 film, The Navigator, was his most successful movie (financially).
  15. He and his parents formed an acrobatic group called “The Three Keatons” in his childhood.
  16. While there is a bit of controversy over the origin of his nickname “Buster,” I have personally read that it was attributed to him by none other than Houdini!
    Houdini was once the partner of Joe Keaton (Buster’s father) in a medicine-show group.  Reportedly, after he saw a young Buster fall down a set of stairs without being injured, Houdini referred to him as “Buster” and the nickname stuck.
  17. When Buster was three years old he got his right index finger caught in a clothes wringer and it was crushed and had to be amputated at the first knuckle.
  18. He died on the same day as Hedda Hopper.
  19. In 1952 while remodeling his home, actor James Mason (who had purchased Keaton’s mansion) found several reels of Buster’s “lost” films and immediately recognized their wonderful historical significance. He took upon himself the responsibility for their preservation!
  20. He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures and for Television.
  21. His own favorite short was Hard Luck (1921) which had been considered lost until a copy was found.
  22. Died quietly at home, in his sleep, shortly after playing cards with his wife.

Buster Keaton in The Navigator

Filed Under: Buster Keaton Tagged With: Buster Keaton



I try to keep my posts, book reviews, and classic movie reviews as short as possible. I want to share my thoughts and (more importantly) shine a spotlight on the stars that mean so much to us, however I don't want to take up too much of your precious time. My goal is to give you information, trivia, and photos that will put a smile on both your face and your day! ~ Thank you for being here, you honor me with your presence, Joi ("Joy")

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My name is Joi (“Joy”) and I created Hollywood Yesterday as my personal tribute to Old Hollywood. It’s my effort to help keep the stars from Old Hollywood, Classic Television, and Old Radio Shows alive and shining forever. Old Hollywood was positively magical and I see no reason for the magic to ever die.

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