"I was born on a one-night stand in Kansas, in a little town called Piqua. They left my mother there for two weeks, and then she rejoined the show with me, and I've never seen the town since."
The porkpie hat, the slap shoes, the deadpan expression - Buster Keaton is an icon of silent era comedies, but was also a masterful technician in exploring the possibilities of film, and remains one of cinema's most enduring stars. His early two-reelers, with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and then alone, include such gems as The Butcher Boy, One Week and Cops. His feature-length masterpiece, The General, although poorly received on its initial release, now regularly features on lists of the greatest films of all time.
The dark days of the 1930s saw Buster contend with creative deprivation, alcoholism, two financially crippling divorces with the added anguish of him being denied access to his two much loved sons, and the death of his beloved friend and mentor Roscoe Arbuckle. And yet he took work where he could find it, always with professionalism and total dedication. Marriage to his third wife Eleanor in 1940 saw his life start to turn around, leading to his professional renaissance and finally the rediscovery of his work by a new generation of filmgoers.
Forever Buster takes us through nearly fifty years of Buster Keaton's films. It gives details of each - cast, crew, production, release dates, timings - including a synopsis and a glimpse at the background of every film, as well as concise insights into how his on-screen appearances played out alongside the ups and downs of his personal and professional life.
Autorentext
I was born in 1960, and have been a Beatles fan all my life. One of my earliest memories is of being encouraged to sing a precocious 'She Loves You' into my Dad's reel-to-reel tape recorder.
I'm now a freelance designer/writer/translator based in London and The Hague. As such, I've written extensively on a range of subjects for clients from airlines and law firms to the United Nations in New York. But my passions are music and film, in particular the music of the greatest band of all time and the films of the greatest comedian.
As far as music goes, I'm interested in most forms of music, and am also fascinated by musical theory and what makes music "work". Analysing the work of (according to Tony Palmer) "the greatest song writers since Schubert", who wrote instinctively with no formal musical training ? or indeed ability to actually read music, was irresistible, and I hope my fascination shines through in my writing.
'And the Band Begins to Play', my first book, involved around twenty years of painstaking research. An e-book of each album is available separately.
My latest book is 'Forever Buster', a guide to the films of Buster Keaton. Apart from details of all Buster's films - cast, crew, production, release dates, timings - the book gives a synopsis of each film together with a background to its making, with concise insights into how his on-screen appearances played out alongside the ups and downs of his personal and professional life.