Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton (born Michael John Douglas, 5.9.1951)

Michael Keaton is an American film actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Tim Burton-directed Batman films and Beetlejuice.

Michael Keaton: Childhood

Michael Keaton is the youngest of seven children. He was born in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania and his Catholic family lived in Robinson Township, Alleghny County. His mother was a housewife and his father was a civil engineer.

Keaton attended Montour High School in Pennsylvania and then studied speech at Kent State University, but dropped out and moved to Pittsburgh.

Michael Keaton: Acting Career

Michael Keaton’s first TV appearance came in 1975, on the Pittsburgh-based Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood. He also worked as an assistant on the show. He also befriended Spike Jonze early on in his career, when he appeared in a Jonze-directed advert for Architect Jeans.

After leaving Pittsburgh, Keaton successfully auditioned for a number of small TV roles in Los Angeles, including The Mary Tyler Moore Hour and Maude. Having to change his name, to avoid confusion with the actor Michael Douglas, he chose Keaton, inspired by the actress Diane Keaton.

A significant break came for Michael Keaton when he appeared alongside James Belushi in Working Stiffs, as well as appearing in a Ron Howard-directed comedy, Night Shift, which also starred Henry Winkler and Shelley Long. His reputation as a decent comic actor was bolstered by appearances in Mr. Mom, Johnny Dangerously and Gung Ho.

Michael Keaton’s crossover to the mainstream came in 1988 when he was cast in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, which also starred Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis. Moving away from comedy, he also gave an acclaimed performance as a drug-addict businessman in Clean and Sober.

Tim Burton gave Michael Keaton another break the following year when he cast him as the lead in his comic book adaptation, Batman. The film also starred Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger. Keaton returned to the role in 1992 for Batman Returns, which featured Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny DeVito. Michael Keaton had been lined up to play Batman once more in Batman Forever but left the franchise when Tim Burton was dropped by Warner Bros. in favour of Joel Schumacher. The role went to Val Kilmer and later George Clooney and Christian Bale.

The 1990s continued to be a steady success for `Michael Keaton, though lacking the blockbuster successes that preceded them. Amongst his successes were Pacific Heights (with Melanie Griffith), One Good Cop (with Rene Russo). He then went on to feature in Much Ado About Nothing, in a star-studded cast that featured Kenneth Branagh, Richard Briers, Keanu Reeves, Emma Thompson and Denzel Washington.

Keaton returned to work with Ron Howard in The Paper and then worked alongside Andie MacDowell in Multiplicity. In the Quentin Tarantino movie Jackie Brown, Keaton performed alongside Pam Grier and Samuel L. Jackson. He then starred in the Steven Soderbergh-directed Out of Sight, with George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez.

In 1998, Keaton starred in Desperate Measures, with Marcia Gay Harden and Andy Garcia. He followed this with a lightweight Christmas release, Jack Frost.

In Speechless, Keaton worked with Geena Davis once more, as well as Christopher Reeve.

Michael Keaton was nominated for a Golden Globe award for his performance in the HBO movie Live From Baghdad in 2002. It also starred Helena Bonham Carter. The years following this failed to regain Keaton’s former box office success. He starred opposite Katie Holmes in the box office flop First Daughter (directed by Forest Whitaker). He also appeared in Herbie: Fully Loaded with Lindsay Lohan. In 2006, Keaton provided the voice for Chick Hicks in the animated Cars as well as putting in a cameo appearance in the Tenacious D film Time Fixers.

Michael Keaton: Personal Life

Michael Keaton was formerly married to the actress Caroline McWilliams. They have a son together, Sean Maxwell (b.1983). Michael Keaton also dated Courtney Cox for around six years.