Michael Keaton's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) The Company James Angle… The Mary Tyler Moore Hour Kenneth Chr… Gary the Rat Jerry Andrews Report to Murphy Murphy The Tony Randall Show Zeke Working Stiffs Mike O'Rourke

Main Movie Roles 2010 - Toy Story 3 2010 - The Other Guys 2009 - Post Grad 2008 - The Merry Gentleman 2006 - Cars 2006 - The Last Time 2005 - Herbie Fully Loaded 2004 - First Daughter 1998 - Jack Frost 1998 - Out of Sight 1998 - Desperate Measures 1997 - Jackie Brown 1997 - Inventing the Abbotts 1996 - Multiplicity 1994 - Speechless 1994 - The Paper 1993 - Much Ado About Nothing 1992 - Batman Returns 1990 - Pacific Heights 1989 - Batman 1989 - The Dream Team 1988 - Clean and Sober 1988 - She's Having a Baby 1986 - Gung Ho 1984 - Johnny Dangerously 1983 - Mr. Mom 1982 - Night Shift

BIOGRAPHY:

Quirky, inventive and handsome US actor who first achieved major fame with his door busting performance as fast talking, ideas man Bill Blazejowski alongside nerdish morgue attendant Henry Winkler in Night Shift (1982). Keaton was born Michael John Douglas on September 5th, 1951 in Corapolis, Pennsylvannia and studied speech for two years at Kent State, before dropping out and moving to Pittsburgh. An unsuccessful attempt at stand up comedy led Keaton to working as a TV cameraman in a cable station, and he came to realize he wanted to work in front of the cameras.

Keaton first appeared on TV in several episodes of "MisteRogers' Neighborhood" (1968). He left Pittsburgh and moved to Los Angeles to begin auditioning for TV. He began cropping up in popular TV shows including "Maude" (1972) and "The Mary Tyler Moore Hour" (1979). Around this time Keaton decided to use an alternative surname to remove confusion with better-known actor Michael Douglas (I). After reading an article on actress Diane Keaton, he decided that Michael Keaton sounded good. His next break was scoring a co-starring role alongside James Belushi in the short-lived comedy series "Working Stiffs" (1979), which showcased his comedic talent and led to his co-starring role in Night Shift (1982). Keaton next scored the lead in the comedy hits Mr. Mom (1983), Johnny Dangerously (1984) , Gung Ho (1986) and the Tim Burton (I) horror-comedy _Beetlejuice (1988)_.

Keaton's career was given another major boost when, in 1989, Tim Burton (I) cast him as millionaire playboy / crime-fighter Bruce Wayne in the big budget Batman (1989). To say there were howls of protest by fans of the caped crusader comic strip is an understatement! Warner Bros. was deluged with thousands of letters of complaint commenting that comedian Keaton was the wrong choice for the Caped Crusader. Their fears were proven wrong when Keaton turned in a sensational performance, and he held his own on screen with opponent Jack Nicholson playing the lunatic villain, The Joker. Keen to diversify his work, Keaton next appeared as a psychotic tenant in Pacific Heights (1990), as a hard working cop in One Good Cop (1991) and then donned the black cape and cowl once more for Batman Returns (1992).

He remained in demand during the 1990s, appearing in a wide range of films including the star-studded Shakespearian Much Ado About Nothing (1993), another Ron Howard (I) comedy The Paper (1994), with sexy Andie MacDowell in Multiplicity (1996), as a dogged cop in Jackie Brown (1997) and the mediocre thriller Desperate Measures (1998). More recently, Keaton has appeared in several productions with mixed success, including Live from Baghdad (2002) (TV), First Daughter (2004) and Herbie Fully Loaded (2005).


TRIVIA:

• An avid Pittsburgh Steelers football fan, he grew up about five miles from former Steelers coach 'Bill Cowher' (qv)'s hometown of Crafton, Pennsylvania.
• Played Agent Ray Nicolette in _Jackie Brown (1997)_ (qv) and again in _Out of Sight (1998)_ (qv).
• Was originally slated to play 'Jeff Daniels (I)' (qv) character in 'Woody Allen' (qv)'s _The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)_ (qv) and actually did film some scenes, but Allen decided it wasn't working and replaced him with Daniels.
• When he realized he needed to change his name, he remembered an article he had read with a nice picture of 'Diane Keaton' (qv). He chose her last name with the intention of changing it later. However, the name stuck. Years later, he phoned her and thanked her. The two have never actually met.
• Appeared with the late 'Christopher Reeve' (qv) in _Speechless (1994)_ (qv). Keaton and Reeve played DC Comics two most iconic characters, Batman and Superman, respectively.
• According to 'Mike Myers (I)' (qv) on _"Revealed with Jules Asner" (2001)_ (qv), Keaton saw the comic actor perform at Second City Toronto. After the show ended, Keaton went to personally congratulate Myers and said, "Keep up the great work." Myers would soon work with Keaton on an episode of _"Saturday Night Live" (1975)_ (qv) when Keaton was guest host.
• Has a son, Sean Maxwell Douglas (born May 27, 1983), with ex-wife 'Caroline McWilliams' (qv).
• Was offered to play either Peter Venkman or Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters (1984) but turned down both parts, which went to Bill Murray and Harold Ramis.