Joe Keaton

Joseph Hallie Keaton July 6 1867 January 13 1946 was an American vaudeville performer and silent film actor He was the father of actor Buster Keaton and appeared with his son in several films Keaton was born a few miles south of Terre Haute Indiana to Libbie Jane and Joseph Francis Keaton IV Leaving home in 1889 the year of the Land Rush he homesteaded in the Oklahoma territory for a time securing a claim three and a half miles northwest of Edmond A few months into Keatons residency the neighboring homesteader a Canadian whom Keaton had befriended on their shared journey west was murdered and partially buried by a claim jumper the body was subsequently discovered and justice was meted out to the murderer by Keaton and a group of three or four men that included Robert Galbreath Jr 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 Myras 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 roughandtumble 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 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