Joe Keaton 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 of his 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 Keaton's residency, the neighboring homesteader (a Canadian whom
Buster Keaton Rides Again with a retrospective of Keaton's work including scenes from "The Butcher Boy" (1917), "The Frozen North" (1922), "Seven Chances" (1925), and "The General" (1927). Keaton and Gerald Potterton, his director on "The Railrodder", discussed and occasionally argued over gags in the film with the director concerned about the safety of his star. During the filming of "The Railrodder", Keaton celebrated his 69th birthday. He also had the opportunity to meet fans across Canada. Filmed concurrently with the production of "The Railrodder" during the fall of 1964, the NFB documentary was filmed in black-and-white, as opposed to the short film itself,