Michael Keaton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Michael Keaton
Keaton in 2024
Born	Michael John Douglas (1951-09-05) September 5, 1951 (age 73) Kennedy Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other names	Michael Keaton Douglas
Alma mater	Kent State University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1975–present
Spouse(s)	Caroline McWilliams ​ ​ (m. 1982; div. 1990)​
Partner(s)	Courteney Cox (1989–1995)
Children	Sean Douglas
Awards	Full list

Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor and former stand-up comedian. He has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. In 2016, he was named Officer of Order of Arts and Letters in France.

Keaton gained early recognition for his comedic roles in Johnny Dangerously (1984), Beetlejuice (1988), and The Dream Team (1989). He gained wider stardom portraying the title superhero in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). Other notable roles include Night Shift (1982), Mr. Mom (1983), Pacific Heights (1990), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Jackie Brown (1997), Jack Frost (1998), RoboCop (2014), and Dumbo (2019). He also performed voice roles in the animated films Cars (2006), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Minions (2015).

Keaton experienced a career resurgence after taking a starring role as a faded actor attempting a comeback in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman (2014), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He has since acted in biographical dramas such as Spotlight (2015), The Founder (2016), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), and Worth (2021). He portrayed the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), while also reprising his roles as Batman in The Flash (2023) and the title role in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024).

Keaton starred as a journalist in the HBO film Live from Baghdad (2002). Keaton directed the films The Merry Gentleman (2008) and Knox Goes Away (2023), in which he also played the starring role.

Early life

Michael John Douglas, the youngest of seven children, was born at Ohio Valley Hospital in Kennedy Township, Pennsylvania, on September 5, 1951. He was raised between McKees Rocks, Coraopolis and Robinson Township, Pennsylvania. His father, George A. Douglas (1905–1977), worked as a civil engineer and surveyor, and his mother, Leona Elizabeth (née Loftus; 1909–2002), was a homemaker, and came from McKees Rocks. Keaton was raised in a Catholic family. His mother was of Irish descent, while his father was of Scottish, Scotch-Irish, German and English ancestry, and was originally from a Protestant family. Keaton attended Montour High School in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania. He graduated with the Class of 1969, and studied Speech for two years at Kent State University, where he appeared in plays, and returned to Pennsylvania to pursue his career.

Career

1975–1988: Early career and breakthrough

Keaton first appeared on TV in the Pittsburgh public television programs Where the Heart Is and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1975). For Mister Rogers he played one of the "Flying Zucchini Brothers" and served as a full-time production assistant. (In 2003, after Fred Rogers' death, Keaton hosted a PBS memorial tribute, Fred Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor; in 2018, he hosted a 50th anniversary special of the series for PBS, Mister Rogers: It's You I Like.) Keaton also worked as an actor in Pittsburgh theatre; he played the role of Rick in the Pittsburgh premiere of David Rabe's Sticks and Bones with the Pittsburgh Poor Players. He also performed stand-up comedy during his early years to supplement his income.

Keaton left Pittsburgh and moved to Los Angeles to begin auditioning for various TV parts. He popped up in various popular TV shows including Maude and The Mary Tyler Moore Hour. He decided to use a stage name to satisfy SAG rules, as there were already an actor (Michael Douglas) and daytime host (Mike Douglas) with the same or similar names. In response to questions as to whether he selected his new surname due to an attraction to actress Diane Keaton, or in homage to silent film actor Buster Keaton, he has responded by saying "it had nothing to do with that". Keaton has said in several interviews that he searched a phone book under "K", saw "Keaton" and decided to stop looking. Keaton's film debut came in a small non-speaking role in the Joan Rivers film Rabbit Test (1978).

His next big break was working alongside Jim Belushi in the short-lived comedy series Working Stiffs, which showcased his comedic talent and led to a co-starring role in the comedy Night Shift (1982) directed by Ron Howard. This was his breakout role as the fast-talking schemer Bill "Billy Blaze" Blazejowski and earned Keaton some critical acclaim.

Night Shift led to Keaton becoming a leading man in the 1983 comedy hit Mr. Mom. Keaton was pigeonholed as a comic lead during this time with films like Johnny Dangerously (1984), Gung Ho (1986), The Squeeze (1987), and The Dream Team (1989), though Keaton tried to transition to dramatic leads as early as 1984, playing a hockey player in Touch and Go, which was shelved until 1986. Woody Allen cast Keaton as the lead in The Purple Rose of Cairo the following year, but after filming began Allen felt Keaton was "too modern" and reshot his scenes with Jeff Daniels in the final film, further delaying his transition to drama in the public eye. When Touch and Go was finally released in 1986 the studio was still unsure of how to market the film, making the poster, trailer and TV spots similar to Mr. Mom, which resulted in the film not finding its target audience.

1988 was the seminal year in Keaton career where he landed two major unconventional roles, forever changing his image to audiences. He played the title character in Tim Burton's horror-comedy Beetlejuice, earning Keaton widespread acclaim and boosting him to Hollywood's A list.

1989–1999: Established actor

Keaton's career was given another major boost when he was again cast by Tim Burton, this time as the title comic book superhero of the 1989 film Batman. Warner Bros. received thousands of written complaints from fans who believed Keaton was the wrong choice to portray Batman. However, Keaton's performance in the role ultimately earned widespread acclaim from both critics and audiences, and Batman became one of 1989's most successful films.

According to Les Daniels's reference book Batman: The Complete History, Keaton initially believed the film would be similar in tone to the 1960s TV series starring Adam West but he understood the darker, brooding side of Batman the film was going for after reading Frank Miller's comic book miniseries, The Dark Knight Returns, which he portrayed to much fan approval. Keaton later reprised the role for the sequel Batman Returns (1992), which was another critically acclaimed success. He was initially set to reprise the role again for a third Batman film, even going as far as to show up for costume fitting. However, when Burton was dropped as director of the film, Keaton left the franchise as well. He was reportedly dissatisfied with the screenplay approved by the new director, Joel Schumacher. According to the A&E Biography episode on Keaton, after he had refused the first time (after meetings with Schumacher), Warner Bros. offered him $15 million, but Keaton steadfastly refused and was replaced by Val Kilmer in Batman Forever (1995).

Keaton remained active during the 1990s, appearing in a wide range of films, including Pacific Heights (1990), One Good Cop (1991), My Life (1993) and the star-studded Shakespearean story Much Ado About Nothing (1993). He starred in The Paper (1994) and Multiplicity (1996), and twice in the same role, that of Elmore Leonard character Agent Ray Nicolette, in the films Jackie Brown (1997) and Out of Sight (1998). He made the family holiday movie Jack Frost (1998) and the thriller Desperate Measures (1998). Keaton starred as a political candidate's speechwriter in 1994's Speechless.

2000–2013: Limited roles and venture into voice acting

Keaton attending the 2002 Cannes Film Festival

In the early 2000s, Keaton appeared in several films with mixed success, including Live From Baghdad (2002, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award), First Daughter (2004, playing the President of the United States), White Noise (2005) and Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005). While he continued to receive good notices from the critics (particularly for Jackie Brown), he was not able to re-approach the box-office success of Batman until the release of Disney/Pixar's Cars (2006), in which he voiced Chick Hicks, a green race car with a mustache, who frequently loses his patience with losing to his longtime rival, Strip Weathers, a.k.a. The King, voiced by Richard Petty. On New Year's Day of 2004, he hosted the PBS TV special Mr. Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor. It was released by Triumph Marketing LLC on DVD September 28, 2004. In 2006, he starred in Game 6, about the 1986 World Series bid by the Boston Red Sox. He had a cameo in the Tenacious D short film Time Fixers, an iTunes exclusive. The 9-minute film was released to coincide with Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. Keaton reportedly was cast as Jack Shephard in the series Lost, with the understanding that the role of Jack would be a brief one. Once the role was retooled to be a long-running series regular, Keaton withdrew. The part was then given to actor Matthew Fox. The show ran for six seasons, with the Shephard role continuing throughout.

Keaton at the 2004 Dallas Comic Con promoting White Noise

Keaton starred in the 2007 TV miniseries The Company, set during the Cold War, in which he portrayed the real-life CIA counterintelligence chief James Jesus Angleton. The role garnered Keaton a 2008 Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries. Keaton provided the voice of Ken in Toy Story 3 (2010). The film received overwhelmingly positive acclaim and grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making it one of the most financially successful films ever. He played Captain Gene Mauch in the comedy The Other Guys (2010).

2014–2019: Renewed critical success

In 2014 he played the OmniCorp CEO Raymond Sellars in the RoboCop remake as a more active antagonist, taking RoboCop's wife and child hostage, forcing Joel Kinnaman's character to struggle to overcome the 4th directive.

Keaton starred alongside Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, and Naomi Watts in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), playing Riggan Thomson, a screen actor, famous for playing the titular superhero, who puts on a Broadway play based on a Raymond Carver short story to regain his former glory. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for his portrayal of Thomson and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 2015, Keaton appeared as Walter V. Robinson in Tom McCarthy's Academy Award-winning film Spotlight, and in 2016, he starred as businessman Ray Kroc in the biopic The Founder. On July 28, 2016, Keaton was honored with the 2,585th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to film. The star is located at 6931 Hollywood Blvd. In 2017, Keaton played the supervillain the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming. While making this film Keaton was unable to reprise the role of Chick Hicks for Disney and Pixar's Cars 3 and was replaced by Bob Peterson. Later that year, Keaton portrayed Stan Hurley in American Assassin.

Keaton at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con

In 2019, he played the villain in Disney's live-action adaptation of Dumbo directed by Tim Burton, co-starring with Colin Farrell and Eva Green. Keaton later said: "I was clueless on Dumbo. I sucked in Dumbo."

2020–present: Continued acclaim and reprising past roles

In 2020, Keaton appeared in a small role as U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark in The Trial of the Chicago 7, a legal drama directed by Aaron Sorkin about seven anti-Vietnam protesters charged with inciting riots in 1968.

In 2021, Keaton starred as American lawyer Kenneth Feinberg in the Netflix biographical drama film Worth. In 2022, he briefly reprised his role as Vulture in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) film Morbius, which released on April 1, 2022.

In 2023, Keaton reprised his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne, after last playing the role in 1992, in the DC Extended Universe superhero film The Flash. He filmed scenes to reprise the character in Batgirl starring Leslie Grace, set for a release on HBO Max, taking some inspiration from the acclaimed DC Animated Universe animated series Batman Beyond with Keaton playing the elder Bruce Wayne as the title character's mentor and remote coordinator in the Batcave, only for the film's release to be cancelled in August 2022. Keaton stated that he didn't care about that decision because he had made money making the film, though he said he felt badly for the film's directors. He also reprised the character in the 2023 film Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, in an ultimately deleted scene. Keaton also starred in and directed the 2023 noir thriller Knox Goes Away.

In 2024, Keaton reprised his role as Betelgeuse for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Keaton next starred in Goodrich, a film about a man whose second wife suddenly leaves him, forcing him to take sole care of their nine-year-old twins. Directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer, filming was set to commence in October 2019, but after a delay ultimately began in April 2023.

Personal life

Keaton was married to Caroline McWilliams from 1982 to 1990. They have a son, Sean, born in 1983. Through their son, Keaton and McWilliams have two grandchildren. Keaton had a relationship with actress Courteney Cox from 1990 to 1995.

Keaton, a longtime Pittsburgh resident and fan of its sports teams, negotiated a break in his Batman movie contract in case the Pittsburgh Pirates made the playoffs that year, although they ultimately did not. Keaton did however take time off from filming the sequel Batman Returns in order to return to Pittsburgh to support the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals. Keaton has been seen regularly at Penguins home playoff games. Keaton also often attends Pittsburgh Steelers games and, during the 2005 AFC Championship Game, he wandered onto the camera frame of the KDKA pregame coverage, surprising reporter John Steigerwald. He also wrote an ESPN blog on the Pirates during the final months of their 2013 season.

In the 1980s, Keaton bought a ranch near Big Timber, Montana, where he spends much of his time. An avid fisherman, he is often seen on the saltwater fishing series Buccaneers & Bones on Outdoor Channel, along with Tom Brokaw, Zach Gilford, Thomas McGuane, and Yvon Chouinard, among others.

Political views and activism

Keaton supported Barack Obama in 2008, Hillary Clinton for president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Keaton has said that he tries to be judicious in choosing when to become involved in politics, as his fame can be detrimental.

In 2019, he appeared in a PETA ad campaign, asking tourists not to visit operations that exploit animals, such as roadside zoos which sometimes offer the opportunity to get selfies with wild animals.

Filmography

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

Over his career Keaton has received several awards including a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, six Critics Choice Movie Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award and British Academy Film Award. Keaton was honored with a Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Festival. He is also a visiting scholar at Carnegie Mellon University.

See also

In Spanish: Michael Keaton para niños