Actor, born in Caraopolis, Pennsylvania, USA. He started with Chicago's Second City improvisational group, then went to Los Angeles and appeared in a few film comedies. His breakthrough came with the film Mr Mom (1983), and five years later, after Beetlejuice (1988) and Clean and Sober (1988), he was named Best Actor by national film critics. Other films include Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Multiplicity (1996), Jack Frost (1998), and Cars (2006).
| Michael Keaton | |
|
Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Returns |
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| Birth name | Michael John Douglas |
| Born |
September 5, 1951 (age 55) Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Height | 5'10" (1.78 m) |
| Notable roles |
Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman and Batman Returns Beetlejuice in Beetlejuice. |
| Spouse(s) | Caroline McWilliams (1982-1990) |
Michael Keaton (born Michael John Douglas on September 5, 1951) is an American actor.
Early life
Keaton was born in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh), and studied speech for two years at Kent State, before dropping out and moving to Pittsburgh.
Early career
Keaton left Pittsburgh and moved to Los Angeles to begin auditioning for various TV parts. 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 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 (1982) , Johnny Dangerously, 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.
Batman
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 has. According to Keaton, he wasn't surprised when he was first cast as Batman since he was only familiar with the 1960's Batman tv show, but it wasn't until Burton introduced Keaton to Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" that Keaton really understood the dark and brooding side of Batman which he portrayed to much fan approval.
Keen to diversify his work and take on different types of characters, Keaton next appeared as a psychotic tenant in Pacific Heights, and as a hard working cop in One Good Cop, both relative flops, but he returned to wear the black cape and cowl again in Batman Returns (1992). According to the A&E Biography episode on Michael Keaton, after he'd refused the first time (due to analysis of the script and meetings with Schumacher, Warner Brothers then offered him 35 million dollars (one of the highest salaries offered to an actor at the time) but Keaton steadfastly refused. In a 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.
1990s
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 Elmore Leonard character Agent Ray Nicolette in Jackie Brown (1997) and Out of Sight (1998), and in the thriller Desperate Measures (1998).
2000s
Since 2000, Keaton has appeared in several productions with mixed success including Live From Baghdad (2002), White Noise (2005), First Daughter (2004), and Herbie: Fully Loaded with Lindsay Lohan (2005). Keaton was also in movies with future Batman film actresses Nicole Kidman (My Life and Batman Forever) and Katie Holmes (First Daughter and Batman Begins). Keaton was followed by Val Kilmer in 1995's Batman Forever, George Clooney in 1997's Batman and Robin and Christian Bale in 2005's Batman Begins). Keaton and Reeve played DC Comics' two most iconic characters, Batman and Superman, respectively. In one installment of the Saturday Night Live skit, Celebrity Jeopardy, Matthew Perry parodies Michael Keaton, prominently borrowing elements from Keaton's performance in his first film Night Shift.
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