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| Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne in Batman, released in June, 1989. |
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| Michael Keaton |
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| Forecourt Ceremony held on Monday, June 15, 1992 |
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Born: Michael John Douglas, September 5, 1951, in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania
Age at the time of the ceremony: 40
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Michael Keaton was a major figure in 1980s and 1990s filmmaking. Since then, he has continued to follow his instincts, appearing in a wide array of projects. He is enjoying something of a second wind these days.
Born and raised in a small town down river from Pittsburgh, Keaton attended Kent State University, where he took speech classes and appeared in plays. Dropping out, Keaton applied for a job at his local PBS station in Pittsburgh, where he made his debut dressed as a panda bear on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood aired over PBS in April 1974. He remained as a production assistant with the show for a few years.
Changing his name and moving to Los Angeles to follow his star, Keaton was cast in small roles on shows like
Maude aired over CBS in February 1977, and The Tony Randall Show aired over CBS in March 1978. His big break came along when he co-starred as a studio page on The Mary Tyler Moore Hour but the show only lasted for 11 episodes, aired over CBS from March to June 1979.
He got his own show alongside Jim Belushi in
Working Stiffs but it too was short-lived. Only nine episodes were aired over CBS from September to November 1990. The Tiffany Network gave Keaton his own show, playing the title character, a probation officer, on Report to Murphy ; this time, the show lasted for only six episodes aired over CBS from April to May 1982.
Director Ron Howard liked Keaton's work on Report, and cast him in his black comedy Night Shift (which played the Chinese in July 1982); Keaton just about walked off with the picture. Keaton next co-starred with Teri Garr in Mr. Mom (released in August 1983). With a script by John Hughes (and re-written by others), Mr. Mom clicked. He then re-united with Ron Howard for Gung Ho (released in March 1986).
There was another director waiting to take what Keaton had: Tim Burton. Beetlejuice (which played the Chinese in April 1988), became for both men one of their early successes, and it remains a highly enjoyable film. Riding high now, Keaton starred in the drama Clean and Sober (released in August 1988), with Kathy Bates.
Director Burton famously cast Keaton as the title character in
Batman (which played the Chinese in June 1989), with Jack Nicholson. His casting met a storm of protest, but when the picture came out, critics and fans alike were captivated by Keaton's performance. It became a whopping hit.
Going in another direction altogether, he played a kooky bad guy in
Pacific Heights (released in September 1990), with Melanie Griffith, then returned in — well — Batman Returns (which played the Chinese in June 1992), with Danny DeVito. Warners offered Keaton a HUGE salary to appear in the third Batman film, but when Burton dropped out, so did Keaton.
Instead, he chose to appear in Kenneth Branagh's sunny film of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (released in May 1993), then did another picture with Ron Howard: The Paper (released in March 1994), with Glen Close. Keaton did a rom-com with his Beetlejuice co-star Geena Davis in Speechless (released in December 1994), which was a dud.
Changing into his hip suit, Keaton worked on director Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown (released in December 1997), with Pam Grier, and did a voice for an episode of The Simpsons aired over the Fox Network in January 2001. He did a guest star slot on Frasier aired over NBC in February 2002, with Kelsey Grammer.
Keaton portrayed CNN Gulf War correspondant Robert Wiener in
Live from Baghdad aired over HBO in December 2002, with Helena Bonham Carter, then portrayed the US president in the rom-com First Daughter (released in September 2004), with Katie Holmes in the title role.
Keaton starred in the quasi-horror film
White Noise (which played the Chinese in January 2005), with Deborah Kara Unger; then switching gears so to speak, he starred with Lindsay Lohan in Herbie Fully Loaded (released in June 2005). Remaining in the Disney fold, he voiced Chick Hicks in the animated Cars (released in June 2006).
Keaton played another real-life figure in the television movie
The Company aired over TNT in August 2007, with Chris O'Donnall. He played Alexis Bledel's dad in the comic soufflé Post Grad (released in August 2009). Providing the voice for "Ken" in Toy Story 3 (released in June 2010, became Keaton's biggest money-maker of his career, which is saying a lot. He participated in the comedy The Other Guys (released in August 2010), with Will Farrell. Continuing in a comic vein, Keaton appeared in a two-part episode of Tina Fey's 30 Rock aired over NBC in April 2011.
Keaton playes a bad guy in the convoluted crime thriller
Blindsided (released in January 2013), with Michelle Monaghan, and also in the remake of RoboCop (which played the Chinese in February 2014).
Fortune smiles on those who wait. Keaton plays an actor, struggling for legitimacy in
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (released in November 2014), with Zach Galifanakis. The film was both a critical and commercial success, winning a raft of Oscars and putting Keaton in the public eye once more.
Keaton has continued to balance smaller projects with larger films. He did a voice for
Minions (released in July 2015), was in the ensemble cast of Spotlight (released in November 2015), with Mark Ruffalo (that's two Best Picture Oscar winners in a row, folks), played the irascible businessman Ray Kroc in The Founder (released in January 2017), and played bad guy Adrian Toomes in Spider-Man: Homecoming (which played the Chinese in July 2017). Keaton played the Big Bad Guy ion director Tim Burton's remake of Dumbo (which played the Chinese in March 2019) with Colin Farrell.
Keaton starred with Stanley Tucci in Worth (released in January 2020), and played Ramsey Clark in The Trial of the Chicago 7 with Eddie Redmayne, streaming over Netflix in October 2020. He is one of the stars the mini series Dopesick, aired over Hulu in October 2021. He has a role in the super-hero film Morbius with Jared Leto (which played the Chinese in April 2022).
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| Mann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Michael Keaton Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, Monday, June 15, 1992. 49 x 44 inches. |
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| Mann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Michael Keaton Forecourt ceremony, Monday, June 15, 1992. Michael waves to the fans before putting his other paw into the cement. |
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