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
Myra Keaton died on July 21, 1955, in Los Angeles, California, aged 78. She died while her son, Buster, was on tour in England. She was buried at Glen Haven Memorial Park in Sylmar, California. Myra Keaton Myra Edith Keaton (née Cutler, March 13, 1877 – July 21, 1955) was an American vaudeville performer and film actress. She was the mother of actor Buster Keaton. Myra Keaton was born in Modale, Iowa, the daughter of Frank Luke Cutler (1849–1935) and Sarah Elizabeth (née Shaffer; 1850–1887). She had an older brother, Burt Melvin Cutler, and a half-brother, Clinton M. Cutler. As teenagers, Myra