Buster Keaton

Renowned for his death-defying stunt work and permanently deadpan facial expressions, actor and director Buster Keaton revolutionized the silent comedy with films such as "Sherlock Jr." (1924), "The General" (1926) and "The Cameraman" (1928). Born in Piqua, KS in 1895, Buster Keaton joined his vaudeville entertainer parents on stage aged just three and continued to perform throughout his childhood before serving in the U.S. Army during the First World War. On his return he forged a working relationship with Fatty Arbuckle, making his acting debut in the comedian's silent two-reel "The Butcher's Boy" (2017), and co-starring with him in over a dozen shorts. After appearing in his first full-length feature, "The Saphead" (1920), Keaton launched his own eponymous production company, with whom he wrote, directed and starred in two-reels such as "One Week" (1920), "The Playhouse" (1921) and "The Electric Wheel" (1922) and cemented a reputation as a master of the parody. Keaton then moved permanently into feature films where he insisted on performing his own stunts, most memorably breaking his neck without realizing in "Sherlock Jr." (1924), hanging onto the front of a locomotive in what many consider to be his masterpiece, "The General" (1926), and narrowly avoiding being toppled by a falling house wall in "Steamboat Bill, Jr." (1928). However, despite their later status as classics, many of Keaton's labors of love struggled to enamor box office audiences at the time. As a result, Keaton was forced to relinquish his full creative control and he spent several demoralizing years starring in various pictures for MGM, who not only banned him from any stuntwork but also made him film each scene three times in order to capture the international markets. After taking a break from Hollywood to shoot films in England and France, Keaton made several two-reels for Educational Pictures and Columbia, served as a gag writer for the Marx Brothers, Red Skelton and Lucille Ball, and made cameos in "In the Good Old Summertime" (1949), "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) and "Around the World in 80 Days" (1956). He also appeared alongside contemporary Charlie Chaplin for the first and only time in "Limelight" (1952) and embraced the relatively new medium of television with several self-titled comedy shows and a first dramatic role in anthology "Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents" (Syndication, 1953-57). After returning to MGM for "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1960), Keaton was awarded an honorary Academy Award in 1960, enjoyed supporting roles in "Pajama Party" (1964), "Beach Blanket Bingo" (1965) and "Sergeant Deadhead" (1965) and sported his signature pork pie hat for his final silent film, "The Railroader" (1965). He then received a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as O in Samuel Beckett short "Film" (1965) before making his screen swansong playing next-door-neighbor Erronius in ancient Roman farce "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1966). Several months before its release, Keaton passed away in Woodland Hills, CA from lung cancer at the age of 70.