Buster Keaton: The Great Stoneface
Buster Keaton was one of three great silent film comedians (along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd). Born into a performing family, Keaton’s father Joe owned a traveling vaudeville show with Harry Houdini called the Mohawk Indian Medicine Company. At the age of 18 months, Keaton fell down a flight of stairs without injury. Houdini observed the event and said, “That was a real buster.” The nickname stuck.
Keaton began performing with his parents at age three in a comedy act called The Three Keatons. As part of the act, he was manhandled and tossed around stage by his father while his mother played saxophone. A suitcase handle was sewn into Keaton’s clothing making him easier to toss. Father Joe was arrested for child abuse on stage but after the boy showed authorities he had no bruises or broken bones, the elder Keaton was released. Keaton became known as “the little boy who can’t be damaged.”
Keaton learned how to take a pratfall at an early age. “The secret is landing limp and breaking the fall with a foot or a hand. Several times I’d have been killed if I hadn’t been able to land like a cat.” Keaton also learned that smiling on stage drew fewer laughs than a deadpan expression. This is how Keaton acquired his famous “stoneface” demeanor that became his signature.
