Joe Keaton(1867-1946)
- Actor
Joe Keaton and wife Myra were grade-Z vaudeville performers in the
early 1900s. Their son Buster joined the act when he was only a few
months old. 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, which forced Buster to quit the act by the
time he was a teenager. However, after he hit it big in silent film,
Buster provided Joe with small parts in several movies. Myra and Joe
split up long after Buster had become an adult. She'd had it with the
constant verbal and physical abuse Joe put her through. He lived alone
in a Hollywood hotel for many years and was said to have stopped
drinking after becoming a Christian Scientist. Buster said Joe died as
a result of being run over by a passing car.