Died Today (February 1st): Buster Keaton (1895–1966)

Buster Keaton (1895–1966)

Born: October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, USA
Died: February 1, 1966 (age 70) in Los Angeles, California, USA

Half of our scenes, for God’s sakes, we only just talked over. We didn’t actually get out there and rehearse ’em. We would just walk through it and talk about it. We crank that first rehearsal. Because any thing can happen–and generally did . . . We used the rehearsal scenes instead of the second take.

[on the advent of sound in the movies] In every picture it got tougher. They’d laugh their heads off at dialogue written by all your new writers. They were joke-happy. They didn’t look for action; they were looking for funny things to say.

The Boat: Short Film 1921 dir. Keaton starring Keaton The Balloonatic 1923 dir. Keaton Starring Keaton Phyllis Haver Sherlock Jr 1924 dir. Keaton starring Keaton Kathryn McGuire The General