1895

Joseph Frank Keaton is born on October 4th in Piqua, Kansas, the first child of Joseph and Myra Keaton. The name 'Buster' is bestowed upon him by Harry Houdini, after a fall down a flight of stairs. It sticks for the rest of his life.

1898

The Three Keatons c1900

Buster appears on stage for the first time as part of his parents' travelling vaudeville act. The act is renamed The Three Keatons to take account of his inclusion.

1899
to
1916

The Three Keatons travel widely, appearing all over the US and becoming headliners in New York. Buster becomes the star of a physical act which involves his father, Joe, throwing him about the stage. He learns at an early age how to take a fall without being injured.

In 1909, the Keaton family makes a brief trip to Europe, appearing at the Palace Theatre in London.

1917

The Three Keatons act breaks up. In March, Buster is offered a part in the broadway show The Passing Show Of 1917, a musical comedy. He will initially be paid $250 a week, rising later to $300.

Before the show opens, Buster is invited by old vaudeville friend Lou Anger to Norma Talmadges' film studio on 48th Street. Here, Buster is introduced to Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, who at this time is an established film comedian of 4 years standing. Arbuckle invites Buster to appear in the film that he is shooting. Buster accepts.

The film is The Butcher Boy.

Buster decides that he wants to stay in films, and turns down the $250 a week Broadway role for a starting salary of $40 a week with Arbuckle.

with Roscoe Arbuckle

In September, Arbuckle moves his Comique film company from New York to California. Buster moves with him and by the end of the year is an established performer in Arbuckle's films.

1918

After completing a handful of two-reelers, Buster is drafted into the army, assigned to the 40th Infantry and posted to France.

1919

Buster returns to films, continuing where he left off with Arbuckle's Comique company.

1920s

During the twenties Buster reaches the height of his popularity. The work he produces will remain unequalled by anything he does later.

1920

Buster appears in his first feature with a straight role in The Saphead.

opening day at the studio

In a deal with studio boss Joe Schenck, Buster is to become the star of his own films, with his own studio. The films are to be distributed by Metro Pictures.

The first film that Buster shoots is The High Sign, but this isn't released immediately as he doesn't think it's good enough. A few months later One Week becomes the first Buster Keaton comedy to be released. It is hailed by Motion Picture World as "the comedy sensation of the year".

1921

While filming The Electric House Buster breaks his leg. The High Sign is released as a filler while he recovers. This version of The Electric House is scrapped and never released (although a diffrerent film with the same title is made later).

In May Buster marries Natalie Talmadge.

The steady stream of two reelers continues, including The Playhouse, a special effects tour-de-force in which Buster appears on screen simultaneously nine times, as well as playing numerous other parts and performing a dance with himself.

In September, Buster invites Roscoe Arbuckle to join him and Natalie on a rented yacht. Arbuckle rejects the offer in favour of a previous commitment to travel to San Francisco. A few days later Arbuckle is arrested and charged with rape and murder after a guest at a party in his San Francisco hotel room dies. Buster is one of the few Hollywood stars who speaks in defence of Arbuckle's character at the three trials that follow. By doing so, he puts his career on the line. Arbuckle is eventually cleared of all charges - too late, however, to save his own ruined career. (For a full account of the Arbuckle case and trials, and the injustice that was done to the innocent Arbuckle, David Yallop's The Day The Laughter Stopped is highly recommended.)

1922

In June Natalie gives birth to Joseph Talmadge Keaton.

During the course of the year Buster appears in over half a dozen new two-reelers.

1923

Buster completes his final two-reeler of the silent period, The Love Nest, and releases Three Ages, his first feature comedy. This is followed by Our Hospitality, during which Buster is swept away and almost drowned while filming a river sequence. This footage is included in the released version.

with Natalie in Our Hospitality

1924

In February Natalie gives birth to a second son, Robert.

Features completed this year are Sherlock Jr and The Navigator.

While filming a stunt for Sherlock Jr, Buster fractures a bone in his neck. He remains totally unaware of this until an x-ray many years later reveals the break.

The Navigator becomes Buster's highest grossing film.

1925

Seven Chances and Go West are released.

1926

Battling Butler is released, followed at the end of December by The General. Although now regarded as a classic, initial critical opinion of The General is unfavourable.

1927

College is released.

1928

Steamboat Bill Jr is the last film released under the the umbrella of 'Buster Keaton Productions'. It includes the most dangerous stunt of Buster's career.

After the completion of Steamboat Bill Jr, Buster is transferred by Joe Schecnk to the MGM payroll. He is to continue making features, but will eventually get sucked into the studio system and lose control over their content.

1929

The last Buster Keaton film of the silent era is released, Spite Marriage, and so is the first Buster Keaton film of the sound era, The Hollywood Revue Of 1929.

in The Hollywood Revue Of 1929

1930s

After success and stardom in the twenties, the thirties will see Buster's life change. Troubled by alcohol abuse, he continues to appear in films but the quality of the material is well below the standard of his previous output.

1931

Buster is dismissed from MGM. Alcohol is a major and on-going factor in his decline.

1932

Buster and Natalie are divorced.

1933

Buster marries his second wife, Mae Scribbens, a nurse whom he met while undergoing treatment for his drinking. As part of his treatment, Buster is admitted to several sanitariums specialising in alcohol rehabilitation.

1935

Buster and Mae are divorced.

c1935

1940s

The forties mark a slight upturn for Buster. In better health, he appears in more films than in the previous decade, culminating in 1949 with a part in the Judy Garland picture In The Good Old Summertime and his own TV show.

1940

Buster marries Eleanor Norris, a marriage that will last for the rest of his life.

1947

Buster makes an appearance at the Cirque Medrano, Paris, the first of several visits that will take place over the following years.

1949

Buster makes his TV debut re-enacting a scene from 1917's The Butcher Boy on The Ed Wynn Show.

In September, an essay by film critic James Agee in Time magazine, entitled "Comedy's Greatest Era", sparks a renewed interest in silent film, in particular in the work of Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Harry Langdon.

On December 22nd, "The Buster Keaton Show" is broadcast live to America's west coast - this is the first TV programme in a series that continues into 1950. A second series will follow in 1951.

1950s

Buster makes regular trips to Europe. These include music hall tours of England. As the decade passes, his popularity increases. His profile is raised by a series of TV commercials and frequent guest appearances on TV.

1952

with Chaplin in Limelight

Buster appears alongside Chaplin in Limelight, the only film in which they both star.

1955

Ralph Edwards makes Buster his 'victim' on an edition of This Is Your Life.

Businessman Raymond Rohauer meets Buster for the first time at a screening of The General in Los Angeles. The importance of this meeting cannot be overlooked - during the next 30 years, Rohauer will pull together a collection of prints of Busters' silent films. On the downside, some the the Rohauer prints now in circulation are abridged versions of the originals. However, without this intervention much of Busters' work would have been lost forever. The last film that Rohauer tracked down was Hard Luck, in 1987 - more than 30 years after his first meeting with Buster.

1957

Paramount releases The Buster Keaton Story, a film of Buster's life, starring Donald O'Connor as Keaton. Despite the fact that Buster is quoted as 'technical consultant', the film bears little resemblance to his real life story.

1959

Buster is awarded a special Oscar for "his unique talents which brought immortal comedies to the screen".

1960s

In the last few years of his life, Buster finally receives recognition for the brilliance of his early work, with screenings of Rohauer's recovered prints playing to enthusiatic audiences.

1962

A retrospective of Buster's work at the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris includes all of the shorts and features so far rescued by Rohauer.

1965

On September 4th, as a special guest at the Venice Film Festival, Buster receives a standing ovation from the audience when he makes a personal appearance on stage.

1966

February 1st. Buster dies at his home, age 70.

Buster's grave
Picture courtesy of Chynna Clugston-Major

1987

The 1921 short Hard Luck, believed to have been lost forever, is restored by Raymond Rohauer and Kevin Brownlow, using three incomplete prints located in Europe. One scene, reputed to have included one of Buster's best gags, remains missing (but has since been found). The restored print is premiered at the London Palladium, on September 21st, alongside One Week and a newly restored print of The General. The screening is attended by Eleanor Keaton, Buster's widow.

1998

Eleanor Keaton passed away on 19th October after a long battle with cancer. Buster Keaton's widow, stage partner and greatest leading lady gave generously of her time in support of her husband's memory and films. She traveled the world to film festivals representing Buster, sharing her insights on his work without hesitation with biographers, reporters, film historians, and fans. She encouraged Keaton to participate in the rescue and showings of his early silents to the public again in the 1950s, and thereby helped to keep his amazing comedy legacy from being lost forever.
(abridged text taken from the Damfinos tribute to Eleanor Keaton)