Michael Keaton was born Michael Douglas on September 5th, 1952 in Coraopolis Pennsylvania. He spent two years studying speech at Kent State before dropping out to work several odd jobs including ice cream truck driver, stand-up comic, and PBS cameraman. The experience was enough to convince him that life looked better in front of the camera than it did behind it. After moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actor he changed his last name to Keaton to avoid being confused with the other already famous actor Michael Douglas. 

Keaton joined the LA chapter of the Second City comedy troupe and found regular work writing for and acting on TV. A big break came in the form of a starring role on the sitcom "Working Stiffs" alongside Jim Belushi. He parlayed the exposure into a highly lauded feature film debut in Night Shift (1982) where he portrayed a deliriously exuberant morgue worker turned pimp. 

Keaton would score another hit with his next role as a discombobulated automobile engineer turned househusband in Mr. Mom (1983). The classic fish out of water story hinted at the future of a Hollywood hit-making machine, but the luster of his promising career was quickly tarnished with turns in critically skewered films such as Johnny Dangerously (1984) and Gung Ho (1985). 

By 1988 Keaton needed a break. He got two. One came in the form of Clean and Sober where he played a recovering drug addict and the second in of Tim Burton's Beatlejuice (1988). Playing the title character, a wacky undead and untrustworthy ghost for hire, Keaton turned in an over the top performance that scored with audiences and made a big impression on director Tim Burton who would later hand Keaton the biggest opportunity of his career with the role of Batman.

Comic book fans were up in arms with the choice of Keaton as Batman, but Burton stuck to his guns and gave Keaton a chance to win over the skeptics. His faith was rewarded when Keaton's dark reading of the character turned Batman (1989) into a box office juggernaut and pop culture event. Keaton also appeared in the inevitable sequel Batman Returns (1992), but wisely bowed out of further installments of the cape crusader franchise. 

Despite the fact that Keaton's past successes have yet to turn into true box office clout his starring roles in films such as 1993's My Life, 1994's The Paper, and 1996's Multiplicity all revealed solid acting chops if less than impressive financial returns. Keaton would continue to reveal his depth as he took on smaller parts in gems like Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997) and Steven Soderberg's Out of Sight (1998) would continue to attest to Keaton's acting chops. A recent high profile turn in the made for TV hit "Live from Baghdad" hint at possible renaissance in Keaton's career. 

Credit: amctv.com