On This Day

Birthday of Michael Keaton

September 5th 1951

12:17 5 September 2024

American actor Michael Keaton was born on this day in 1951. Keaton made his film debut with a small non-speaking role in the Joan Rivers film 'Rabbit Test' (1978). He went on to showcase his talent for comedy starring alongside Jim Belushi in the American TV sitcom 'Working Stiffs' (1979) which in turn led to his breakout role in Ron Howard's 'Night Shift' (1982). Lead roles in comedy movies followed with 'Mr Mom' (1983), 'Johnny Dangerously' (1984), 'Gung Ho' (1986), 'The Squeeze' (1987) and 'The Dream Team' (1989).

1988 was a significant year for Keaton. He won widespread critical acclaim for playing the title role in Tim Burton's hit horror-comedy 'Beetlejuice' and for his dramatic performance as a drug addict in 'Clean and Sober'. The success of 'Beetlejuice' led to Tim Burton casting Keaton in the lead role of the blockbuster film of the year 'Batman' (1989) and its sequel 'Batman Returns' (1992).

From the 1990s onwards Michael Keaton has proved to be one of American cinemas most versatile actors with film credits that include ' Pacific Heights' (1990), 'One Good Cop' (1991), 'The Paper' (1994), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'White Noise' (2005), 'Birdman' (2014), for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe, 'Spotlight' (2015), 'The Founder' (2016) and 'The Trial of the Chicago 7' (2020). More recently Michael Keaton won Golden Globe and Emmy Awards for his performance in the TV series 'Dopesick' (2021) and later this year reprises one of his most celebrated roles in 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' (2024). Happy Birthday Michael.