About Me
I was born with the name Joseph Frank Keaton on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas. (My father later changed my middle name to Francis.) By the age of three I was a regular in my parent's vaudeville act, which was changed from The Two Keatons to The Three Keatons. I worked in vaudeville with my parents across the country and even in Europe until 1917. Shortly after we shut down our act due to my father's drinking, I was drafted into the Army where I was assigned to the 40th infantry and posted to France.
1917 marked the beginning of my film career. I met Roscoe Arbuckle on Broadway and soon after we were making films together. I soon took over Comique Films for Roscoe and went independent in 1920 with my first independent short, One Week. After making 30 independent features and shorts, a lack of money forced me to sign with MGM Studios. I made two silents with MGM and after that, we were in the age of the Talkies. Surprisingly, I was actually eager to get into talkies. I worked with MGM for awhile and then signed with Educational Films in 1934. From there on I starred in some and appeared in most, my career never really standing up to what it once had been. Drinking became the only thing to help me out of my depression - or so I thought. In 1940 I married Eleanor, the love of my life. She helped me kick my habit and regain my self esteem. We were married for 26 years - until my death in 1966.
In all, I made and appeared in 144 films and starred and appeared in several television shows and commercials. I think I have had the happiest and luckiest of lives. Maybe this is because I never expected as much as I got . . . And when the knocks came, I felt it was no surprise. I had always known life was like that, full of uppercuts for the deserving and undeserving alike.This profile was edited with Thomas' myspace editor™ V2.5
