Michael Keaton
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Michael Keaton (b. September 5, 1951) is an American actor.
Keaton was born Michael John Douglas on September 5, 1951, to a Scots-Irish family in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh), and studied speech for two years at Kent State, before dropping out and moving to Pittsburgh. An unsuccessful attempt at stand-up comedy led Keaton to working as a TV cameraman in a cable station, and he came to realize he wanted to work in front of the cameras.
Keaton left Pittsburgh and moved to Los Angeles to begin auditioning for various TV parts. He first appeared on TV in several episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1975), and cropped up in other popular TV shows including Maude (1977) and The Mary Tyler Moore Hour (1979). Around this time Keaton decided to use an alternative surname to remove confusion with well known actor Michael Douglas, and after reading an article on actress Diane Keaton, he decided on "Michael Keaton". His next key break was scoring a co-lead alongside James Belushi in the short lived comedy series Working Stiffs (1979), which showcased his comedic talent and got him into the casting for the co-lead in 'Night Shift' (1982). His role as the hilariously fast-talking schemer Bill "Blaze" Blazejowski alongside nerdish morgue attendant Henry Winkler earned Keaton some critical acclaim, and he scored leads in the subsequent comedy hits Mr. Mom (1982) , Johnny Dangerously, and Gung Ho (1986). His role as the title character in the 1988 Tim Burton horror-comedy Beetlejuice, which starred Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, and Winona Ryder, earned Keaton widespread acclaim and boosted him to the A-list.
Keaton's career was given another major boost when in 1989 he was again cast by Burton, this time as millionaire playboy and crime-fighter Bruce Wayne in the big budget film Batman. After the Keaton casting, Warner Bros. received thousands of letters of complaint by fans commenting that the comedic Keaton was the wrong choice for Gotham City's creature of the night. However, their fears were proved wrong when Keaton turned in a widely-acclaimed performance.
Keen to diversify his work and take on different types of characters, Keaton next appeared as a psychotic tenant in Pacific Heights, and as a hard working cop in One Good Cop, both relative flops, but he returned to wear the black cape and cowl again in Batman Returns (1992).
He was prepared to return for Batman Forever (1995), even going so far as to show up for costume fitting. However, Burton (slated to executive produce) and Keaton both left the series after being dissatisfied with the campy screenplay the new director, Joel Schumacher, approved. According to the A&E Biography episode on Michael Keaton, Warner Brothers offered him 35 million dollars (one of the highest salaries offered to an actor at the time) but Keaton steadfastly refused. In a marked contrast to their initial reaction, many fans complaining about those films often demanded that not only that Tim Burton be rehired as director but that Keaton play Batman again.
He remained in demand during the 1990s, appearing in a wide range of films including the star-studded Shakespearian Much Ado About Nothing (1993), another Ron Howard comedy The Paper (1994), with Andie MacDowell in Multiplicity (1996), as Elmore Leonard character Agent Ray Nicolette in Jackie Brown (1997) and Out of Sight (1998), and in the thriller Desperate Measures (1998). Since 2000, Keaton has appeared in several productions with mixed success including Live From Baghdad (2002), White Noise (2005), First Daughter (2004), and with Lindsay Lohan (2005). While he continues to receive good notices from the critics (particularly for Jackie Brown), he has not been able to approach the box-office success of the Batman series.
As of 2006, he is starring in a new independent film called Game 6, a semi-thriller based around the famous baseball game of the same name, and has just been announced to be the lead in Media 8 Entertainment's upcoming film Reaper, a supernatural thriller, expected for a 2007 release.
Trivia
- Height: 5'10"
- First job was the operator of "Picture-Picture" on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
- Keaton was also in movies with future Batman film actresses Nicole Kidman (My Life and Batman Forever) and Katie Holmes (First Daughter and Batman Begins). He also made a cameo appearance with another Batman, George Clooney, in (Out of Sight and Batman & Robin).
- Has been married once to actress Caroline McWilliams. They have one son, Sean Douglas, who graduated from Washington University in St. Louis.
- Studied speech at Kent State University in Ohio.
- His hobbies are fly-fishing and riding horses at his ranches in California and Montana.
- Tim Burton cast him as the title role in Batman (1989) because he was the only actor Burton thought could believably portray someone who has the character's darkly obsessive personality.
- Attended Montour High School, a public school.
- Is the fourth of seven actors to play Batman in a live-action film (the first was Lewis Wilson in 1943's Batman, followed by Robert Lowery in 1949's Batman and Robin and Adam West in the 1960s film and television series. Keaton was followed by Val Kilmer in 1995's Batman Forever, George Clooney in 1997's Batman and Robin and Christian Bale in 2005's Batman Begins).
- Plays Agent Ray Nicolette in Jackie Brown (1997). He plays the same character (though uncredited) in Out of Sight (1998).
- Turned down the role of scientist Dr. Seth Brundle in David Cronenberg's remake The Fly (1986). The part eventually went to Jeff Goldblum another Pittsburgh native.
- Is a Pittsburgh Steelers football, Pittsburgh Pirates baseball and Pittsburgh Penguins hockey fan.
- His favorite channel is The Weather Channel.
- Appeared with the late Christopher Reeve in Speechless (1994). Keaton and Reeve played DC Comics' two most iconic characters, Batman and Superman, respectively.
- He was originally going to play the role of Dr. Jack Shephard on the TV show Lost, with the understanding being that the character would be killed early on in the show. Keaton had to turn down the part after the creators decided not to kill off the doctor, and the role went to Matthew Fox.
- His son, Sean, is in a band called "The Hatch."
- He left the big screen in 1998 and didn't appear in a feature film until First Daughter (2004).
- Was offered the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the 2003 film but turned it down.
- His catch phrase "come on" appears in a number of his films.
- Donated 2000 dollars to John Kerrys presidential bid
- In the SNL skit, Celebrity Jeopardy, Matthew Perry parodys Michael Keaton.
Filmography
- Night Shift (1982)
- Mr. Mom (1983)
- Johnny Dangerously (1984)
- Gung Ho (1986)
- Touch and Go (1986)
- The Squeeze (1987)
- She's Having a Baby (1988) (Cameo)
- Beetlejuice (1988)
- Clean and Sober (1988)
- The Dream Team (1989)
- Batman (1989)
- Pacific Heights (1990)
- One Good Cop (1991)
- Batman Returns (1992)
- Porco Rosso (1992) (voice in 2003 English dubbed version)
- Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
- My Life (1993)
- The Paper (1994)
- Speechless (1994)
- Multiplicity (1996)
- Inventing the Abbotts (1997) (narrator)
- Jackie Brown (1997)
- Desperate Measures (1998)
- Out of Sight (1998) (Cameo)
- Jack Frost (1998)
- A Shot at Glory (2000)
- Quicksand (2001)
- Live from Baghdad (2002)
- First Daughter (2004)
- White Noise (2005)
- (2005)
- Cars (2006) (Voice)
- Game 6 (2006)
- The Last Time (2006) (post-production)
- Reaper (2007) (pre-production)
External links
- [Story on Michael Keaton and his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates opening day controversy]
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