Jack Gilford, Zero Mostel, Buster Keaton, Phil Silvers

An award winning and very famous Broadway character actor and a Star.

When Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was born, his family was in vaudeville. His mother was Myra Cutler and his father was Joseph Hallie "Joe" Keaton. His father owned a traveling show with Harry Houdini. The show performed on stage and sold patent medicine on the side. Buster began performing with his parents at the age of 3 as "the Three Keatons". It was mainly a comedy show, Dad Joe tossing son Buster around the stage, into the audience, or even into the orchestra pit. Buster was never hurt - he learned how to fall safely - and even found it fun, often laughing. But because when he laughed, the audience laughed less, he adopted a "deadpan" face - which later became his trademark. He began acting in films around 1917 and continued throughout his adult years. He was one of the most popular comedians of all time, spanning several generations.

Phil Silvers of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA was born on May 11, 1911 in Brooklyn, New York, New York United States, and died at age 74 years old on November 1, 1985 at Century City in Los Angeles, CA.

Jack Gilford Biography Born July 25, 1908 in New York City, New York, USA Died June 2, 1990 in New York City, New York, USA (stomach cancer) Birth Name Jacob Aaron Gellman Jack Gilford was born in Brooklyn, New York, as Yankel Gellman. He began his career in the Amateur Nights of the 1930s moving on to nightclubs as an innovative comedian doing satire and pantomime. He was a regular at the Greenwich Village nightspot, Cafe Society and hosted shows featuring Zero Mostel, Billie Holiday and jazz greats like Hazel Scott. It is said that he invented the expression, "The butler did it!", as part of one of his movie satire routines. He also did a facial pantomime of "Pea Soup Coming to a Boil". He became a regular popular comic character actor on dozens of TV series and movies. He was most recognized for being the rubber-faced guy on the "Cracker Jacks" commercials for a dozen years, from 1960-1972. He was nominated for Tony awards on Broadway for best supporting actor in the musical, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", and "Cabaret". The song "Meeskite" was written for him by John Kander & Fred Ebb. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film, Save the Tiger (1973), starring opposite Jack Lemmon, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance. Spouse Madeline Lee (16 April 1949 - 2 June 1990) (his death) (3 children) He and his wife, Madeline Lee, were blacklisted during the Hollywood Blacklist of the 1950s. Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 179-180. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387 He was nominated for the Tony Award for his work in musicals: as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Musical) for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 325-327. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999. Nominated for the 1967 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Musical for "Cabaret". Brother-in-law of Fran Lee. Personal Quotes You stay in the business longer. Even leading men who have been character actors prolong their careers -- we all know character actors who have been around for a long time. I was always a character actor. Mount Hebron Flushing, NY The Eternal Flame - Actors