Buster Keaton facts for kids

Buster Keaton
Quick facts for kids Buster Keaton
Born	Joseph Frank Keaton VI ; October 4, 1895; Piqua, Kansas, United States
Died	February 1, 1966 (aged 70); Woodland Hills, California, United States
Cause of death	Lung cancer
Occupation	Actor, movie director
Years active	1898–1966

Joseph Frank Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966), known professionally as Buster Keaton, was an American actor, comedian, film director, producer, screenwriter, and stunt performer.

He is best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression that earned him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".

Famous movie critic Roger Ebert wrote that Keaton's "extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929, he worked without interruption on a series of movies that make him, arguably, the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies."

His career declined afterward with a loss of artistic independence when he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, his wife divorced him, and he descended into depression. He recovered in the 1940s, remarried, and revived his career as an honored comic performer for the rest of his life, earning an Academy Honorary Award in 1959.

Many of Keaton's films from the 1920s remain highly regarded, such as Sherlock Jr. (1924), The General (1926), and The Cameraman (1928). The General (1927) is widely viewed as his masterpiece.

In a 2002 worldwide poll by "Sight & Sound", "The General" was number 15 on their "Best movies of All Time" list.

Images for kids

Six-year-old Buster with his parents Myra and Joe Keaton during a vaudeville act
Theater poster for Convict 13 (1920)
Keaton (center) in 1923 with (from left) writers Joe Mitchell, Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez, and Eddie Cline
Keaton with Roscoe Arbuckle and Al St. John in still from Out West (1918)
Keaton, Thelma Todd and Jimmy Durante in Speak Easily (1932)
Keaton getting his foot stuck in railroad tracks at Knott's Berry Farm in 1956
Keaton as a time traveler in the 1961 Twilight Zone episode "Once Upon a Time"
With Joe E. Brown in the 1962 Route 66 episode "Journey to Nineveh"
Gilbert Roland (left) with Keaton in San Sebastián, Spain, August 1930
Keaton with Natalie Talmadge and Joseph in 1922
Keaton with his third wife Eleanor in 1965
Keaton's grave at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Keaton's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Keaton in costume with his signature pork pie hat, c. 1939