Buster Keaton Net Worth

Buster Keaton's Quotes

• No man can be a genius in slapshoes and a flat hat.
• Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot.
• I gotta do some sad scenes. Why, I never tried to make anybody cry in my life! And I go 'round all the time dolled up in kippie clothes--wear everything but a corset . . . can't stub my toe in this picture nor anything! Just imagine having to play-act all the time without ever getting hit with anything!
• [Asked by a reporter at an MGM premiere, "Are you happy to be here?"] Of course, I got off location for this!
• What used to get my goat at MGM were comedians like The Marx Brothers or [Bud Abbott] and [Lou Costello], who never worried about the script or the next scene. My God, we ate, slept and dreamed our pictures.

Interesting Facts about Buster Keaton

1. Son of Joe Keaton and Myra Keaton.
2. Father, with Natalie Talmadge, of sons Buster Keaton Jr. and Bob Talmadge.
3. Older brother of Harry Keaton and Louise Keaton.
4. Unlike many silent movie stars, Buster was eager to go into sound considering he had a fine baritone voice with no speech impediments and years of stage experience, so dialogue was not a problem.
5. Following his death, he was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.
6. Pictured on one of ten 29¢ US commemorative postage stamps celebrating stars of the silent screen, issued 27 April 1994. Designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, this set of stamps also honored Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, Charles Chaplin, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, Zasu Pitts, Harold Lloyd, Theda Bara and the Keystone Kops.
7. Fractured his neck while filming Sherlock Jr. (1924) and did not learn about it until a doctor saw X-rays of his neck during a routine physical examination many years later.
8. Died quietly at home, in his sleep, shortly after playing cards with his wife.
9. He was already quite sick with the cancer that would eventually kill him by the time he made his last completed film, De pussycats van het oude Rome (1966). He used a stunt double in this film, as well as most of the films he made as an MGM contract player. Before signing with MGM in 1928, he had performed all of his own stunts, and even doubled for cast members in his own films, as in Sherlock Jr. (1924), where he played both himself, riding on the handlebars of a motorcycle, and the man who falls off the back of there.
10. His mother was of British/German ancestry, and his father was of Scottish/Irish ancestry.
11. Because most of his childhood was spent in vaudeville with his parents, he had few peers. However, he enjoyed a more regular childhood during his family's annual summer getaways to an Actor's Colony on Lake Michigan in Muskegon, MI. In fact, the city of Muskegon has erected a historical marker to note his stomping ground.
12. First married Mae Scriven in Mexico on January 1, 1932 before his divorce from Natalie Talmadge was final, then again legally in 1933.
13. He became an alcoholic when his career collapsed around 1930, only kicking his habit and regaining his self-esteem when he married Eleanor Norris (Eleanor Keaton), his wife from 1940 until his death in 1966.
14. Was voted the seventh Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly, making him the highest rated comedy director. Charles Chaplin did not make the list.
15. Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 523-531. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
16. He was voted the 35th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
17. When he married Natalie Talmadge, the Talmadge family was one of the great acting dynasties in both theater and film, and the gossip in Hollywood was that Keaton married her to gain respect in the industry, a rumor he never quite lived down during his peak. Ironically, Keaton is now a film legend, while most people would be hard-pressed to answer who the Talmadges are.
18. Not only did Keaton do all his own stunts, but, when needed, he acted as a stunt double for other actors in the films.
19. He often surrounded himself with tall and heavyset actors in his films, typically as his antagonist, to make his character seem to be at as much of a physical disadvantage as possible. The similarly diminutive Charlie Chaplin (Charles Chaplin) also did this.
20. The three top comedians in silent-era Hollywood were Keaton, Charles Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. All three produced, controlled and owned their own films. Keaton was convinced to sell his studio and films to MGM in the 1920s, while Chaplin and Lloyd retained ownership of their films. Chaplin and Lloyd became wealthy, while Keaton endured years of financial and personal problems.