In 1928 Keaton made the move that he would later call the mistake of his life. His salary reached $3,500 a week, and he eventually built a $300,000 home in Beverly Hills. His work also featured Keaton's penchant for doing his own stunts, and he became somewhat of a Hollywood legend not just for his falls but for his lack of injuries.Īt the height of his career, in the mid-1920s, Keaton experienced some of the same celebrity as another silent-film star, Charlie Chaplin. In his early two-reelers the laugh-making included a mastery of the slapstick pie. Woven into his films, of course, was Keaton's trademark comedy, brilliant timing and patented facial expressions. But while the movie initially proved to be a commercial disappointment, it was later hailed as a pioneering piece of filmmaking. Keaton was the full force behind the film, writing and directing it. The lineup also included what is perhaps his finest creation, The General (1927), which starred Keaton as a train engineer in the Civil War. In 1923 Keaton started making full-length features such as The Three Ages (1923) and Sherlock, Jr. In 1920 Keaton struck out on his own as a filmmaker, first with a series of two-reelers that included the now-classic One Week (1920), The Playhouse (1921) and Cops (1922). It was an apprenticeship of sorts and through it, Keaton was given full access to the movie-making process. Still, film called to Keaton, and for the next two years, he continued to work closely with Arbuckle for $40 a week. The FilmmakerĮven in his first film, a 1917 two-reeler called The Butcher Boy starring Roscoe ("Fatty") Arbuckle, Keaton was extreme slapstick, with the young actor being subjected to a range of abuses, from being submerged in molasses to getting bit by a dog. At the time, the area had become a destination for vaudevillian performers and the community inspired the young entertainer. "It was the roughest knockout act that was ever in the history of the theater," he later said of the performances he did with his parents.īeginning in 1907, Keaton spent many childhood summers in Muskegon, Michigan, where his father had helped established The Actors Colony. During these performances, Keaton would learn to display the deadpan look that would later become a hallmark of his comedy career. Working with his parents in an act that prided itself on being as rough as it was funny, Keaton was frequently tossed around by his father. Keaton quickly grew used to being knocked around a bit. Magician Harry Houdini scooped up the child and turning to the boy's parents quipped, "That was a real buster!" His parents, Joe and Myra, were both veteran vaudevillian actors, and Keaton himself first began performing at the age of 3 when he was incorporated into their act.Īs legend has it, he earned the name of "Buster" when he was 18 months old, after falling down a flight of stairs. Joseph Frank Keaton IV was born October 4, 1895, in Piqua, Kansas. The talkies eventually pushed him out of demand, but he made a comeback in the 1940s and '50s when he starred as himself in films such as Sunset Boulevard. He was introduced to film when he was 21 and eventually directed and starred in films in the 1920s. Born to vaudeville performers, Buster Keaton began performing at age 3.
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