Buster Keaton and Phyllis Haver in The Balloonatic
- Joseph Frank Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas. He would become one of the world’s biggest stars, Buster Keaton.
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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.
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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.
- 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.
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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.
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He was voted the 35th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly…. let’s say it together… “Should have been higher!”
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Not only did he do all his own stunts, but he often acted as a stunt double for other actors.
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Wanted to become an engineer as a child.
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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.
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Was hearing-impaired after serving in Germany fighting World War I.
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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.
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Buster loved to play baseball and would sometimes play between takes on the movie set.
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Said he learned everything about movie-making and comedy from his friend Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle.
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His 1924 film, The Navigator, was his most successful movie (financially).
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He and his parents formed an acrobatic group called “The Three Keatons” in his childhood.
- 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.
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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.
- He died on the same day as Hedda Hopper.
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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!
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He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures and for Television.
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His own favorite short was Hard Luck (1921) which had been considered lost until a copy was found.
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Died quietly at home, in his sleep, shortly after playing cards with his wife.
