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Michael Keaton biography

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Michael Keaton is an American actor known for his roles in the comedy Mr. Mom and as Batman in the Tim Burton-directed installments of the series.

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Unfortunately, the film received the cold shoulder from both critics and audiences alike. In 1986, Keaton again floundered with Gung Ho, which found humor in an American automotive plant after a takeover by a Japanese automaker. In 1988, however,

Keaton proved his range as a performer with two very different films. He starred as a mischievous demon who helps a pair of ghosts (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) get rid of a family that moved into their old house in Beetlejuice. Directed by Tim Burton, the supernatural film became a popular hit. "Tim and I both have the same sensibility. He has this darkness and melancholy about him that's kind of funny. People weren't ready for that at the time," Keaton later explained to the Guardian newspaper.

Keaton showed off his ability to handle dramatic material in his next project, Clean and Sober. In the film, he played a real estate agent with a substance abuse problem. The National Society of Film Critics recognized Keaton for his nuanced performance by giving him the award for Best Actor in 1988.

Keaton moved to blockbuster fare in 1989, taking on the role of one of the country's most famous comic book characters in Batman (1989) and its sequel, Batman Returns (1992). The films reunited Keaton with director Tim Burton, and Keaton played the famous Batman character with a darker edge than had been portrayed in previous incarnations. Keaton's Batman was edgy, moody, and emotionally wounded. In the films, he battled such legendary bad guys as the Joker (played by Jack Nicholson) and the Penguin (played by Danny DeVito). Val Kilmer replaced Keaton for the third installment. George Clooney and Christian Bale also followed in Keaton's footsteps in the later Batman films.

Faltering Career

Again showing his range as an actor, Keaton had a supporting role in the Shakespearean comedy Much Ado About Nothing (1993), directed by Kenneth Branagh. That same year, he starred with Nicole Kidman in My Life, playing a man facing death from a terminal illness. Keaton starred in The Paper (1994) as a New York City newspaper editor. Again working a literary angle, he played as a political speechwriter in the romantic comedy Speechless (1994) opposite Geena Davis. Keaton then starred in Harold Ramis' comedy Multiplicity as a man who able to make copies of himself. None of these films matched the success of his early hits, however.

In 1997, Keaton worked with director Quentin Tarantino on the crime thriller Jackie Brown, a film adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel. He played a supporting role as an ATF agent who busts a stewardess Jackie Brown (played by Pam Grier) for smuggling cash for an arms dealer (played by Samuel L. Jackson). Reprising his role, Keaton made a cameo appearance in Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight (1998).

Keaton's career appeared to be in decline at the start of 2000, with appearances in only a few television guest appearances. He then starred in the 2002 television movie Live from Baghdad, about CNN reporters during the Gulf War.

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