Biography
Michael Keaton in Batman Returns (1992)
Michael Keaton (b. September 5, 1951) is an American actor.
Keaton was born Michael James Douglas on September 5, 1951, to an 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. His first major role was as the hilariously fast-talking schemer Bill "Blaze" Blazejowski alongside nerdish morgue attendant Henry Winkler in Night Shift in 1982.
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. Receiving some acclaim for his Night Shift (movie) role, Keaton scored leads in the subsequent comedy hits Mr. Mom (1982) , Johnny Dangerously, Gung Ho (1986) and as the title character in the Tim Burton horror-comedy Beetlejuice, which starred Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara and the late Sylvia Sidney, an icon of Burton.
Keaton's career was given another major boost when in 1989 he was again cast by Burton, this time as millionaire playboy/crime-fighter Bruce Wayne in the big budget film of 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 an acclaimed performance that many fans felt was particularly faithful to the comic books.
Keen to diversify his work and take on different types of characters, Keaton next appeared as a psychotic tenant in Pacific Heights, as a hard working cop in One Good Cop, and then he returned to wear the black cape and cowl again in Batman Returns (1992). The film series declined precipitiously under the otherwise well-regarded director Joel Schumacher, after Burton left and Keaton left as well after being dissatisfied with the screenplays the new director approved. 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 also rehiring Keaton to 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 a dogged cop in Jackie Brown (1997) and in the thriller Desperate Measures (1998). Since 2000, Keaton has appeared in several productions with mixed success including Live From Baghdad (2002), First Daughter (2004) and Herbie: Fully Loaded with Lindsay Lohan (2005).
Trivia
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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)(Batman Forever) and Katie Holmes (First Daughter)(Batman Begins). He also made a cameo appearance with another Batman, George Clooney, in (Out of Sight)(Batman & Robin).
Has been married once to older actress Caroline McWilliams. They have one son together named Sean Douglas who attended and 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 kind of darkly obsessive personality that the character has.
Attended Montour High School, a public school.
Is the fourth of seven actors to play Batman in a live-action film (1st was Lewis Wilson in 1943's BATMAN, 2nd was Robert Lowery in 1949's Batman and Robin, Adam West was 3rd with the 60's film and television series, 5th was Val Kilmer in 1995's Batman Forever, 6th was George Clooney in 1997's Batman and Robin and 7th was Christian Bale in 2005's Batman Begins).
Plays "Agent Ray Nicolette" in Jackie Brown (1997), the same character he plays (though uncredited) in Out of Sight (1998).
Turned down the role of the mad scientist Dr. Seth Brundle in David Cronenberg's remake The Fly (1986). The part eventually went to Jeff Goldblum.
Is a Pittsburgh Steelers football and Pittsbugh 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 the creators decided not to kill off the doctor, and Matthew Fox ended up playing the character.
His son, Sean, is in a band called "The Hatch".
He went away from the big-screen in 1998 and wasn't in a big-feature film until First Daughter (2004).
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)
Game 6 (2005)
Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005)
The Last Time (2006) (post-production)
Indiana Jones 4 (2007)
