Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton is an American actor. He was born Michael John Douglas on 5 September 1951 in Pennsylvania, USA. He is of English, Irish, Scottish and German descent. He has six siblings. He studied speech at Kent State for two years. Later he dropped out and moved to Pittsburgh. Initially, he tried his hand at stand-up comedy and later worked at a TV camera, man. It was then that he decided to be an actor. He appeared on TV for the first time on Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood (1968). He decided to keep his stage name Michael Keaton because there was already an actor called Michael Douglas. His comedic talent was displayed in Working Stiffs (1979), a comedy series where he was a co-star of James Belushi.

He also bagged a role in Night Shift (1982) by director Ron Howard. Later, he played the lead role in hits like Mr. Mom (1983), Johnny Dangerously (1984), Gung Ho (1986) and Beetlejuice (1988). In 1989, he played the role of titular role in Tim Burton’s Batman. Warner Bros. was at the receiving end of protests and complaints from fans who claimed that he was the wrong choice for portraying the superhero. Keaton’s fantastic performance proved the fears wrong and garnered praise from both, audiences and critics. He is the fourth actor to play Batman. He later starred in Pacific Heights (1990) and One Good Cop (1991) before returning to play Batman in the movie Batman Returns (1992). The sequel was a success.

In the 1990s, his career graph remained steady as he starred in movies like Much Ado About Nothing (1993), The Paper (1994), Multiplicity (1996), Jackie Brown (1997) and Desperate Measures (1998). In the 2000s, he appeared in Live From Baghdad (2002), First Daughter (2004) and Herbie Fully Loaded (2005). He provided the voice in animated movies like Cars (2006) and Toy Story 3 (2010). In 2014, he starred in RoboCop, Need for Speed and the Oscar-winning Birdman. He received an Oscar Nomination for his role in Birdman. He enjoys spending time on his ranch in Montana.