Buster Keaton filmography

Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton in 1939

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

Short films

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Starring Roscoe Arbuckle, featuring Buster Keaton

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Release date Title Credited as Notes
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

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Release date Title Credited as Notes
Writer Director Role
February 26, 1938 Life in Sometown, USA Yes
May 28, 1938 Hollywood Handicap Yes
September 10, 1938 Streamlined Swing Yes
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Release date Title Credited as Notes
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

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Starring Buster Keaton for Metro Pictures

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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

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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

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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

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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
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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)

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References

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  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.
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