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Keaton, Buster ), American motion-picture
actor, director, and screenwriter, whose deadpan expressions,
superb timing, acrobatic skills, and brilliantly cinematic gags
made him one of the major figures of silent-film comedy.
Born Joseph Francis Keaton in Piqua, Kansas, he was the son of
touring vaudeville performers, with whom he first appeared on
stage at the age of three, continuing to perform with The Three
Keatons for almost 20 years. He began his motion-picture career
in 1917, supporting the established comedian Fatty Arbuckle in
The Butcher Boy, and over three years he made more than 12 other
short films. When Arbuckle signed with Paramount Pictures in
1920, his producer, Joseph Schenck, decided to set up a new production
unit and make films with Keaton, whom he recognized as a rising
talent. They completed 20 short films-many of great brilliance-in
three years, and with freedom to write, develop, and direct his
own films, Keaton flourished. He created the distinctive persona
that would thereafter characterize his work: the quiet, undemonstrative,
determined man with a blank countenance (he was sometimes called
The Great Stone Face) who seemed oblivious to danger and stoically
able to endure endless frustrations. Keaton acclimated himself
to the film medium, mastering its techniques and reveling in
the opportunities they offered for creating unique comic effects.
Keaton's first feature-length film was The Saphead (1920), but
more notable early efforts were The Three Ages (1923) and Our
Hospitality (1923). In 1924 he created the first of what are
considered his masterpieces, Sherlock, Jr., a fantasy in which
a projectionist falls asleep and dreams himself onto the screen.
This was closely followed by The Navigator (1924), Seven Chances
(1925), The General (1926), and Steamboat Bill (1927), among
others. The General, with its mock-heroic plot and meticulously
realized American Civil War setting, is often considered his
greatest work. In 1928 Schenck sold Keaton's contract to Metro-Goldwyn
Mayer (MGM), and Keaton's decline began. Although The Cameraman
(1928) was a solid feature, studio demands, denial of autonomy,
and Keaton's own alcoholism encroached steadily on the quality
of his later films.
By the mid-1930s, as Keaton faced increasing personal problems,
he could only find work in mediocre films, and by the end of
the decade he was reduced to playing minor roles and carrying
out writing assignments. In the 1950s television offered him
a new arena. For a time he had his own half-hour television series.
He also worked on commercials and made a few cameo appearances
in films such as Limelight (1950) and Around the World in 80
Days (1956). In 1959 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
belatedly acknowledged his contribution to the industry with
an honorary Academy Award "for his unique talents which
brought immortal comedies to the screen."
In the 1960s, demand for Keaton returned, and he made personal
appearances and acted in a number of films, most memorably in
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and in A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum (1966).
