Michael Keaton was born Michael Douglas September 5th, 1951 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the youngest of seven children. A young child with a vivid imagination Michael seemed to enjoy playing make believe more then just living the average life of an east coast kid and at only seven years of age Michael knew, "I was pretty much in my own world. I could never have a normal job ."
Michael dropped out of Kent State after his sophomore year in 1972 to pursue other venues; he took a job as a stagehand at a local PBS station and eventually started his career as a technical crew person on the set of Mister Rogers Neighborhood , and even played the part of Black-and-White Panda.
From then on Michael had a limited career in television, from his fifteen seconds of fame as a bank robber on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman to being part of an ensemble cast of great actors such as Mary Tyler Moore and Swoozie Kurtz on Marys self titled variety show; which even stared a very young David Letterman, and included the woman Michael would soon marry, Caroline McWilliams. In the late seventies Michael and Jim Belushi starred on Working Stiffs ; a show that was directed by Penny Marshall, received great reviews and had all the makings of a hit, except for the fact that it had no viewers and was canceled after six episodes.
In 1982 Michael almost lost the first big movie role he ever had, due to the fact that he was too manic, in the movie Night Shift. This movie helped launch Michaels comedic career.
In 1983 Michael went on to make one of the movies he is best known for, Mr. Mom; in the same year he became a father in real life to son Sean Douglas.
Michael made many movies in the eighties, after turning down the role Tom Hanks made famous in Splash , Michael went on to star as a funny gangster in Johnny Dangerously , a car maker in Gung Ho, a hockey player in Touch and Go and a con artist in The Squeeze ; none were box office successes and could have ended a career that was just beginning, but in 1988 Michael made a little movie titled Beetlejuice which got his career back on track. He then followed with a dramatic turn as an addict in Clean and Sober, and then back to the funny farm with
The Dream Team as an mental patient with a history of violence, who also claimed to have built the World Trade Center and raced in Indy.
Micheal really didn't make the front page until he was cast as the caped crusader in the Tim Burtons remake of Batman in 1989. No one thought he could play the part seriously, but critics were proved wrong when the film became the number one film of 1989. It was the movie of the decade.
Unfortunately not everything was going great in Michael's life at the time, that same year Michael and Caroline became separated and eventually divorced; they continue to be friends and share custody of Sean.

Michael was now a certified star, forever known as Batman he tried a different turn playing a psychotic madman in Pacific Heights before going on to make Batman Returns, co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer whom he dated briefly after his divorce.
In 1992 Michael starred in One Good Cop as a cop who inherits his gunned down partners children, Rene Russo played his wife in this very touching movie.

In 1993 Michael went for the tears in the film My Life where he played a man stricken with cancer who decides to document his life for his unborn child. Michael also appeared in the Kenneth Branagh film Much Ado About Nothing earlier that year.
In 1994 Michael played an expectant father yet again in the great film The Paper . Michael as a newspaper editor struggling with the constant juggling of his family and his career. At this time it was widely known that Michael had been dating actress Courteney Cox.
They dated for over five years before ending their relationship mutually in 1995. "It's the most important relationship I've ever had, and I think he's the most wonderful person I've ever met. We still love each other." Courteney told People magazine not long after the breakup.
Michael's next film was not until Christmas 1995, where he starred along with Geena Davis in the film Speechless , where the two portrayed speech writers for competing political parties.
Michael's next film was Multiplicity , where he played an over worked man who clones himself, and those clones clone themselves until there are four "Dougs" walking around, some not as bright as the others.

Christmas 1997 Michael appeared in the Elmore Leonard film, Jackie Brown. The film was a critical and box office success and made Michael's character so memorable that he then made a cameo in the George Clooney film, Out Of Sight, which was also based on an Elmore Leonard novel.

In the spring of 1998 a very controversial movie titled Desperate Measures , in which Michael portrayed a convicted serial killer who is needed to save a child's life, was finally released to audiences after numerous re-writes, it did not fair well with critics or movie goers. But it is my favorite movie of his.

Michael's next film was more family friendly, and just a bit colder the his usual fare. In Jack Frost, Michael played a man who is killed in a car accident then reincarnated into his childs snowman simple yes and it turned out to be a very cute film.

Short Biography On Michael's Movies