Buster Keaton…. 1895 – 1966   …. he was silent film’s brightest star….. …but it was a miracle he survived his childhood!

An old postcard cut of young Buster

Joseph Francis Keaton was born on October 4 th, 1895 in the whistle-stop town of Piqua , Kansas to two very colorful vaudevillians, Joseph and Myra Cutler Keaton. Poppa Joe did a rather eccentric high-kick dance act and Myra played the saxophone. They were traveling in a company with famous magician Harry Houdini when 18-month-old Junior took his first pratfall down a flight of hotel steps. It was supposedly Houdini who yelled “What a buster!” (show-biz slang for fall) and set his name for life.

By the time he was 4, Buster was part of “The Three Keatons” one of the most dangerous acts in vaudeville. Buster was used as a projectile in skits about “managing a naughty child”. Aided by a hidden suitcase handle strapped to his body, Buster was launched through the air into the wings, the orchestra pit or stage backdrops cautioned by Poppa Joe to keep a “straight face”. Buster found that deadpan look also hid the pain. Once, in Syracuse, when a heckler was making fun of Myra’s playing, Buster was thrown at the man breaking 3 of his ribs and knocking out 2 teeth. The boy was unscathed but it was the beginning of a 9-year run from the Gerry Society (founded for the prevention of cruelty to children). Buster acquired two siblings…Harry and Louise before the act finally broke up in January, 1917 and Buster headed for New York.

Buster grows up

Buster had just landed a part in a Broadway musical revue when his life took an amazing turn. On a brisk day in March, 1917 Buster met an old vaudeville pal, Lou Anger in Times Square. Lou had become a manager at Joe Schenck’s Colony Studio where Joe was making two-reel comedies with rising star Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. Buster went along with Lou to see the studio but, once there, Arbuckle (a big fan of the Three Keatons) asked him to join their new Comique comedy unit. Voila! Buster was out of the revue and into the movies….and film history was about to be made. The skit they were doing at the time was for “The Butcher Boy” and it became Buster’s first film outing while the porkpie hat he made for the short would follow him everywhere (although he would have to make more than 12 a year to keep up with the ones he ruined).

"The Butcher Boy" 1917

Schenck recognized the comedic genius in Keaton and soon was giving him carte blanche in writing, directing and performing in the short films. Buster took time off in 1918 to go to war but he came back as good as new and, in 1920, Schenck bought the old Chaplin Studio and renamed it after Keaton.

In 1921 Buster married Natalie Talmadge. He continued making at least 8 shorts a year as well as 10 feature films (including the popular “The General” in 1927) doing some of the acting,and all of the writing and directing himself. But, in 1928, all of that came to a halt when MGM took over the Schenck studios and Buster was no longer his own man. The loss of control over his work literally drove Buster to drink. His marriage tanked in 1932 and Natalie left with their two boys. Later another bad marriage to Mae Scriven ended in divorce, too.

For awhile the Great Stone Face simply disappeared from the screen. His scenes in “New Moon” a MacDonald/Eddy musical in 1940 became casualties when the film was cut except for one brief glimpse in the opening scenes. Then in 1939, Buster finally reappeared in “Hollywood Cavalcade” followed by “Li’l Abner” and “The Villain Still Pursued Her”.

Buster's cameo appearance in "Sunset Blvd" 1950

In 1940 Buster Keaton, 45 years old, met and married the woman who would prove to be his salvation….21 year old Eleanor Norris. The marriage was against all odds and friends cautioned against it but she would be the one beautiful thing in his life and the marriage lasted until he died. The guy in the flat hat was on top of the world. He took Eleanor to Paris where they became a double act in the Cirque Medrano. When they came back in 1954, television took over with “The Buster Keaton Comedy Show”. He was making feature films again (see Arabella’s Notes) and audiences were discovering him in old films now restored and reshown. Donald O’Connor portrayed him in the 1957 film “The Buster Keaton Story” while Buster acted as technical advisor.

Donald O'Connor as Buster Keaton

In the winter of 1965 Buster became plagued with severe coughing spasms but it was diagnosed as bronchitis. Then while returning by plane from Toronto to LA, he began wheezing and gasping for breath and the attendants had to give him oxygen. He was taken to the hospital where Eleanor learned that he had terminal cancer and only a week to 3 months to live. Buster was never told.

Joseph Francis Keaton died in his sleep on February 1st, 1966. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Hollywood Hills with a rosary in one pocket and a deck of cards in the other. And somewhere beyond the clouds, the guy in the porkpie hat is making the angels laugh.

For more on Buster Keaton on screen and off see Arabella’s Notes.

Filmography

 Feature films as an actor:

Also…..over 71 comedy shorts and over 20 films as director or writer.