Buster Keaton filmography explained
This is a list of films by the American actor, comedian, and filmmaker Buster Keaton.
Short films
Starring Roscoe Arbuckle, featuring Buster Keaton
| Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes |
|---|
| Writer | Director | Role |
|---|
| April 23, 1917 | The Butcher Boy | | | Buster | First film role |
| June 25, 1917 | The Rough House | | | Gardener / Delivery Boy / Cop | Co-directed and co-written by Roscoe Arbuckle |
| August 20, 1917 | His Wedding Night | | | Delivery boy | — |
| September 30, 1917 | Oh Doctor! | | | Junior Holepoke | — |
| October 29, 1917 | Coney Island | | | Rival / Cop with mustache | — |
| December 10, 1917 | A Country Hero | | | Vaudeville artist | Lost film |
| January 20, 1918 | Out West | | | Sheriff / Saloon owner | — |
| March 18, 1918 | The Bell Boy | | | Bellboy | — |
| May 13, 1918 | Moonshine | | | Revenue agent | — |
| July 6, 1918 | Good Night, Nurse! | | | Dr. Hampton / Woman with umbrella | — |
| September 15, 1918 | The Cook | | | Waiter | — |
| September 7, 1919 | Back Stage | | | Stagehand | — |
| October 26, 1919 | The Hayseed | | | Manager, general store | — |
| January 11, 1920 | The Garage | | | Mechanic / Fireman | — | |
Starring Buster Keaton under Buster Keaton Productions
| Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes |
|---|
| Writer | Director | Role |
|---|
| September 1, 1920 | One Week | | | The groom | — |
| October 27, 1920 | Convict 13 | | | Golfer turned prisoner / Guard | — |
| December 22, 1920 | Neighbors | | | The boy | — |
| December 22, 1920 | The Scarecrow | | | Farmhand | — |
| February 10, 1921 | The Haunted House | | | Bank clerk | — |
| March 14, 1921 | Hard Luck | | | Suicidal boy | — |
| April 12, 1921 | The High Sign | | | Our hero | — |
| May 18, 1921 | The Goat | | | Buster Keaton | — |
| October 6, 1921 | The Playhouse | | | Audience / Orchestra / Mr. Brown – First Minstrel / Second Minstrel / Interlocutors / Stagehand | — |
| November 10, 1921 | The Boat | | | The boat builder | — |
| January 1922 | The Paleface | | | Little Chief Paleface | — |
| March 1922 | Cops | | | The young man | — |
| May 1922 | My Wife's Relations | | | The husband | — |
| July 21, 1922 | The Blacksmith | | | Blacksmith's assistant | — |
| August 28, 1922 | The Frozen North | | | The bad man | — |
| October 16, 1922 | The Electric House | | | Buster Keaton | — |
| November 1922 | Day Dreams | | | The young man | Distributed by
First National Pictures |
| January 22, 1923 | The Balloonatic | | | The young man | — |
| March 1923 | The Love Nest | | | Buster Keaton | — | |
Starring Buster Keaton for Educational Pictures
| Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes |
|---|
| Writer | Director | Role |
|---|
| March 16, 1934 | The Gold Ghost | | | Wally | — |
| May 25, 1934 | Allez Oop | | | Elmer | — |
| January 11, 1935 | Palooka from Paducah | | | Jim Diltz | — |
| February 22, 1935 | One Run Elmer | | | Elmer | — |
| March 15, 1935 | Hayseed Romance | | | Elmer Dolittle | — |
| May 3, 1935 | Tars and Stripes | | | Apprentice seaman Elmer Doolittle | — |
| August 9, 1935 | The E-Flat Man | | | Elmer | — |
| October 25, 1935 | The Timid Young Man | | | Milton | — |
| January 3, 1936 | Three on a Limb | | | Elmer Brown | — |
| February 21, 1936 | Grand Slam Opera | | | Elmer Butts | — |
| August 21, 1936 | Blue Blazes | | | Elmer | — |
| October 9, 1936 | The Chemist | | | Elmer Triple | — |
| November 20, 1936 | Mixed Magic | | | Elmer "Happy" Butterworth | — |
| January 8, 1937 | Jail Bait | | | Office Boy | — |
| February 12, 1937 | Ditto | | | The forgotten man | — |
| March 26, 1937 | Love Nest on Wheels | | | Elmer | — | |
Starring Buster Keaton for Columbia Pictures
| Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes |
|---|
| Writer | Director | Role |
|---|
| June 16, 1939 | Pest from the West | | | Sir | — |
| August 11, 1939 | Mooching Through Georgia | | | Homer Cobb | — |
| January 19, 1940 | Nothing But Pleasure | | | Clarence Plunkett | — |
| March 22, 1940 | Pardon My Berth Marks | | | Elmer – Newspaper Copyboy | — |
| June 28, 1940 | The Taming of the Snood | | | Buster Keaton | — |
| September 20, 1940 | The Spook Speaks | | | Buster | — |
| December 13, 1940 | His Ex Marks the Spot | | | Buster – the husband | — |
| February 21, 1941 | So You Won't Squawk | | | Eddie | — |
| September 18, 1941 | General Nuisance | | | Peter Lamar – Jr. | — |
| November 20, 1941 | She's Oil Mine | | | Buster Waters, plumber | — | |
Starring Buster Keaton for independent producers
| Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes |
|---|
| Writer | Director | Role |
|---|
| October 15, 1952 | Paradise for Buster | | | Buster | Industrial film short for John Deere & Co. |
| 1960 | The Devil to Pay | | | Diablos | Industrial film short for the National Association of Wholesalers |
| 1963 | There's No Business Like No Business | | | | Industrial film short for Maremont Exhaust and the Gabriel Shocks Division of the Arvin Corporation |
| 1963 | The Triumph of Lester Snapwell | | | Lester Snapwell | Industrial film short for the Eastman Kodak Company |
| 1965 | The Fall Guy | | | The Fall Guy | Industrial film short for U.S. Steel |
| January 8, 1965 | Film | | | The Man | — |
| October 2, 1965 | The Railrodder | | | The Man | National Film Board of Canada film travelogue to promote travel in Canada. |
| January 8, 1966 | The Scribe | | | Journalist | Industrial film short for the Construction Safety Association of Ontario | |
Directed by (but not featuring) Buster Keaton for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
| Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes |
|---|
| Writer | Director | Role |
|---|
| February 26, 1938 | Life in Sometown, USA | | | | — |
| May 28, 1938 | Hollywood Handicap | | | | — |
| September 10, 1938 | Streamlined Swing | | | | — |
|
With Buster Keaton in featured or cameo roles
Feature films
Starring Buster Keaton under Buster Keaton Productions
| Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes |
|---|
| Writer | Director | Role |
|---|
| September 24, 1923 | Three Ages | | | The Boy | Co-directed with Edward F. Cline |
| November 19, 1923 | Our Hospitality | | | Willie McKay | Co-directed with John G. Blystone |
| May 11, 1924 | Sherlock Jr. | | | Projectionist / Sherlock Jr. | — |
| October 13, 1924 | The Navigator | | | Rollo Treadway | Co-directed with Donald Crisp |
| March 15, 1925 | Seven Chances | | | James Shannon | — |
| November 1, 1925 | Go West | | | Friendless | — |
| September 19, 1926 | Battling Butler | | | Alfred Butler | — |
December 31, 1926[1] (Tokyo)
| The General | | | Johnnie Gray | Co-written and directed with Clyde Bruckman |
| September 27, 1927 | College | | | Ronald | Co-directed with James W. Horne |
| May 20, 1928 | Steamboat Bill, Jr. | | | William Canfield Jr. | | |
Starring Buster Keaton for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
| Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes |
|---|
| Writer | Director | Role |
|---|
| September 22, 1928 | The Cameraman | | | Buster | Co-directed with Edward Sedgwick |
| April 6, 1929 | Spite Marriage | | | Elmer Gantry | Co-directed with Edward Sedgwick |
| March 22, 1930 | Free and Easy | | | Elmer | — |
| July 7, 1930 | Estrellados | | | Canuto Cuadratin | Spanish-language version of Free and Easy |
| August 30, 1930 | Doughboys | | | Elmer | — |
| January 23, 1931 | De frente...marchen | | | Canuto de la Montera | Spanish-language version of Doughboys |
| February 28, 1931 | Parlor, Bedroom and Bath | | | Reginald Irving | — |
| September 26, 1931 | Sidewalks of New York | | | Harmon | — |
| October 19, 1931 | Casanova wider Willen | | | Reggie Irving | German-language version of Parlor, Bedroom and Bath |
| December 23, 1931 | Buster se marie | | | Reggie | French-language version of Parlor, Bedroom and Bath |
| February 6, 1932 | The Passionate Plumber | | | Elmer E. Tuttle | — |
| August 13, 1932 | Speak Easily | | | Professor Post | — |
| December 30, 1932 | Le plombier amoureux | | | Elmer Tuttle | French-language version of The Passionate Plumber |
| February 10, 1933 | What! No Beer? | | | Elmer J. Butts | — | |
Starring Buster Keaton for independent producers
With Buster Keaton in featured or cameo roles
| Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes |
|---|
| Writer | Director | Role |
|---|
| October 10, 1920 | The Round-Up | | | Indian | Uncredited |
| December 23, 1928 | Brotherly Love | | | Barber | Uncredited, appearance is speculative |
| April 23, 1929 | Tide of Empire | | | Drunk thrown out of bar | Uncredited |
| June 20, 1929 | The Hollywood Revue of 1929 | | | Himself / Princess Raja | — |
| Unreleased, scheduled for September 1930 | The March of Time | | | Caveman | — |
| November, 1931 | Wir schalten um auf Hollywood | | | Himself | |
| October 13, 1939 | Hollywood Cavalcade | | | Himself | — |
| July 19, 1940 | New Moon | | | Prisoner – 'LuLu' | — |
| October 11, 1940 | The Villain Still Pursued Her | | | William Dalton | — |
| November 1, 1940 | Li'l Abner | | | Lonesome Polecat | — |
| March 26, 1943 | Forever and a Day | | | Wilkins | — |
| September 29, 1944 | San Diego, I Love You | | | Bus Driver | — |
| June 1, 1945 | That's the Spirit | | | L.M. | — |
| September 28, 1945 | That Night with You | | | Sam | — |
| November 4, 1945 | She Went to the Races | | | Bellboy | — |
| March 15, 1946 | God's Country | | | Mr. Boone aka Old Tarp | — |
| July 25, 1946 | Easy to Wed | | | | Uncredited |
| April 13, 1949 | Take Me Out to the Ball Game | | | | Uncredited |
| May 11, 1949 | The Lovable Cheat | | | Goulard | — |
| July 29, 1949 | In the Good Old Summertime | | | Hickey | — |
| August 1949 | You're My Everything | | | Butler | — |
| August 10, 1950 | Sunset Boulevard | | | Himself | — |
| October 23, 1952 | Limelight | | | Calvero's Partner | — |
| June 14, 1953 | The Enchanting Enemy | | | Buster | — |
| October 17, 1956 | Around the World in 80 Days | | | Train Conductor – San Francisco to Fort Kearney | — |
| August 3, 1960 | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | | | Lion Tamer | — |
| November 7, 1963 | It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World | | | Jimmy the Crook | — |
| November 11, 1964 | Pajama Party | | | Chief Rotten Eagle | — |
| April 14, 1965 | Beach Blanket Bingo | | | Buster | — |
| July 14, 1965 | How to Stuff a Wild Bikini | | | Bwana | — |
| August 18, 1965 | Sergeant Deadhead | | | Airman Blinken | — |
| December 2, 1965 | War Italian Style | | | General von Kassler | — |
| October 16, 1966 | A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum | | | Erronius | Final film role, released posthumously |
|
Television appearances (incomplete)
- The Ed Wynn Show, (1949) as Buster
- The Buster Keaton Show, KKTV (1950) as Buster
- Life with Buster Keaton, KKTV (1951) as Buster
- Douglas Fairbanks Presents, episode "The Awakening" (1954) as The Man
- Screen Directors Playhouse, episode "The Silent Partner" (1955) as Kelsey Dutton
- The Rosemary Clooney Show, (1956) as Keystone Policeman
- Circus Time, Buster Keaton (1957)
- What's My Line? 09/01/1957 (Episode # 378) (Season 9, Ep 1) as Mystery Guest[2]
- The Donna Reed Show (1957) episode "A Very Merry Christmas" as Charlie
- Milky Way, Buster Keaton TV Commercial (1961)
- The Twilight Zone, episode "Once Upon a Time" (1961) as Woodrow Mulligan the Janitor
- Candid Camera, episode "In the Diner" (1962)
- The Scene Stealers, Buster Keaton and Ed Wynn (1962).
- Route 66, in "Journey to Nineveh" (1962) as Jonah Butler, the town jinx[3]
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in episode "Think Mink" (1963) as Si Willis
- Burke's Law, (1964) as Buster
- Cleopatra Skit, (1964) Buster Keaton on Hollywood Palace
- Buster Keaton and Lucille Ball, in comedy to salute Stan Laurel (1965) as Buster
- Alka Seltzer, TV advertisement, (1966) as Buster
- Ford Van, TV advertisement, (1966) as Buster
Notes and References
- Web site: BFI: The General. https://web.archive.org/web/20121022092240/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/34416?view=release. dead. 2012-10-22. 2010-12-06. bfi.org.
- Web site: TV.com. What's My Line?: EPISODE #378.
- Book: Keaton, Buster. Buster Keaton. Samuels, Charles. My Wonderful World of Slapstick. 1960. Doubleday. 0306801787.
