Buster Keaton ever made. Keaton was recognized as the seventh-greatest film director by "Entertainment Weekly", and the American Film Institute ranked him in 1999 as the 21st greatest male star of classic Hollywood cinema. Keaton was born into a vaudeville family in Piqua, Kansas, the small town where his mother, Myra Keaton ("née" Cutler), was when she went into labor. He was named "Joseph" to continue a tradition on his father's side (he was sixth in a line bearing the name Joseph Keaton) and "Frank" for his maternal grandfather, who disapproved of his parents' union. Later, Keaton changed his middle name to
Buster Keaton minor publicity film produced in 1922, "Limelight" was the only time in which the two would ever appear together on film. In 1949, comedian Ed Wynn invited Keaton to appear on his CBS Television comedy-variety show, "The Ed Wynn Show", which was televised live on the West Coast. Kinescopes were made for distribution of the programs to other parts of the country since there was no transcontinental coaxial cable until September 1951. In 1950, Keaton's television series "The Buster Keaton Show" was broadcast live on a local Los Angeles station. "Life with Buster Keaton" (1951) was less well received as