Joe Keaton

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title: "Joe Keaton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1867-births", "1946-deaths", "american-male-silent-film-actors", "american-male-film-actors", "american-people-of-scotch-irish-descent", "american-vaudeville-performers", "male-actors-from-terre-haute,-indiana", "male-actors-from-ventura-county,-california", "20th-century-american-male-actors"] description: "American vaudeville actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Keaton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American vaudeville actor ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Joe Keaton
image	Joe Keaton early 1900s (cropped).jpg
caption	Keaton in the early 1900s
birth_name	Joseph Hallie Keaton
birth_date
birth_place	Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
spouse
children	3, including Buster
relatives	Eleanor Keaton (daughter-in-law)
resting_place	Inglewood Cemetery, Inglewood, California
::

| name = Joe Keaton | image = Joe Keaton early 1900s (cropped).jpg | caption = Keaton in the early 1900s | birth_name = Joseph Hallie Keaton | birth_date = | birth_place = Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | spouse = | children = 3, including Buster | relatives = Eleanor Keaton (daughter-in-law) | resting_place = Inglewood Cemetery, Inglewood, California

Joseph Hallie Keaton (July 6, 1867 – January 13, 1946) was an American vaudeville performer, eccentric dancer and silent film actor. He was the father of actor Buster Keaton and appeared with his son in several films.

Life and career

Keaton was born a few miles south of Terre Haute, Indiana, to Libbie Jane and Joseph Francis Keaton IV.

On May 31, 1894, Joe Keaton eloped with Myra Edith Cutler, who became known as Myra Keaton. Myra performed with Joe in a vaudeville act called the Two Keatons. Joe and Myra's first child was Joseph Frank Keaton, who became known as the silent film actor Buster Keaton; their other children were Harry Keaton and Louise Keaton.

When Buster was only a few years old, he joined the act, which became the Three Keatons. The act was a rough-and-tumble one, with Buster being thrown around on stage most of the time. As the years went by, Joe Keaton became an alcoholic; when Buster was 21, Myra left him, taking Buster with her. However, after Buster found success in silent film, he supported Joe and gave him small parts in several movies. Myra and Joe reunited, but eventually split up again. He lived alone in a Hollywood hotel for many years. He stopped drinking with the help of a girlfriend who was a Christian Scientist.

Death

Joe Keaton died on January 13, 1946, at his home in Hollywood after a long illness, according to the New York Times. However, Buster later said he was hit by a car, and state death records show that he died in Ventura. He was buried in Inglewood Cemetery in Inglewood, California, in an unmarked grave. In 2018, Keaton fans around the world raised the necessary funds and had the grave marked with a headstone.

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1917	A Country Hero	Cy Klone, Garage Owner	Short
1918	Out West	Man on train
The Bell Boy	Guest
Good Night, Nurse!	Man in bandages	Short, uncredited
1920	The Scarecrow	Farmer
Convict 13	Prisoner	Short
Neighbors	His father
1921	The Goat	Minor role	Short, uncredited
1922	The Electric House	Buster's Father in Prologue
Day Dreams	The Girls Father
1923	Our Hospitality	The Engineer
1924	Sherlock Jr.	The Girl's Father
1925	Go West	Man in Barber Shop	Uncredited
1926	The General	Union General #1
1928	Steamboat Bill, Jr.		Unconfirmed, uncredited
1934	Evelyn Prentice	Court Reporter	Unconfirmed, uncredited
1935	Palooka from Paducah	Pa Diltz	Short (final film role)
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Television

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Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Compression	Unknown	Achieve footage, posthumously release
::

References

References

1. "Gossip of the Corridors". The Houston Post Vol. 23, Ed. 1 January 2, 1908.
2. (1966). "Keaton". The MacMillan Company.
3. (2008). "Buster Keaton: The Persistence of Comedy". Gambit Publishing.
4. (January 15, 1946). "Joseph Keaton, Father of Film Comedian, an Old Vaudeville Trouper, Dies". [[New York Times]].
5. (1966). "Keaton". The MacMillan Company.
6. "Family search item". www.familysearch.org.
7. "Screenland Secrets by John Holt". The Queenslander Thursday 27 December 1934.
8. "Detail view of Movies Page".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::