Buster Keaton Talmadge. She co-starred with him in "Our Hospitality". The couple had sons Joseph, called Buster Jr. (June 2, 1922 – February 14, 2007), and Robert (February 3, 1924 – July 19, 2009), both of whom later took the surname Talmadge. After the birth of Robert, the relationship began to suffer. Talmadge decided not to have more children, and this led to the couple staying in separate bedrooms. Her financial extravagance was another factor in the breakdown of the marriage, as she would spend up to a third of his salary on clothes. Keaton dated actress Dorothy Sebastian beginning in the
Buster Keaton his independent setup for employment at Hollywood's biggest studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Keaton's loss of independence as a filmmaker coincided with the coming of sound films (although he was interested in making the transition) and mounting personal problems, and his career in the early sound era was hurt as a result. Keaton signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1928, a business decision that he would later call the worst of his life. He realized too late that the studio system MGM represented would severely limit his creative input. For instance, the studio refused his request to make his early project, "Spite Marriage", as