Formation | June 14, 1908 |
---|---|
Dissolved | 1938 |
Type | Theatre group |
Purpose | Vaudeville, theater |
Location |
|
Membership | Over 200 |
Website | actorscolony |
Actors' Colony was a community for theatrical and vaudeville performers conceived by C.S. "Pop" Ford and located in Bluffton, near Muskegon, Michigan and Lake Michigan. Originally called the Artists' Colony Club, and it was founded on June 14, 1908, with Joe Keaton, father of Buster Keaton, as president. Vaudevillians Paul Lucier, and William "Mush" Rawls were vice president and treasurer/secretary, respectively.
The Actors' Colony ended operations in 1938.
In the early 20th century, the area of Muskegon, Michigan was a popular vaudeville stop at a summer show house at nearby Lake Michigan Park. One of those early visitors was Joe Keaton, who, along with his family, made Bluffton an annual summer retreat in a cottage on a sand dune known as Pigeon Hill. From 1908 and continuing through 1917, Keaton, and his family of five, including wife, Myra, and son Joseph (nicknamed Buster), not only performed their family vaudeville show in the Muskegon area, but settled into this home on the shore of adjoining Muskegon Lake. According to Buster's wife, Eleanor, this was the famous silent picture actor's "favorite place on earth". [1]
A year after he arrived in the area, Joe Keaton along with C.S. "Pop" Ford, conceived the idea of a permanent facility for road-wary vaudevillians looking to settle in one spot. [2] Originally, the locals organized a one-story clubhouse nicknamed Cobwebs and Rafters - a reference to its unfinished state - along the Muskegon Lake shoreline. The site property was donated by Lew Earl, one of the first performers to make Muskegon his permanent summer home. [1] [3] Another favorite hangout was Pascoe's Place, a local bar famous for its perch and nickel beers
Keaton and Earl sold plots of land to fellow performers, who then built cottages where they could come and relax in the summers while working on their acts to take on tour the following year. [4] By 1911, more than 200 theater and vaudeville performers resided in the Actors' Colony settlement in Bluffton. Most of the cottages sat on a stretch of land facing Lake Michigan or Muskegon Lake. Some of the personalities living there included "Happy Jack" Gardner, Dick Dixon, George Pearl, Joseph Roberts and many more. [5] It was a common sight to see among the performers someone like Max Gruber, who brought his trained animals, including his elephant, zebra or dog around the neighborhood. [6]
By 1916, the Actors' Club chose to build a new facility to replace the small clubhouse. Christened the Theatrical Colony Yacht Club, the group staged an annual event, whereby the denizens of the Actors' Colony would perform, [7] and sponsored a summer regatta, featuring boat races on the lakes.
By 1918, films began replacing vaudeville for entertainment. As a result, visits to the Actors' Colony declined. Some members would move on, never to return, while others would retire from the road and live out their lives in the area. Eventually the Colony dissolved. Many of the homes and landmarks remain in Bluffton. [3]
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American actor, comedian, and director. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression that earned him the nickname "The Great Stone Face". Critic Roger Ebert wrote of Keaton's "extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929" when he "worked without interruption" as having made him "the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies". In 1996, Entertainment Weekly recognized Keaton as the seventh-greatest film director, writing that "More than Chaplin, Keaton understood movies: He knew they consisted of a four-sided frame in which resided a malleable reality off which his persona could bounce. A vaudeville child star, Keaton grew up to be a tinkerer, an athlete, a visual mathematician; his films offer belly laughs of mind-boggling physical invention and a spacey determination that nears philosophical grandeur." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him as the 21st-greatest male star of classic Hollywood cinema.
Muskegon County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2020, the population was 175,824. The county seat is Muskegon.
Muskegon, a city in the US. state of Michigan, is the county seat of Muskegon County. Situated around a harbor of Lake Michigan, Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, and pleasure boating, and as a commercial- and cruise-ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expansive freshwater beaches, historic architecture, and public art collection. It is the most populous city along Lake Michigan's Eastern shore. At the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 38,318. The southwest corner of Muskegon Township, the city is administratively autonomous.
Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant to be blunt, ironic, laconic, or apparently unintentional.
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake Michigan shoreline, but there is no official definition.
Bluffton may refer to:
The Playhouse is a 1921 American two-reel silent comedy film written by, directed by, and starring "Buster" Keaton. It runs for 22 minutes, and is most famous for an opening sequence where Keaton plays every role.
Educational Pictures, also known as Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. or Educational Films Corporation of America, was an American film production and film distribution company founded in 1916 by Earle Hammons (1882–1962). Educational primarily distributed short subjects; it is best known for its series of comedies starring Buster Keaton (1934-37) and the earliest screen appearances of Shirley Temple (1932-34). The company ceased production in 1938, and finally closed in 1940 when its film library was sold at auction.
Keaton is an Old English surname derived from a place name meaning "place of hawks" less common as a given name.
Joseph Henry Roberts was an American comic actor who appeared in 16 of Buster Keaton's 19 silent short films of the 1920s.
Jean Constant Havez was an American writer of novelty songs, vaudeville skits, and silent era comedy films. During his film career, Havez worked with comedians Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd.
Joe Cook was an American vaudeville performer. A household name in the 1920s and 1930s, Cook was one of America's most popular entertainers, and he headlined at New York's famed Palace Theatre. After appearing on Broadway he broke into radio.
Joseph Hallie Keaton was an American vaudeville performer and silent film actor. He was the father of actor Buster Keaton and appeared with his son in several films.
Myra Edith Keaton was an American vaudeville performer and film actress. She was the mother of actor Buster Keaton.
Ramona Park was an amusement park located in the city of East Grand Rapids, Michigan between 1897 and 1955. The Park included a double track wooden roller coaster, a theater pavilion, a ridable miniature railway and boat livery.
The Boat is a 1921 American two-reel silent comedy film written and directed by, and starring Buster Keaton. Contemporary reviews consider it one of his best shorts, with One Week (1920), The Playhouse (1921) and Cops (1922). It is presently in the public domain. The International Buster Keaton Society takes its name, The Damfinos, from the name of the film's boat.
Day Dreams is a 1922 American short comedy film directed by and featuring Buster Keaton. It is most famous for a scene where Keaton finds himself on the inside of a riverboat paddle wheel. It is a partially lost film and available from public domain sources.
Eleanor Ruth Keaton was an American dancer and variety show performer. She was an MGM contract dancer in her teens and became the third wife of silent-film comedian Buster Keaton at the age of 21. She is credited with rehabilitating her husband's life and career. The two performed at the Cirque Medrano in Paris and on European tours in the 1950s; she also performed with him on The Buster Keaton Show in the early 1950s. After his death in 1966, she helped ensure Keaton's legacy by giving many interviews to biographers, film historians, and journalists, sharing details from his personal life and career, and also attended film festivals and celebrations honoring Keaton. In her later years, she bred champion St. Bernard dogs, was a gag consultant for Hollywood filmmakers, and was an invited speaker at silent-film screenings.
The Buster Keaton Story is a 1957 American biographical drama film directed by Sidney Sheldon and written by Sidney Sheldon and Robert Smith, following the life of Buster Keaton. The film stars Donald O'Connor, Ann Blyth, Rhonda Fleming, Peter Lorre, Larry Keating and Jackie Coogan. It was released on April 21, 1957, by Paramount Pictures. The film was described by AllMovie as "sublimely inaccurate" regarding details of Keaton's life. It was produced by Paramount Pictures, which paid Keaton $50,000 for the rights to his life story.
The International Buster Keaton Society Inc.— a.k.a. "The Damfinos"—is the official educational organization dedicated to comedy film producer-director-writer-actor-stuntman Buster Keaton.
This article needs additional or more specific categories .(February 2021) |