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| Birth Name(s) : Michael John Douglas |
Date of Birth: September 9, 1951 |
| Status:
N/A
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Partner:
N/A |
| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Michael Keaton Biography
Keaton, a former speech major at Kent State University and nightclub comedian, landed a costarring role (with Jim Belushi) in a 1979 sitcom, "Working Stiffs," that died after just three weeks. He first startled moviedom with his side-splitting debut in Night Shift (1982), which he stole effortlessly from its ostensible lead, Henry Winkler. ("Is this a great country or what?" Mr. Mom (1983) gave him his first solo starring hit.
After playing a mental patient in The Dream Team (1989), a fitfully funny comedy, Keaton went villainous in Pacific Heights (1990), portraying a ruthless, scheming tenant. He was a New York policeman in One Good Cop (1991), an uneasy mixture of urban toughness and cloying sentimentality that fizzled at the box office. In 1993 he played the scuzzy Dogberry, with an accent of indeterminate origin, in Kenneth Branagh's production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing then returned to safer ground as an expectant father in the tearjerker My Life Keaton followed with The Paper and Speechless (both 1994). |
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Additional Michael Keaton Biography
Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor, perhaps best known for his early comedic roles in films such as Night Shift, Beetlejuice, and his portrayal of Batman in the two Tim Burton directed films of the series.
An unsuccessful attempt at stand-up comedy led Keaton to working as a TV cameraman at local public television station WQED (TV). Keaton first appeared on TV in several episodes of the Pittsburgh-based public television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1975) and he came to realize he wanted to work in front of the cameras. His first acting job was on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as one of the "Flying Zucchini Brothers." He also served as a full-time production assistant on the show, and directed several "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" segments. In 2003, following Rogers' death, Keaton hosted the PBS memorial tribute program, Fred Rogers: Everybody's Favorite Neighbor. Keaton left Pittsburgh and moved to Los Angeles to begin auditioning for various TV parts. He cropped up in various 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, as well as satisfying SAG rules, 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 (1983), Johnny Dangerously (1984), 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. That same year, Keaton also gave an acclaimed dramatic performance as a drug addicted businessman in Clean and Sober. Some even mentioned an Oscar nomination for him. Newsweek featured the young actor in a story during this time.
Keaton's career was given another major boost when in 1989 he was again cast by Burton, this time as billionaire playboy and crime-fighter Bruce Wayne in the big budget film Batman. Tim Burton cast him in the title role of Batman (1989) because he thought that Keaton was the only actor who could believably portray someone who has the kind of darkly obsessive personality that the character demands. 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, given his prior work in comedies and the fact that he lacked the suave, handsome features and tall, muscular physicality often attributed to the character in the comic books. However, Keaton gained acclaim with his sophisticated and landmark performance, making Batman the highest-grossing film of the year.
He was prepared to return for Batman Forever (1995), even going so far as to show up for costume fitting. However, when Burton was dropped by Warner Bros. (slated to co-producer), Keaton left the series after being dissatisfied with the screenplay the new director, Joel Schumacher, approved, which Keaton considered to be lighter in tone in comparison to the past two Batman movies. According to the A&E Biography episode on Michael Keaton, after he had refused the first time (due to analysis of the script and meetings with Schumacher), Warner Brothers then offered him $35,000,000 (one of the highest salaries offered to an actor at the time), but Keaton steadfastly refused. In marked contrast to their initial reaction, many fans complaining about the following two Batman films often demanded not only that Tim Burton be rehired as director but that Keaton play Batman again.
In 2006, Keaton starred in an independent film called Game 6, a semi-thriller based around the infamous 1986 World Series bid by the Boston Red Sox. Keaton has also just been announced to be the lead in Media 8 Entertainment's upcoming film Reaper, a supernatural thriller, expected for a 2008 release. He has also recently agreed to star as John Target in the Matt Evans scripted No Rule To Make Target. He is directing the drama movie The Merry Gentleman. Keaton was also cast as Dr. Jack Shephard in the series Lost, with the understanding that Jack would have been a small role and only in the show for a short time, however the character was given a large role and Keaton couldn't commit to it because of other commitments, the role was later given to actor Matthew Fox. |
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