Buster Keaton (1895-1966) was one of cinema's great pioneers and a defining figure of the silent film era. Nicknamed "The great stone face" for hos deadpan expression. Keaton combined precise physical comedy with daring stunts, mechanical ingenuity, and an unmatched sense of visual storytelling.

He began performing as a child in vaudeville before moving into film in the 1910s. During the 1920s, Keaton wrote, directed and starred in a series of landmark silent features - The general, Sherlock Jr, The navigator and Steamboat Bill Jr - that remain models of cinematic innovation. His films are known for treating comedy as action: real danger, real physics and elaborate gags built entirely for the camera.

Keaton's creative freedom declined with the arrival of sound and the studio system, but his influence never faded. Rediscovered later in life, he became recognized not just a comedian, but as a master filmmaker whose work shaped generations of directors.