Michael Keaton

Born: 9 September 1951
Where: Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, USA

The one-time stand-up comedian first attracted attention in Tim Burton's anarchic comedy Beetlejuice.

His place on the Hollywood A-List was cemented when Burton cast him as the Caped Crusader in his dark take on the Batman legend.

After studying speech at Kent State University he launched himself as a stand-up comedian and landed small roles in TV series including the Mary Tyler Moore Hour.

Keaton had also worked as a stagehand and as one of the Flying Zucchini Brothers on the children's TV series Mr Rogers' Neighborhood.

He was born Michael Douglas - but changed his name to Keaton (after Diana Keaton) when he realised two other actors were registered to that name with Equity.

("I had to change because there were two other actors with that name. One of them is doing quite well from what I understand, the other is making cheap porn movies...like Basic Instinct.")

In 1979, he was given a co-starring role (with Jim Belushi) in the sitcom Working Stiffs - but the show was pulled after three weeks.

He went on to make an impressive film debut as a morgue attendant-cum-pimp in Ron Howard's Night Shift in 1982.

In 1986 he turned down the role of the mad scientist in David Cronenburg's remake of The Fly - the role went to Jeff Goldblum.

Unmemorable roles followed before he scored a double whammy in 1988 with Clean and Sober and Beetlejuice.

The roles earned him a best actor award from the National Society of Film Critics and the latter marked the beginning of a professional relationship with director Burton.

In 1989, he was cast as Batman after Burton considered Keaton was the only actor who could demonstrate the dark, obsessive personality required.

However, the studio was forced to release an advance trailer to show Keaton was up to the role and it wasn't a camp parody like the Adam West TV series.

Keaton went on to prove a formidable villain in Pacific Heights and demonstrated his flair with Shakespearean verse in Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing.

In 1994, he put his knack for comic timing to good use as an aggressive metro editor in The Paper, his third outing with director Howard.

And his impressive comedic gifts were again on hand when he made a second appearance opposite his Beetlejuice co-star Geena Davis in Speechless.

Following a year-long hiatus, Keaton returned to the big screen in 1996 with Multiplicity, in which he played a beleaguered businessman who clones himself to cope with his busy life.

In 1994, he starred in Quentin Tarantino's crime thriller Jackie Brown and followed that with the comedy Jack Frost.

Stepping back from the Hollywood treadmill, he went on to appear in Forest Whitaker's romantic comedy First Daughter and opposite Debra Unger in the thriller White Noise.

Recent work includes the role of Lindsay Lohan's widowed dad in Herbie: Fully Loaded.