Buster Keaton filmography

Actor filmography

Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton in 1939

This is a list of films by the American actor, comedian, and filmmaker Buster Keaton.

## Short films

[edit]

### Starring Roscoe Arbuckle, featuring Buster Keaton

[edit]

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 | Yes | Yes | 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

[edit]

Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes

|
|
|

Writer | Director | Role
September 1, 1920 | One Week | Yes | Yes | The groom | —
October 27, 1920 | Convict 13 | Yes | Yes | Golfer turned prisoner / Guard | —
December 22, 1920 | Neighbors | Yes | Yes | The boy | —
December 22, 1920 | The Scarecrow | Yes | Yes | Farmhand | —
February 10, 1921 | The Haunted House | Yes | Yes | Bank clerk | —
March 14, 1921 | Hard Luck | Yes | Yes | Suicidal boy | —
April 12, 1921 | The High Sign | Yes | Yes | Our hero | —
May 18, 1921 | The Goat | Yes | Yes | Buster Keaton | —
October 6, 1921 | The Playhouse | Yes | Yes | Audience / Orchestra / Mr. Brown – First Minstrel / Second Minstrel / Interlocutors / Stagehand | —
November 10, 1921 | The Boat | Yes | Yes | The boat builder | —
January 1922 | The Paleface | Yes | Yes | Little Chief Paleface | —
March 1922 | Cops | Yes | Yes | The young man | —
May 1922 | My Wife's Relations | Yes | Yes | The husband | —
July 21, 1922 | The Blacksmith | Yes | Yes | Blacksmith's assistant | —
August 28, 1922 | The Frozen North | Yes | Yes | The bad man | —
October 16, 1922 | The Electric House | Yes | Yes | Buster Keaton | —
November 1922 | Day Dreams | Yes | Yes | The young man | Distributed by
First National Pictures
January 22, 1923 | The Balloonatic | Yes | Yes | The young man | —
March 1923 | The Love Nest | Yes | Yes | Buster Keaton | —

### Starring Buster Keaton for Educational Pictures

[edit]

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 | Yes |  | Elmer Butts | Screenplay by Buster Keaton and Charles Lamont
August 21, 1936 | Blue Blazes |  |  | Elmer | filmed in New York
October 9, 1936 | The Chemist |  |  | Elmer Triple | filmed in New York
November 20, 1936 | Mixed Magic |  |  | Elmer "Happy" Butterworth | filmed in New York
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

[edit]

Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes

|
|
|

Writer | Director | Role
June 16, 1939 | Pest from the West | Yes |  | Sir | Screenplay by Clyde Bruckman and (uncredited) Buster Keaton
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 Hedley Lamar, Jr. | —
November 20, 1941 | She's Oil Mine |  |  | Buster Waters, plumber | —

### Starring Buster Keaton for independent producers

[edit]

Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes

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|
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Writer | Director | Role
October 15, 1952 | Paradise for Buster |  |  | Buster | Industrial short for John Deere & Co., directed by Del Lord
1960 | The Devil to Pay |  |  | Diablos | Industrial short for the National Association of Wholesalers
1963 | There's No Business Like No Business |  |  |  | Industrial short for Maremont Exhaust and the Gabriel Shocks Division of the Arvin Corporation
1963 | The Triumph of Lester Snapwell |  |  | Lester Snapwell | Industrial short, filmed in color, for the Eastman Kodak Company
1965 | The Fall Guy |  |  | The Fall Guy | Industrial short for U.S. Steel
January 8, 1965 | Film |  |  | The Man | Experimental project by Samuel Beckett
October 2, 1965 | The Railrodder |  |  | The Man | National Film Board of Canada travelogue, filmed in color, to promote travel in Canada.
January 8, 1966 | The Scribe |  |  | Journalist | Industrial short for the Construction Safety Association of Ontario

### Directed by (but not featuring) Buster Keaton for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

[edit]

Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes

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|
|

Writer | Director | Role
February 26, 1938 | Life in Sometown, USA |  | Yes |  | —
May 28, 1938 | Hollywood Handicap |  | Yes |  | —
September 10, 1938 | Streamlined Swing |  | Yes |  | —

### With Buster Keaton in featured or cameo roles

[edit]

Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes

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|
|

Writer | Director | Role
1922 | Seeing Stars |  |  | Himself | —
April 12, 1925 | The Iron Mule |  |  | Indian | —
April 4, 1931 | The Stolen Jools |  |  | Policeman | —
December 7, 1935 | La Fiesta de Santa Barbara |  |  | Himself | —
August 6, 1936 | Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs |  |  | Himself | —
May 3, 1939 | Hollywood Hobbies |  |  | Himself | Third baseman on all-star baseball team

## Feature films

[edit]

### Starring Buster Keaton for Metro Pictures

[edit]

Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes

|
|
|

Writer | Director | Role
October 18, 1920 | The Saphead | Yes |  | Bertie 'The Lamb' Van Alstyne | —

### Starring Buster Keaton under Buster Keaton Productions

[edit]

Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes

|
|
|

Writer | Director | Role
September 24, 1923 | Three Ages |  | Yes | The Boy | Co-directed with Edward F. Cline
November 19, 1923 | Our Hospitality |  | Yes | Willie McKay | Co-directed with John G. Blystone
May 11, 1924 | Sherlock Jr. |  | Yes | Projectionist / Sherlock Jr. | —
October 13, 1924 | The Navigator |  | Yes | Rollo Treadway | Co-directed with Donald Crisp
March 15, 1925 | Seven Chances |  | Yes | James Shannon  | —
November 1, 1925 | Go West | Yes | Yes | Friendless | —
September 19, 1926 | Battling Butler |  | Yes | Alfred Butler | —
December 31, 1926[1](Tokyo)
| The General | Yes | Yes | Johnnie Gray | Co-written and directed with Clyde Bruckman
September 27, 1927 | College |  | Yes | Ronald | Co-directed with James W. Horne
May 20, 1928 | Steamboat Bill, Jr. |  | Yes | William Canfield Jr. | Co-directed with Charles Reisner

### Starring Buster Keaton for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

[edit]

Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes

|
|
|

Writer | Director | Role
September 22, 1928 | The Cameraman |  | Yes | Buster | Co-directed with Edward Sedgwick
April 6, 1929 | Spite Marriage |  | Yes | 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

[edit]

Release date | Title | Credited as | Notes

|
|
|

Writer | Director | Role
December 11, 1934 | Le Roi des Champs-Élysées |  |  | Buster Garner / Jim le Balafré | —
January 2, 1936 | The Invader |  |  | Leander Proudfoot | —
August 2, 1946 | El Moderno Barba Azul |  |  | GI / Prisoner | Also known as A Modern Bluebeard and Boom in the Moon
October 30, 1965 | Buster Keaton Rides Again |  |  | Himself | Documentary about the making of The Railrodder

### With Buster Keaton in featured or cameo roles

[edit]

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 | Truncated German-language version of The March of Time
October 13, 1939 | Hollywood Cavalcade |  |  | Himself | —
July 19, 1940 | New Moon |  |  | Prisoner – 'LuLu' | most scenes deleted
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., angel | —
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 | Yes |  |  | Uncredited
April 13, 1949 | Take Me Out to the Ball Game | Yes |  |  |
May 11, 1949 | The Lovable Cheat |  |  | Goulard | —
July 29, 1949 | In the Good Old Summertime | Yes |  | Hickey | —
August 1949 | You're My Everything |  |  | Butler | cameo appearance
August 10, 1950 | Sunset Boulevard |  |  | Himself | cameo appearance
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)

[edit]

* 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 The Hollywood Palace
* Buster Keaton and Lucille Ball, in Salute to Stan Laurel (1965) as Buster
* Alka-Seltzer, TV advertisement, (1966) as Buster
* Ford Van, TV advertisement, (1966) as Buster

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "BFI: The General". bfi.org. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
2. ^ "What's My Line?: EPISODE #378". TV.com.[permanent dead link]
3. ^ Keaton, Buster; Samuels, Charles (1960). My Wonderful World of Slapstick. Doubleday. ISBN 0306801787.

## External links

[edit]

* Buster Keaton filmography at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Buster Keaton

* Filmography

Shorts (1917–1923)|

* The Rough House
* One Week
* Convict 13
* The Scarecrow
* Neighbors
* The Haunted House
* Hard Luck
* The High Sign
* The Goat
* The Playhouse
* The Boat
* The Paleface
* Cops
* My Wife's Relations
* The Blacksmith
* The Frozen North
* The Electric House
* Day Dreams
* The Balloonatic
* The Love Nest

Feature films|

* Three Ages
* Our Hospitality
* Sherlock Jr.
* The Navigator
* Seven Chances
* Go West
* Battling Butler
* The General
* College
* Steamboat Bill, Jr.
* The Cameraman
* Spite Marriage

Shorts (1934–1937)
(for Educational Pictures)|

* The Gold Ghost
* Allez Oop
* Tars and Stripes
* Grand Slam Opera
* Blue Blazes
* Mixed Magic
* Love Nest on Wheels

Works about|

* The Buster Keaton Story (1957)
* Buster Keaton Rides Again (1965)
* Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (1987)
* The Great Buster: A Celebration (2018)
* Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life (2022)

Miscellaneous|

* The Buster Keaton Show (1950)
* Go West: Music for the Films of Buster Keaton (1995)
* The High Sign/One Week (1995)
* International Buster Keaton Society

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