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). The images and pieces have presentations and attendees from a #Buster Keaton Convention that is held the first week of October . Her sister, Norma Talmadge, was married to Joseph Schenck, owner of Comique Films the company that Keaton managed. Buster KEATON from tree Compton-Queen Family Tree_2011-02-01. In 1920, The Saphead was released, in which Keaton had his first starring role in a full-length feature. From left is Harry Keaton Jr.'s daughter, Lisa Geisler, and Keaton celebration committee chairman Frank Scheide. The giant studio was run along strict factory lines, with everything planned and budgeted in advance. [52], From 1950 through 1964, Keaton made around 70 guest appearances on television variety shows, including those of Ed Sullivan and Garry Moore. [60], In 1961, Keaton appeared in promotional films for Maryvale, a housing development in the western part of Phoenix. Actor James Mason had bought the Keatons' house and found numerous cans of films, among which was Keaton's long-lost classic The Boat. Buster that the judge thought my mother was the bride! Though it would come to be regarded as Keaton's greatest achievement, the film received mixed reviews at the time. He first appeared on stage in 1899 in Wilmington, Delaware. Why did Buster Keaton stop making movies? At my studio they would have the characters I wanted in 10 minutes. Keaton's loss of independence as a filmmaker coincided with the coming of sound films (although he was interested in making the transition) and mounting personal problems, and his career in the early sound era was hurt as a result. By Kelly Braun. [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. Born on October 4, 1895, in Piqua, Kansas, as Joseph Francis Keaton. The short also featured the impression of a performing monkey which was likely derived from a co-biller's act (called Peter the Great). He and Natalie Talmadge divorced on bitter terms in 1932. According to one biographer, Keaton was made to go to school while performing in New York, but only attended for part of one day. His third wife was a dancer named Eleanor Ruth Norris. Keaton was presented with a 1959 Academy Honorary Award at the 32nd Academy Awards, held in April 1960. Comment. He was eventually billed as "The Little Boy Who Can't Be Damaged", and the overall act as "The Roughest Act That Was Ever in the History of the Stage". . It was clear that Mr. Keaton and Mrs. Keaton had different ideas and lifestyles. Keaton's other 1924 film, The Navigator, was shot on an ocean liner and directed with Donald Crisp. The first was Sherlock Jr., in which a daydreaming projectionist who longs to be a detective becomes part of the movie he is showing. Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 February 1, 1966)[1] was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Keaton's widow, Eleanor, attended for a couple of years. In 1964, he told an interviewer that in making "this particular pork pie", he "started with a good Stetson and cut it down", stiffening the brim with sugar water. His distributor, United Artists, insisted on a production manager who monitored expenses and interfered with certain story elements. Two of Keaton's . The "Great Stone Face" died in 1966, aged 70. 29. [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. Later, Keaton changed his middle name to "Francis". Keaton's wife Eleanor also was seen in the series (notably as Juliet to Keaton's Romeo in a little-theater vignette). This combination of talents proved felicitous when Keaton inevitably aged out of the family act and started making movies. [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. Service.[73]. Joseph Frank Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, to Joe Keaton and Myra Keaton. 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. 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". While the movie had an impressive tornado sequence and an interesting topic (a Mississippi riverboat race) which pleased critics, Steamboat Bill Jr. was not a commercial success. In addition to appearing in numerous commercials (including one for Alka-Seltzer), Keaton made many guest appearances in both comedies and dramas. [56] In December 1958, Keaton was a guest star in the episode "A Very Merry Christmas" of The Donna Reed Show on ABC. Two of his best films were made in 1924. However, Hart himself was not amused by Keaton's antics, particularly the crying scene, and did not speak to Keaton for two years after he had seen the film. They eventually had two sons, Joseph and Robert. Buster Keaton With Camera Rare Candid 8x10 Photo. Joseph Frank Keaton IV was born October 4, 1895, in Piqua, Kansas. Comedy director Leo McCarey, recalling the freewheeling days of making slapstick comedies, said, "All of us tried to steal each other's gagmen. Caryn James wrote in The New York Times, "Keaton's television appearances are warm and enduring. MGM also forced Keaton to use a stunt double during some of the more dangerous scenes, something he had never done in his heyday, as MGM wanted badly to protect its investment. Born into a vaudeville family, Keaton's career waned after his inked with MGM and lost his artistic . Keaton said he was lucky if he used only six hats in making a film. . They are the work of a man who, after decades of obscurity, found a way to perpetuate his comic images by embracing a new medium." "[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. He was a student at Blackfox Military Academy and a graduate of Santa Monica High School. In 1920, Keaton made his first full-length feature, The Saphead, playing the straight man, Bertie "The Lamb" Van Alstyne. The medium revitalized his career. He had cameos in such films as In the Good Old Summertime (1949), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and Around the World in 80 Days (1956). The Society's nickname, the "Damfinos," draws its name from a boat in Keaton's 1921 comedy, The Boat. Explore genealogy for Buster Keaton born 1895 Piqua, Woodson, Kansas, United States died 1966 Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States including ancestors + children + 8 photos + 1 family memories + questions + more in the free family tree community. 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. He appeared on screen simultaneously nine times. [98] A 1987 documentary, Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow, directed by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill, won two Emmy Awards.[99]. Over time, things grew unpleasant between Buster and his dad . Poker-Faced Comedian of Films", "Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (American Masters)", Dada, Surrealism, and the Cinematic Effect, "Mel Brooks on Buster Keaton--The Lybarger Links Interview", "The Strange Behavior of Johnny Knoxville", "Keaton Weekend in L.A. Celebrates the Great Silent Comedian", "City of Los Angeles to declare June 16, 2018 "Buster Keaton Day", Barnett, Ryan and Matthew Tavares (Illustrator), Buster Keaton and the Muskegon Connection, Buster Keaton's Silent Shorts (19201923) by James L. Neibaur and Terri Niemi, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Buster_Keaton&oldid=1142053518, United States Army personnel of World War I, Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Male actors from Beverly Hills, California, Articles with dead external links from March 2022, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Vague or ambiguous geographic scope from June 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2022, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, TCMDb name template using numeric ID from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Son of Joseph Frank Hallie Keaton and Myra Edith Keaton His great period began in 1923 when he appeared in The Three Ages and a year later he made a full length comedy . 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. Fairbanks recommended Keaton to take the role[citation needed] for the remake five years later, since the film was to have a comic slant. He escaped a straitjacket with tricks learned from Harry Houdini. [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." New York: St. Martin's Press. [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. in Piqua, Kansas, USA , United States, Died on February 01, 1966 Keaton was one of silent film's most famous comedians; his popularity waned in the 1930s, but he made a nostalgic flurry of films before his 1966 death. [13] The General has placed highly on the Sight & Sound poll, and Our Hospitality, Sherlock Jr. and The Navigator also received multiple votes. 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. 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. Keaton endured this treatment for two more feature films, and then exchanged his independent setup for employment at Hollywood's biggest studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). "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. However, Thalberg did allow Keaton to stage the gags, including long stretches of pantomime, and agreed to send a crew to Keaton's own mansion for exterior shots. Genealogy for Joseph Frank Keaton, VI (1895 - 1966) family tree on Geni, with over 240 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. By Dana Stevens. Keaton soon discovered that his brand of comedy, especially his deadpan facial expressions, worked very well on film. Buster Keaton. Joe Keaton disapproved of films, and Keaton also had reservations about the medium. [69] When Keaton transposed his experience in vaudeville to film, in many works he parodied melodramas. Advertisement. I said, 'I'd like to do something with a drunk and a fat lady and a kid. Keaton was convinced to star in a short film with Arbuckle, called The Butcher Boy (1917). His unit remained intact and was not broken up to provide replacements, as happened to some other late-arriving divisions. 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. His life quickly spiraled downward. By 1935, this second marriage had ended in divorce. Buster Keaton as a child with his parents . He stars as a great fortune's sole heir that falls in love with the daughter of his family's greatest rival, played by . Joseph Frank Keatonthe silent film star belovedly known as Busterwas born the same year, 1895, that the Lumire brothers unveiled the first moving pictures to an audience of stunned Parisians. Filmmaker Mel Brooks has credited Keaton as a major influence, saying: "I owe (Buster) a lot on two levels: One for being such a great teacher for me as a filmmaker myself, and the other just as a human being watching this gifted person doing these amazing things. The first of MGM's Keaton films was The Cameraman (1928), and Keaton sensed trouble immediately when he saw the script. Since then, the Something's Gotta . Their son began appearing on stage with them as early as nine months of age. In College (1927), Keaton was engaged in every athletic sport except football, but it was a disappointment. [32], Aside from Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), Keaton's most enduring feature-length films include Our Hospitality (1923), The Navigator (1924), Sherlock Jr. (1924), Seven Chances (1925), The Cameraman (1928), and The General (1926). 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 . "[31] The more adventurous ideas called for dangerous stunts, performed by Keaton at great physical risk. A scene from Steamboat Bill, Jr. required Keaton to stand still on a particular spot. [24] Despite tangles with the law, Keaton was a rising star in the theater. [40] In 1934, Keaton accepted an offer to make an independent film in Paris, Le Roi des Champs-lyses. 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 . That same year, he was put under contract by Educational Films and returned to making shorts. Who was I to say I was right and everyone was wrong? Brother of Harry Stanley Keaton and Louise J. Keaton. [46] Keaton had a free hand in staging the films, within the studio's budgetary limits and using its staff writers. 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 Number One enemy by giving generously te the Heart Fuad. "Medicine Man" was completed but not aired. Director William Asher recalled: I always loved Buster Keaton. He would bring me bits and routines. 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. Buster Keaton With Family Rare Candid 8x10 Photo. In Our Hospitality (1923), a film about a mountain feud, Keaton shot both a novel train scene and waterfall scene on location. Buster Keaton Remembered. [69] Three Ages also featured parodies of Bible stories, like those of Samson and Daniel. This channel is dedicated to the genius of Buster Keaton and family. [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. 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. The act was mainly a comedy sketch. [84] Natalie's extravagance was another factor, spending up to a third of her husband's earnings. They were popular, and contrary to Keaton's later reputation as "The Great Stone Face", he often smiled and even laughed in them. In 1994, caricaturist Al Hirschfeld penned a series of silent film stars for the United States Post Office, including Rudolph Valentino and Keaton. The seemingly indestructible man married actress Natalie Talmadge in 1921, though wedded bliss did not last long. 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 . They divorced in 1936[89] at great financial cost to Keaton. [94] He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood Hills, California.[95]. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 966 Hollywood Loses Tavo Hedda Hopper, Lamar Green 217. Buster Keaton. Buster Keaton and Marceline Day in The Cameraman, 1928. Keaton returned to film by the 1950s. Because of Keaton's success, and a notorious scandal involving Arbuckle, Comique Films was renamed Buster Keaton Productions. Buster Keaton was one of three great silent film comedians (along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd). [19] He was briefly institutionalized, according to the Turner Classic Movies documentary So Funny It Hurt. The son of . Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century. His film career was briefly interrupted by military service during World War I. After this failure, Schenck sold his contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), where his son, Nicholas, just happened to be in charge. Most of these parodies targeted acts with which Keaton had shared the bill. Spouse: Thelma Ferne WOOD (1905-xxxx) 4454 People 0 Records 0 Sources: Buster William Keaton Sr. found in 22 trees View all. Upon Keaton's return to Hollywood in 1934, he made a screen comeback in two-reel comedies for Educational Pictures. I just stood there, and everybody is hassling. [92] The marriage lasted until his death. Reaction was strong enough for a local Los Angeles station to offer Keaton his own show, also broadcast live, in 1950. Keaton died of lung cancer on February 1, 1966, aged 70, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. He'd say, "How about this?" Sarah Porter , Joseph Judson, Isabeau de DAMPIERRE , John de FIENNES, Brangre de CASTILLE , Alfonse Ix de CASTILLE. United States, 1924. The next project confirmed Keaton's fears about studio interference. [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. CAMERA MAN Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, . [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. In 1965, Keaton starred in the short film The Railrodder for the National Film Board of Canada. Free shipping for many products! [69] Other favorite targets were cinematic plots, structures and devices. He began performing with his parents as a three year old in the act 'The Three Keatons', first . He was a motion picture comic actor, writer, producer, and director of the 1910s thru 1960s. Keaton was born into a vaudeville family. The director was usually Jules White, whose emphasis on slapstick and farce made most of these films resemble White's famous Three Stooges shorts. On May 29, 1940, Keaton married Eleanor Norris, who was 23 years his junior. She came to know his routines so well that she often participated in them in television revivals. Keaton played every role in the movie, which was set in a theater. "[22], Keaton said he had so much fun that he sometimes began laughing as his father threw him across the stage. [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 lost creative control of his pictures, and, like his father before him, developed a nasty drinking problem. I started so young that landing right is second nature with me. In 1914, he told the Detroit News: "The secret is in landing limp and breaking the fall with a foot or a hand. After her step-grandmother Eleanor died in 1998, Cox became the family's Goodwill Ambassador on behalf of her Grandpa Buster. Educational Pictures, also known as Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. or Educational Films Corporation of America, was an American film production and film distribution company founded in 1916 by Earle (E. W.) Hammons (1882-1962). 3, Thames Television, 1987, Perez Gilberto 'The Material GhostOn Keaton and Chaplin' 1998. Cox moved with her family to Cloverdale in the . Later, the family had two more children. "[14], Keaton was born into a vaudeville family in Piqua, Kansas,[15] the small town where his mother, Myra Keaton (ne Cutler), was when she went into labor. This equilibrium came into play with The Playhouse (1921), which he also wrote and directed with Cline. Educational primarily distributed short subjects; it is best known for its series of comedies starring Buster Keaton (1934-37) and the earliest screen appearances . It is the angle that you remember: the figure perfectly straight but tilted forward, like the Spirit of Ecstasy on the hood of a Rolls-Royce [in The Three Ages], he drives a low-grade automobile over a bump in the road, and the car just crumbles beneath him. 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. By James Curtis. John Schneider, commander of the Toledo post, announced. Confined to a hospital during his final days, Keaton was restless and paced the room endlessly, desiring to return home. Much of the film was shot on location on the Sacramento River, which doubled for the Mississippi River setting of Twain's book. The Educational two-reelers have far more pantomime than his earlier talkies, and Keaton is in good form throughout. Harry N. Abrams, 2001, pg. Buster joined his family's act at a very young age. Free shipping for many products! He continued to appear on television until his death. Arbuckle also wrote and directed this film. [45] The latter was Keaton's last starring feature in his home country. His mother nicknamed him Jimmy. His first directorial effort, The High Sign, was a short that apparently did not work very well. In 1920, Arbuckle left Comique Films for Paramount. "[44] Keaton made the film anyway, and was amazed that it became his biggest box office success. [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. Keaton also directed three one-reel novelty shorts for the studio, but these did not result in further directorial assignments. 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". Natalie would glare and fly into a rage. Kansas, and was the firstborn of Joseph Keaton and Myra Cutler. Geni requires JavaScript! Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 - February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. It's a knack. Vance, Jeffrey. Please try again. The General was a Civil War romance, that featured many impressive chase scenes and one very expensive special effects shot. 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. Cox remembers him as being a lot of fun, and she always enjoyed visits to . 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. In the end, I gave up like a fool and said 'what the hell?' [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). He was forced to make several films as a straight man to Jimmy Durante, including Free and Easy (1930). Critic Dana Stevens published a cultural history of Keaton's life and work, Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century. . It's just where his parents, two traveling vaudevillians, happened to be performing. Peter Hogue wrote in Film Comment, "Keaton is astonishing not only for what he does as an actor within the frame, but also for what he does with frame in relation to the actor. Keaton is rumored to have gotten the name Buster from Harry Houdini himself. But it's even more pleasurable to get back to the presentwhere brooding, miserable, non-smiling Humphrey Bogart really shines. He directed three short films in 1938. 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). By the time he was five, Buster was formally added to the family act and instantly made "The Three Keatons" a success. Resuming his daily job as an MGM gag writer, he provided material for Red Skelton[48] and gave help and advice to Lucille Ball. Record information. Buster Keaton was an American actor, comedian, stage artist, writer, and director who has been credited as "the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies" by critic and historian Roger Ebert. He took the camera back to his hotel room where he dismantled and reassembled it by morning. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. As for The General, where do you start? This was witnessed by the magician Harry Houdini (or, some say, actor George Pardey), who christened the hearty boy Buster. BUSTER KEATON is an adoptable Dog - Schnauzer searching for a forever family near Atlanta, GA. Use Petfinder to find adoptable pets in your area. He appeared in a total of 14 Arbuckle shorts, running into 1920. 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). Within the family it had become a joke. [4] 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 two-day pass to the festival will cost $40, or a one-day pass for $25. Between 1947 and 1954, the couple appeared regularly in the Cirque Medrano in Paris as a double act. [53] Keaton also found steady work as an actor in TV commercials for Colgate, Alka-Seltzer, U.S. Steel, 7-Up, RCA Victor, Phillips 66, Milky Way, Ford Motors, Minute Rub, and Budweiser, among others. The International Buster Keaton Society was founded on October 4, 1992: Keaton's birthday. Keaton kept trying to persuade his bosses to let him do things his way. He was drafted by the United States Army in 1918, and served for over a year with the 40th Infantry in France. "[34], It was an expensive misfire (the climactic scene of a locomotive plummeting through a burning bridge was the most expensive single shot in silent-film history),[35][36] and Keaton was never entrusted with total control over his films again. He Was Born On The Road. [7] The General is viewed as his masterpiece: Orson Welles considered it "the greatest comedy ever madeand perhaps the greatest film ever made". Much more thoroughly than Chaplin, he managed a near-perfect, and highly expressive, harmony between the roles of performer and filmmaker." 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. [79], Keaton designed and modified his own pork pie hats during his career. Harry N. Abrams, 2001, pg. He was every member of the audience as well as every performer. Last year, she went to Germany for a Buster Keaton Film Festival. Actor: The General. Joseph Talmadge Keaton was the first son born to comic actor Buster Keaton and his wife, actress Natalie Talmadge; he was also a nephew of silent screen actresses Norma and Constance Talmadge. Pioneer in Film Industry. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Buster Keaton With Family Rare Candid 8x10 Photo at the best online prices at eBay! Keaton's writers included Clyde Bruckman, Joseph Mitchell, and Jean Havez, but the most ingenious gags were generally conceived by Keaton himself. 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. [3][4] 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". Keaton's character emerged unscathed, due to a single open window. Known as "The Great Stone Face," Keaton got big laughs out of his relentlessly blank expression in silent film comedies like The Saphead (1920), Sherlock, Jr. (1924), and his famous The General (1927). Keaton was born into a vaudeville family. [87], With the failure of his marriage and the loss of his independence as a filmmaker, Keaton descended into alcoholism. ", In 1954, Keaton and Eleanor met film programmer Raymond Rohauer, with whom they developed a business partnership to re-release his films. For most grandfathers, this means doing puzzles on the living room floor or pushing their grandchild on a swing.