Joseph Hallie Keaton

Joseph Hallie Keaton , known as Joe Keaton (July 6, 1867 – January 13, 1946) was an American comedian and the father of Buster Keaton. Joe Keaton and his wife Myra were vaudeville performers in the early 1900s. Joe Keaton was Harry Houdini's partner in the Mohawk Indian Medicine Company . Joe danced and did somersaults, Myra played the saxophone, and Houdini performed card tricks and amazed audiences by escaping from the local sheriff's handcuffs with remarkable ease. Their son Buster joined them when he was only a few months old. Over the years, Joe Keaton became an alcoholic, which caused Buster to give up acting when he was a teenager. Myra and Joe separated shortly after Buster came of age. He lived alone in the Hollywood Hotel for many years and was said to have given up drinking and become a Christian. Joe died after a long illness. Read More