Joe Keaton

Joe Keaton

Born: July 6, 1867
Died: January 13, 1946
in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA
Joseph Hallie Keaton (July 6, 1867 – January 13, 1946) was an American vaudeville performer and silent film actor. He was the father of actor Buster Keaton and appeared with his son in several films.

Keaton was born a few miles south of Terre Haute, Indiana, to Libbie Jane and Joseph Francis Keaton IV. Leaving home in 1889, the year of the Land Rush, he homesteaded in the Oklahoma territory for a time, securing a claim three and a half miles northwest of Edmond. A few months into Keaton's residency, the neighboring homesteader (a Canadian whom Keaton had befriended on their shared journey west) was murdered and partially buried by a claim jumper; the body was subsequently discovered, and "justice was meted out" to the murderer by Keaton and a group of three or four men that included Robert Galbreath Jr.

On May 31, 1894, Joe Keaton eloped with Myra Edith Cutler, who became known as Myra Keaton. Myra performed with Joe in a vaudeville act called the Two Keatons. Joe and Myra's first child was Joseph Frank Keaton, who became known as the silent film actor Buster Keaton; their other children were Harry Keaton and Louise Keaton.

When Buster was only a few years old, he joined the act, which became the Three Keatons. The act was a rough-and-tumble one, with Buster being thrown around on stage most of the time. As the years went by, Joe Keaton became an alcoholic; when Buster was 21, Myra left him, taking Buster with her. However, after Buster found success in silent film, he supported Joe and gave him small parts in several movies. Myra and Joe reunited, but eventually split up again. He lived alone in a Hollywood hotel for many years. He stopped drinking with the help of a girlfriend who was a Christian Scientist.

Joe Keaton died on January 13, 1946, at his home in Hollywood after a long illness, according to the New York Times. However, Buster later said he was hit by a car, and state death records show that he died in Ventura. He was buried in Inglewood Cemetery in Inglewood, California, in an unmarked grave. In 2018, Keaton fans around the world raised the necessary funds and had the grave marked with a headstone.

Movies for Joe Keaton...

Palooka from Paducah
Title: Palooka from Paducah
Character: Pa Diltz
Released: January 11, 1935
Type: Movie
A hillbilly family, hard-hit by the end of Prohibition, decide to set the biggest brother up as a professional wrestler.
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The General
Title: The General
Character: Union General
Released: December 25, 1926
Type: Movie
During America’s Civil War, Union spies steal engineer Johnny Gray's beloved locomotive, 'The General'—with Johnnie's lady love aboard an attached boxcar—and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle.
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Go West
Title: Go West
Character: Man in Barber Shop (uncredited)
Released: November 1, 1925
Type: Movie
With little luck at keeping a job in the city a New Yorker tries work in the country and eventually finds his way leading a herd of cattle to the West Coast.
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Sherlock Jr.
Title: Sherlock Jr.
Character: Girl's Father
Released: April 17, 1924
Type: Movie
A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
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Our Hospitality
Title: Our Hospitality
Character: The Engineer
Released: November 19, 1923
Type: Movie
A young man falls for a young woman on his trip home; unbeknownst to him, her family has vowed to kill every member of his family.
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Day Dreams
Title: Day Dreams
Character: le père de la promise
Released: November 27, 1922
Type: Movie
In order to impress the father of a girl he is keen on, Buster goes to the city in search of work. In his letters home he writes of his various jobs which her imagination expands into much nobler ones than those that he is actually attempting.
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The Electric House
Title: The Electric House
Character: Buster's Father in Prologue
Released: October 1, 1922
Type: Movie
Botany major Buster mistakenly graduates in electrical engineering and is hired to wire a new home.
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The Goat
Title: The Goat
Character: Minor Role (uncredited)
Released: May 15, 1921
Type: Movie
A series of adventures begins when Buster is mistaken for Dead Shot Dan, the evil bad guy.
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Neighbors
Title: Neighbors
Character: His Father (uncredited)
Released: December 12, 1920
Type: Movie
The Romeo and Juliet story played out in a tenement neighborhood with Buster and Virginia's families hating each other over the fence separating their buildings.
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The Scarecrow
Title: The Scarecrow
Character: Farmer (uncredited)
Released: November 7, 1920
Type: Movie
Buster competes with another farmhand for the love of the farmer's daughter.
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Convict 13
Title: Convict 13
Character: Prisoner
Released: October 27, 1920
Type: Movie
A young golfer is mugged by an escaped convict and finds himself in a prison where he foils a jailbreak.
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Good Night, Nurse!
Title: Good Night, Nurse!
Character: Man in Bandages
Released: June 30, 1918
Type: Movie
Roscoe's wife, tired of his endless drunkenness, reads of an operation that cures alcoholism and has him admitted to No Hope Sanitarium to get the surgery. Roscoe, wanting out, eventually disguises himself as a nurse to effect his escape.
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The Bell Boy
Title: The Bell Boy
Character: Guest
Released: March 18, 1918
Type: Movie
At the Elk's Head Hotel bellhops torment the lobby, each other and guests. The elevator is powered by a stubborn horse. A sham robbery turns into a real one. And there is a chase on a runaway trolley.
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Out West
Title: Out West
Character: Man on train
Released: January 20, 1918
Type: Movie
The story involves Arbuckle coming to the western town of Mad Dog Gulch after being thrown off a train and chased by Indians. He teams up with gambler/saloon owner Bill Bullhum, in trying to keep the evil Wild Bill Hickup away from Salvation Army girl, Salvation Sue. Fatty and Buster have a series of adventures trying to beat St. John, until they discover his one weakness: his ticklishness.
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A Country Hero
Title: A Country Hero
Character: Cy Klone, Garage Owner
Released: December 10, 1917
Type: Movie
Fatty plays a village blacksmith in “Jazzville,” an imaginary rural village. There is a rivalry between Fatty and Cy Klone, the garage owner, over the affections of a pretty schoolteacher. A city chap unites the two rivals when he tries to steal the girl. An annual village ball features amateur talent in vaudeville stunts with Keaton as a wriggling Fatima who charms a long black stocking from a cigar box like a snake. The film is presumed lost.