Buster Keaton facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Buster Keaton
Keaton c. 1920s
Born	Joseph Frank Keaton (1895-10-04)October 4, 1895 Piqua, Kansas, U.S.
Died	February 1, 1966(1966-02-01) (aged 70) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Occupation	Actor comedian filmmaker stuntman
Years active	1899–1966
Works	Full list
Height	5' 5"
Spouse(s)	Natalie Talmadge (m. 1921⁠–⁠1932) Mae Scriven (m. 1933⁠–⁠1936) Eleanor Norris (m. 1940)
Children	2
Parents	Joe Keaton (father) Myra Cutler (mother)
Awards	Honorary Oscar (1959)
Signature

Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is famous for making classic silent film adventures. During these movies, he showed incredible physical comedy and daring stunts. He always maintained a calm, deadpan expression on his face. This blank expression became his trademark look. People all over the world gave him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".

Keaton started performing as a young child in a vaudeville stage show with his parents. In the early 1920s, he began making his own short movies. These two-reel films included One Week (1920) and The Playhouse (1921). He quickly moved on to full-length stories. His classic features include Our Hospitality (1923), Sherlock Jr. (1924), and The General (1926). Film director Orson Welles called The General one of the finest films ever made. Today, people still study Keaton's clever visual tricks and bold acrobatic leaps.

The Early Life of Buster Keaton in Vaudeville
Discovering the Magic of the Silent Movie World
Buster Keaton's Golden Age of Independent Silent Movies
- Amazing Feats and Directing Great Features
- The Masterpiece: The General
Moving to a Big Hollywood Studio
New Projects and Writing Behind the Scenes
Rediscovery and Later Adventures on Screen
Buster Keaton's Unique Style and Trademark Look
Personal Life and Family
Honors and Lasting Legacy
Images for kids
Directed Features
See also

The Early Life of Buster Keaton in Vaudeville

Keaton as a young performer in stage vaudeville

Buster Keaton was born on October 4, 1895, in the small town of Piqua, Kansas. His mother was named Myra Keaton, and his father was named Joseph Hallie "Joe" Keaton. Both of his parents worked as traveling stage performers in vaudeville shows. His father ran a traveling troupe that entertained crowds across the country. They named their baby Joseph after a long family tradition. He also received the middle name Frank to honor his grandfather.

According to family stories, young Joseph gained his famous nickname as a toddler. At eighteen months old, he fell down a flight of stairs. He did not get hurt at all during the tumble. A friendly performer named George Pardey watched the whole thing happen. Pardey laughed and said, "Gee whiz, he's a regular buster!" The word "buster" meant a heavy fall or spill. Keaton's father loved the word and used it as his son's name. In later years, Buster liked to say that the famous magician Harry Houdini gave him the nickname.

Young Buster Keaton on stage with his parents in their family act

At just three years old, Buster joined his parents on stage. Their show was known across America as The Three Keatons. The performance was a noisy comedy sketch full of tumbling and wild antics. His mother played the saxophone while his father performed tricks center stage. Buster acted like a cheeky child who refused to obey orders. His father would pick him up and toss him across the floor. They even had a small suitcase handle sewn right into his jacket. This handle helped his father swing him around easily during the show.

Buster learned how to protect his body during every single tumble. He learned to land limp like a cat to avoid injury. He rarely got hurt or bruised on stage during these rough routines. The show became known as "The Roughest Act That Was Ever in the History of the Stage". Officials sometimes worried about the boy, but he showed them he had no broken bones. He was soon advertised to audiences as "The Little Boy Who Can't Be Damaged". He explained later that staying safe came down to timing, practice, and skill.

Buster noticed something very interesting while performing in front of packed theaters. Whenever he smiled or giggled after a fall, the audience laughed less. When he kept his face completely blank and serious, the crowd laughed much harder. Because of this discovery, he stopped smiling during his stunts. This serious look became the famous deadpan style he used for the rest of his life.

The family traveled constantly, so Buster rarely had time to go to regular school. He attended school in New York City for less than a full day. His mother taught him how to read, write, and do arithmetic backstage. Buster spent his summers with other performers in the Bluffton area of Muskegon, Michigan. By 1917, the family act came to an end. Buster decided it was time to travel to New York City to start his own career.

Discovering the Magic of the Silent Movie World

Keaton's military registration card listing his work as an actor

In early 1917, Keaton met popular film comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in New York City. Arbuckle worked for movie producer Joseph M. Schenck. Joe Keaton had always disliked movies, but Buster was curious about motion pictures. Arbuckle invited Buster to step into a scene on a movie set. Buster appeared in the short comedy The Butcher Boy and was hired immediately.

Buster was fascinated by the mechanics of the camera. At the end of his first day, he asked to borrow the movie camera. He took the machine to his hotel room that night. He took the whole camera apart to see every gear. Then he reassembled it completely before returning to work the next morning. He loved learning how movies were made from behind the lens.

Buster quickly became Arbuckle's main helper and creative partner. Together they created fourteen fun shorts between 1917 and 1920. Buster often smiled and laughed in these early films with Arbuckle. The two actors became lifelong friends. When his country called during World War I, Buster served in France in the United States Army with the 40th Infantry Division. While in the army, an ear problem permanently affected his hearing. After the war ended, Buster returned home to make more movies.

Buster Keaton's Golden Age of Independent Silent Movies

Poster for the 1920 comedy short film Convict 13

In 1920, Buster starred in his first full-length feature movie, The Saphead. The movie was based on a famous stage play. Film producer Joseph M. Schenck saw that Buster was a major star. Schenck gave Buster his own studio unit, named Buster Keaton Productions. This gave Keaton complete freedom to write, direct, and perform his own comedy stories.

Between 1920 and 1923, Buster made nineteen incredible two-reel short comedies. These short films are famous for their mechanical gadgets and physical humor. In One Week (1920), Buster tries to build a portable house using confusing directions. The finished house is completely crooked, spins in a storm, and gets struck by a train. In The Playhouse (1921), Buster used clever camera tricks to appear as every single performer. He played the musicians, dancers, stagehands, and audience members all at the same time.

In The Electric House (1922), Buster played an accidental engineer who fills a house with wacky machines. The house includes mechanical stairs, an automatic library ladder, and a model train serving dinner. In Cops (1922), a series of silly misunderstandings causes an entire police department to chase him. He used athletic leaps and giant umbrellas to escape huge swarms of officers. These shorts made Keaton one of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Amazing Feats and Directing Great Features

Keaton with his team of creative comedy writers in 1923

Buster Keaton soon decided to focus on longer feature movies. He gathered a team of talented comedy writers, including Clyde Bruckman and Jean Havez. He also collaborated closely with talented filmmaker Edward F. Cline. Even though he worked with great writers, Buster dreamed up the most daring ideas himself. Comedy director Leo McCarey remarked that other movie makers could never steal Buster's gags because Buster created them out of his own head.

In 1923, Buster directed and starred in Three Ages. The movie told three parallel stories set in the Stone Age, ancient Rome, and modern times. That same year, he released Our Hospitality (1923). This movie featured a wonderful recreation of early nineteenth-century trains running along bumpy tracks. During a scene near a waterfall, Buster performed dangerous stunts over rushing water.

In 1924, Keaton released Sherlock Jr., one of his most inventive movies. In the story, Buster plays a movie projectionist who falls asleep in his booth. His dream self walks straight out of his body and enters the movie screen. The film cuts rapidly between a desert, an ocean, and snowy mountains. Buster had to match every move perfectly so the cuts looked seamless. During a train-water-tank scene, rushing water fractured Buster's neck, though he did not realize it until years later.

Next came The Navigator (1924), where Buster finds himself adrift on a massive passenger ship. He had to figure out how to cook giant pots of food with silly contraptions. He even put on a real diving suit to film scenes underwater. In Seven Chances (1925), Buster has to get married by seven o'clock to inherit a fortune. The movie ends with a legendary chase where hundreds of falling boulders pursue him down a steep hill. He jumped, dodged, and slid to avoid the heavy rocks.

The Masterpiece: The General

Keaton's famous falling wall stunt from Steamboat Bill, Jr.

In 1926, Keaton created his most ambitious movie, The General. The story takes place during the American Civil War and was inspired by the Great Locomotive Chase. Buster played Johnnie Gray, an engineer who loves his train engine, named "The General". When enemy spies steal his locomotive, Johnnie chases them single-handedly across the countryside.

Keaton insisted on making the movie look totally authentic. He filmed the story in the forests of Oregon using real steam engines. Buster performed astonishing stunts on the moving trains without any safety wires. He chopped wood on the front cowcatcher and bounced heavy railroad ties off the tracks. The climactic scene featured an actual train plunging through a burning wooden bridge into a river. That single shot was the most expensive scene ever filmed in the entire silent movie era.

When The General first arrived in theaters, reviews were mixed. Some viewers wanted simple silliness rather than a dramatic historical adventure. The production had cost a massive amount of money, making it a financial problem for his producers. However, film historians today consider The General one of the greatest masterpieces of world cinema. It combines breathtaking photography, real history, and brilliant comedic timing.

In 1928, Keaton made Steamboat Bill, Jr., another classic full of breathtaking stunts. The movie ends with a massive cyclone tearing through a river town. Buildings crumble and wind sweeps Buster across muddy streets. In the most famous stunt of his life, an entire two-story house wall falls directly over him. Buster stood completely still on a marked spot. He survived without a scratch because an open attic window passed right around him. The wooden wall weighed two tons, leaving him only inches of safety. Buster always did his own stunts because he believed stunt doubles could never get genuine laughs.

Moving to a Big Hollywood Studio

In 1928, Keaton's producer, Joseph Schenck, decided to change their business plans. His brother, film executive Nicholas Schenck, helped arrange an employment contract for Buster at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. MGM was the largest and most famous studio in Hollywood. Friends like Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd told Buster not to sign the deal. They warned him that a giant studio would take away his artistic freedom. However, Buster listened to Schenck and agreed to join the huge studio lot. He later called this decision the worst mistake of his life.

The studio was run like a giant factory by studio executive Louis B. Mayer and supervisor Irving Thalberg. At his old independent studio, Buster could experiment freely and change his mind while filming. At MGM, every scene had to be written down in giant scripts and approved weeks before shooting. Buster made his first MGM movie, The Cameraman (1928), which turned out to be a wonderful comedy. Yet Buster found the strict rules and endless paperwork very frustrating.

Soon, movies began using recorded sound, bringing an end to the silent movie era. Buster was eager to try sound technology, but studio leaders had different ideas. They forced him to work with rigid scripts and stopped him from inventing visual gags. The studio also insisted on using stunt doubles for dangerous scenes. Buster hated having stunt doubles because he believed audiences wanted to see the real actor performing.

The studio began producing foreign versions of Keaton's sound films. Keaton and his fellow actors had to film every single scene three times. They shot the scene once in English, once in Spanish, and once in either French or German. Buster had to memorize lines phonetically in languages he did not speak. In 1931, Keaton made Parlor, Bedroom and Bath, which became a massive box-office hit. He also starred in Sidewalks of New York (1931), directed by Jules White.

The studio eventually paired Keaton with energetic comedian Jimmy Durante. The two actors had completely opposite styles. Buster remained quiet and calm, while Durante was loud and full of frantic energy. Together they made three popular comedies: Speak Easily (1932), The Passionate Plumber (1932), and What! No Beer? (1933). While the films made money, Buster felt unhappy because he had very little say in directing them. Following creative disagreements with studio management, Keaton left MGM in 1933.

New Projects and Writing Behind the Scenes

Jimmy Durante, Thelma Todd, and Keaton performing together

After leaving the big studio, Keaton looked for fresh creative opportunities. In 1934, he traveled to Europe to make a movie in Paris called Le Roi des Champs-Élysées. He also went to England to film a comedy called The Invader. This English movie was later released in the United States under the title An Old Spanish Custom.

When he returned to America, Buster signed a contract with Educational Pictures in 1934. He made a series of enjoyable sixteen two-reel short comedies for them over three years. These shorts allowed Buster to return to the visual pantomime he loved so much. He brought back many classic tricks from his vaudeville childhood. One of the best shorts from this era was Grand Slam Opera (1936), where he played an eccentric contestant in an amateur talent show. Movie fans loved seeing Buster performing physical humor once again.

Keaton also found steady work helping other comedians design funny scenes. He returned to MGM as an expert gag writer. He created hilarious routines for the famous Marx Brothers in their movies At the Circus (1939), Go West (1940), and The Big Store (1941). Buster was an expert at timing and mechanical gags, making his help invaluable to other performers. He also helped design comedy routines for performer Red Skelton and gave comedy advice to television star Lucille Ball.

From 1939 to 1941, Keaton starred in ten short comedies for Columbia Pictures. These funny shorts were often directed by Jules White or former Mack Sennett director Del Lord. One of the most popular was Pest from the West (1939). In these shorts, Buster worked with comedy partners like Monty Collins and Elsie Ames. The Columbia shorts were so well liked that theaters reissued them for decades afterward.

Rediscovery and Later Adventures on Screen

Keaton acting out a train track gag at Knott's Berry Farm in 1956

In the late 1940s, writers and movie lovers began celebrating Buster's silent films all over again. Famous writer James Agee wrote an article for Life magazine in 1949 praising silent film comedians. Agee declared that Keaton was one of the most brilliant artists in cinema history. Audiences suddenly wanted to see Buster back on the big screen.

Buster began appearing in special character roles in major movies. He had a fun role in the musical In the Good Old Summertime (1949) starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson. Buster staged a funny scene where the two stars bump into each other on a busy sidewalk. In 1950, he made a memorable cameo appearance in Billy Wilder's classic drama Sunset Boulevard.

One of his most special moments occurred in 1952. Buster joined legendary comedian Charlie Chaplin to film a scene in Chaplin's movie Limelight. Aside from a tiny promotional film called Seeing Stars in 1922, this was the only time these two comedy giants performed together on screen. They played two eccentric stage musicians trying to play the violin and piano, creating a magical scene.

Keaton playing a time traveler in a classic 1961 television episode

Television became an exciting new home for Keaton's talents. In 1949, he appeared on Ed Wynn's television show. His energetic physical tricks surprised audiences watching at home. In 1950, he starred in his own program, The Buster Keaton Show. Even in his fifties and sixties, Buster performed astonishing stage falls. He would put one foot up on a table, kick his second foot straight up into the air, pause for a moment, and crash flat to the floor.

He made guest appearances on popular programs like The Ken Murray Show, You Asked for It, The Garry Moore Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1961, he starred in a famous episode of The Twilight Zone titled "Once Upon a Time". The episode featured a magical time-travel helmet and included both silent and sound comedy scenes.

Keaton also appeared in popular television commercials. He performed funny pantomime stunts for companies selling cars, sodas, and breakfast cereals. In 1960, he played a lion tamer in a movie version of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In 1963, he appeared in the giant comedy epic It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World alongside star Spencer Tracy.

Teen audiences in the 1960s loved Buster when he joined the casts of popular beach movies. He brought his physical humor to films like Pajama Party (1964) and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965). In 1964, he traveled across Canada on a motorized railway vehicle to film The Railrodder for the National Film Board of Canada. A behind-the-scenes documentary called Buster Keaton Rides Again (1965) captured Buster laughing and working with the crew. His final feature film was the colorful musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), directed by Richard Lester.

Buster Keaton's Unique Style and Trademark Look

Keaton poking fun at dramatic Westerns in The Frozen North

Buster Keaton had a unique way of telling stories that set him apart from every other comedian. He loved to parody other popular movies and styles of his time. When famous cowboy actor William S. Hart made overly serious Westerns, Buster created The Frozen North (1922) to poke fun at dramatic frontier heroes. When director D. W. Griffith made the giant drama Intolerance (1916), Buster responded with Three Ages (1923), dividing his funny story into three historical chapters.

Unlike many clowns who used silly costumes and big gestures, Buster was remarkably natural. He used his eyes, posture, and balance to show every emotion without moving a muscle on his face. Film writers noted that his body moved like a finely tuned machine. When running away from danger, he could switch from a light jog to a lightning-fast sprint in a split second.

His trademark costume always included a unique flat hat known as a pork pie hat. Buster actually designed and built these hats himself. He would buy a high-quality Stetson hat, cut down the crown, and trim the brim. Then he soaked the brim in sugar water to make it stiff and flat. Because his crazy stunts destroyed hats regularly, he and his family made thousands of them by hand throughout his career.

Personal Life and Family

Keaton with his wife Natalie and young son in 1922

In May 1921, Buster married actress Natalie Talmadge. Natalie was the sister of famous movie actresses Norma Talmadge and Constance Talmadge. Buster and Natalie had two sons together, named Joseph and Robert. In 1926, Buster built a large home in Beverly Hills, California, known as the Buster Keaton Italian villa. Many famous Hollywood personalities lived in the neighborhood, including cowboy star Tom Mix. Later on, actor James Mason bought the house and discovered cans of Buster's lost silent films stored safely inside.

Buster and Natalie separated in 1932. In 1933, Buster married Mae Scriven, but that marriage ended in 1936. In 1940, Buster married dancer Eleanor Norris. Eleanor brought great happiness and stability to Buster's life. She supported his work, traveled with him on tours, and helped manage his shows. Together, they even performed in circus shows at the Cirque Medrano in Paris. Buster and Eleanor remained happily married for the rest of his life.

Keaton passed away on February 1, 1966, at seventy years old in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. He spent his final days surrounded by family and friends. He was laid to rest at the peaceful Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood Hills, California.

Honors and Lasting Legacy

Keaton's star along the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame

Buster Keaton is remembered as a pioneer who transformed filmmaking into an art form. In 1959, he received a special Academy Honorary Award at the 32nd Academy Awards for his unforgettable contributions to motion pictures. Today, he has two stars on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for his movies and another for his television work. A historic Hollywood walkway was also named Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley to celebrate the three silent comedy greats.

Six of Keaton's classic silent films have been selected by the Library of Congress for the National Film Registry:

One Week (1920)
Cops (1922)
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
The General (1926)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
The Cameraman (1928)

Famous directors and actors throughout history have praised Buster's genius. Comedian Mel Brooks explained that Buster taught him how to use visual imagination in movies. Movie critic Roger Ebert wrote that Buster possessed more physical courage than any other screen actor. The American Film Institute honored The General, Sherlock Jr., and The Navigator on their list of funniest American movies. Fans around the world celebrate his movies through the International Buster Keaton Society, nicknamed the "Damfinos". Buster Keaton showed the world that quiet determination, incredible physical skill, and pure visual imagination can make people laugh across generations.