Michael John Douglas, the youngest of seven children, was born at Ohio Valley Hospital in Kennedy Township, Pennsylvania,[2] on September 5, 1951.

[5][6] His father, George A. Douglas (1905–1977), worked as a civil engineer and surveyor, and his mother, Leona Elizabeth (née Loftus; 1909–2002), was a homemaker, and came from McKees Rocks.

[9] His mother was of Irish descent,[8][10][11] while his father was of Scottish, Scotch-Irish, German and English ancestry, and was originally from a Protestant family.

[15] He graduated with the class of 1969, and studied speech for two years at Kent State University, where he appeared in plays, and returned to Pennsylvania to pursue his career.

This was his breakout role as the fast-talking schemer Bill "Billy Blaze" Blazejowski and earned Keaton some critical acclaim.

[29] When Touch and Go was finally released in 1986 the studio was still unsure of how to market the film, making the poster, trailer and TV spots similar to Mr.

1988 was a seminal year in Keaton's career, in which he landed two major unconventional roles, forever changing his image to audiences.

He played the title character in Tim Burton's horror-comedy Beetlejuice, earning Keaton widespread acclaim and boosting him to Hollywood's A list.

That same year, he also gave an acclaimed dramatic performance as a drug-addicted realtor in Glenn Gordon Caron's Clean and Sober.

[30] Keaton's career was given another major boost when he was again cast by Tim Burton, this time as the title comic book superhero of the 1989 film Batman.

[31][32] Warner Bros. received thousands of written complaints from fans who believed Keaton was the wrong choice to portray Batman.

[35] According to Les Daniels's reference book Batman: The Complete History, Keaton initially believed the film would be similar in tone to the 1960s TV series starring Adam West but he understood the darker, brooding side of Batman the film was going for after reading Frank Miller's comic book miniseries, The Dark Knight Returns, which he portrayed to much fan approval.

[38] Keaton remained active during the 1990s, appearing in a wide range of films, including Pacific Heights (1990), One Good Cop (1991), My Life (1993) and the star-studded Shakespearean story Much Ado About Nothing (1993).

He starred in The Paper (1994) and Multiplicity (1996), and twice in the same role, that of Elmore Leonard character Agent Ray Nicolette, in the films Jackie Brown (1997) and Out of Sight (1998).

[39] In the early 2000s, Keaton appeared in several films with mixed success, including Live From Baghdad (2002, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award[40]), First Daughter (2004, playing the President of the United States), White Noise (2005) and Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005).

[42] Keaton starred in the 2007 TV miniseries The Company, set during the Cold War, in which he portrayed the real-life CIA counterintelligence chief James Jesus Angleton.

[47] In 2015, Keaton appeared as Walter V. Robinson in Tom McCarthy's Academy Award-winning film Spotlight, and in 2016, he starred as businessman Ray Kroc in the biopic The Founder.

While making this film Keaton was unable to reprise the role of Chick Hicks for Disney and Pixar's Cars 3 and was replaced by Bob Peterson.

In 2019, he played the villain in Disney's live-action adaptation of Dumbo directed by Tim Burton, co-starring with Colin Farrell and Eva Green.

"[52] In 2020, Keaton appeared in a small role as U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark in The Trial of the Chicago 7, a legal drama directed by Aaron Sorkin about seven anti-Vietnam protesters charged with inciting riots in 1968.

[58][59][60] He filmed scenes to reprise the character in Batgirl starring Leslie Grace, set for a release on HBO Max,[61] taking some inspiration from the acclaimed DC Animated Universe animated series Batman Beyond with Keaton playing the elder Bruce Wayne as the title character's mentor and remote coordinator in the Batcave,[62] only for the film's release to be cancelled in August 2022.

[67][68][69] Keaton next starred in Goodrich, a film about a man whose second wife suddenly leaves him, forcing him to take sole care of their nine-year-old twins.

[76] An avid fisherman, he is often seen on the saltwater fishing series Buccaneers & Bones on Outdoor Channel, along with Tom Brokaw, Zach Gilford, Thomas McGuane, and Yvon Chouinard, among others.