October 4th 1895 - January 31st 1966
Joseph Frank (Buster) Keaton was born into a family of vaudevillians. Joseph, his father, did an eccentric dance act and his mother, Myra, danced and played the saxophone. He was the oldest of three siblings; he had one brother, Harry (Jingles), and a sister, Louise, both of whom would later appear with the rest of his family in some of his movie shorts. Buster joined his parents' act at a very early age. It soon developed into the roughest act on vaudeville, with Buster's father hitting his son with brooms and other objects and throwing him around the stage. This is where Keaton learned his amazing falls and stunts. He also later claimed that that was when he learned to keep a straight face throughout any adversity. The dead pan got more laughs, it also hid the pain.
