Michael Keaton

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Michael Keaton (b. September 5, 1951) is an American actor.

Keaton was born Michael John Douglas on September 5, 1951, to a 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 1988 Tim Burton horror-comedy Beetlejuice, which starred Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara and the late Sylvia Sidney.

Keaton's career was given another major boost when in 1989 he was again cast by Burton, this time as millionaire playboy and crime-fighter Bruce Wayne in the big budget film 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 and Keaton left after being dissatisfied with the screenplays the new director approved. It has also been reported that Keaton left the series because Warner Brothers studios would not meet his salary demands, but other than that the official explanation is that he simply did not like the artistic direction the franchise was headed in. 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 that Keaton 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), White Noise (2003), First Daughter (2004), and Herbie: Fully Loaded with Lindsay Lohan (2005).

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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, Sean Douglas, who 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 character's darkly obsessive personality.

Attended Montour High School, a public school.

Is the fourth of seven actors to play Batman in a live-action film (the first was Lewis Wilson in 1943's Batman, followed by Robert Lowery in 1949's Batman and Robin and Adam West in the 1960s film and television series. 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).

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, Pittsburgh Pirates baseball and Pittsburgh 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 after the creators decided not to kill off the doctor, and the role went to Matthew Fox.