Michael Keaton: biography, personal life, photo, filmography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Michael Keaton is an American actor, producer and director. Best known for playing the superhero Batman in two films directed by Tim Burton, he is also known for his work in the films Beetlejuice, Jackie Brown, Birdman, Spotlight and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Golden Globe Award Winner.

Childhood and youth

Michael Keaton was born on September 5, 1951 in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. Real name is Michael John Douglas. Has Irish, Scottish and German roots.

After graduating from high school, he entered the University of Kent, where he studied for two years. Actively participated in student theater productions. Dropped out after sophomore year and moved to Pittsburgh.

Career start

Michael Keaton worked as a youngster for local television in Pittsburgh, where he not only appeared on screen, but also worked as an assistant director. Also played on the stage of Pittsburgh theaters.

After a fewyears, the actor moved to Los Angeles, where he began to audition for various projects. Under the terms of the US Actors Guild, he had to choose a pseudonym for himself, since the organization already had another actor with that name, the future star of the films "Wall Street" and "Basic Instinct".

Michael Keaton appeared in small roles in the television series Maudie and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. In 1977, he received a regular role in the sitcom "All Means Are Good", appeared in five episodes, but the series was canceled by the channel after the first season.

The actor continued to appear in small roles in television films and series. In 1979, he landed a starring role in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which was also canceled after the first season.

Comedy roles

Also in 1979, Michael Keaton landed a starring role in another comedy series The Workers, where he played the brother of James Belushi's character. However, this series turned out to be a failure and was canceled after showing only four episodes.

However, largely thanks to this work, the actor got a role in Ron Howard's black comedy "The Night Shift". The film received excellent reviews from critics and performed well at the box office. After that, several successful comedy films starring Michael Keaton were released.

In 1983, the actor starred in the comedy "Mr. Mom", which grossed over sixty million dollars at the box office. also inthe next few years appeared in the films "Johnny Danger" and "Enthusiast", both of them were successful financially.

International success

Michael Keaton's breakthrough year was 1988. He starred in Tim Burton's horror comedy Beetlejuice, which grossed over $70 million worldwide and received critical acclaim.

Also, Keaton played his first notable dramatic role in the film "In a Sober Mind and a Firm Memory". The picture performed poorly at the box office, but Michael received excellent marks for his work and at the end of the year became the best actor according to the US National Board of Film Critics.

In 1989, Tim Burton's film "Batman" was released, the main role of the popular superhero was played by Michael Keaton. The actor was not the most obvious choice, many only saw him as a comedian. He himself initially believed that since he was invited to the project, it would be a comedy in the style of the series with Adam West as Batman.

According to legend, the studio received tens of thousands of letters from fans who protested the director's decision. However, after the release of the film, Keaton received excellent reviews from critics and audiences, and the picture became one of the highest grossing films of the year.

Later, Michael reappeared as Bruce Wayne in the sequel to the film. He was supposed to play a major role in the third part, but abandoned the project after BurtonThe director was replaced by Joel Schumacher. According to rumors, the studio offered the actor fifteen million dollars for participation in the film.

On the wave of popularity, Michael Keaton also appeared in the thriller "The Tenant", the comedy "Much Ado About Nothing" and the drama "The Newspaper". He also played the role of FBI agent Ray Nicoletto in Quentin Tarantino's film "Jackie Brown" based on the work of Elmore Leonard. He then appeared as the same character in another adaptation of Leonard's, Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight.

The decline of popularity

In subsequent years, Michael Keaton took part in several unsuccessful projects, including the Christmas comedy "Jack Frost", which became one of the main box office failures of 1998. He has been successful in television, appearing in the TV movie "From Baghdad Live" and the mini-series "The Office".

The most successful projects in the new millennium for Keaton were the horror film "White Noise" and the animated films "Cars" and "Toy Story". The actor turned down the lead role in Lost, which eventually became one of the most popular television projects of the 2000s.

In 2008, Michael Keaton's directorial debut The Merry Sir, where he played a depressed assassin, was released, but the project received mixed reviews from critics and audiences. In 2010, the actor appeared in a bright supporting role in the parody comedy "Cops in DeepStock".

Return

2014 was a breakthrough year in Michael Keaton's career, at first he took part in two summer blockbusters, playing minor, but very bright roles in the films "Robocop" and "Need for Speed". And then he played the main role in the drama "Birdman" directed by Alejandro González Iñarritu, playing an actor who was previously known as a superhero, but now his fame has faded.

The film received rave reviews from critics and won an Oscar in the Best Picture category. Michael Keaton was considered the main favorite for the statuette in the category "Best Actor", however, unexpectedly for many, he lost to Briton Eddie Redmayne.

However, this project revived the actor's career somewhat. The following year, he starred in Spotlight, which won the Academy Award for Best Film of the Year. In 2016, Michael Keaton starred in the film The Founder as famed businessman Ray Kroc.

In the same year, it became known that the actor would play in a new film about the superhero Spider-Man. Initially, it was kept a secret which character he would bring to the screen, but then photos of Michael Keaton appeared from the set in the costume of the supervillain Vulture. The picture received excellent reviews from critics and became a hit at the box office.

Future projects

Michael will appear in the sequel soon"Spider-Man: Homecoming", and will also play in the game adaptation of the famous cartoon "Dumbo".

Private life

Not too much is known about Michael Keaton's personal life. He was married to actress Carolyn McWilliams from 1982 to 1990, from which the actor has a son, Sean. Also dated Friends actress Courteney Cox from 1989 to 1995