![]() Working Stiffs (1979), which showcased his comedic talent and led to his co-starring role in Night Shift (1982). His next break was scoring a co-starring role alongside Jim Belushi in the short-lived comedy series He looked into the "K"'s for surnames and thought it was inoffensive to chose 'Keaton'. Around this time, Keaton decided to use an alternative surname to remove confusion with better-known actor Michael Douglas. He began cropping up in popular TV shows including Maude (1972) and The Mary Tyler Moore Hour (1979). He left Pittsburgh and moved to Los Angeles to begin auditioning for TV. Keaton first appeared on TV in several episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968). An unsuccessful attempt at stand-up comedy led Keaton to working as a TV cameraman in a cable station, and he came to realize he wanted to work in front of the cameras. Michael studied speech for two years at Kent State, before dropping out and moving to Pittsburgh. He is of Irish, as well as English, Scottish, and German, descent. Keaton was born Michael John Douglas on Septemin Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, to Leona Elizabeth (Loftus), a homemaker, and George A. Mom (1983), Johnny Dangerously (1984), and Beetlejuice (1988), earned further acclaim for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne / Batman in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), and since then, has moved easily between film genres, ranging from drama and romantic comedy to thriller and action. I think it deserves to be.Quirky, inventive and handsome American actor Michael Keaton first achieved major fame with his door-busting performance as fast-talking ideas man Bill Blazejowski, alongside a nerdish morgue attendant ( Henry Winkler), in Night Shift (1982). As I said, it's remarkable that Night Shift isn't recognized as a formidable comedy of the 1980's. His meaningless existence finally has something to live for when he falls for Shelley Long's Belinda, which is a very sweet love story at the heart of a laugh-out-loud comedy. I always like films that have shy characters evolve into take-charge leaders, which is exactly what happens with Winkler's character Chuck Lumley. His performance as Billy Blazejowski steals the film and shows why Keaton was later chosen to play Beetlejuice. Besides, how can any film go wrong when you've got Keaton in a comedic role. Even early on in his career, it was clear that Ron Howard was going to be great at taking a bizarre, outlandish story and making a decent film out of it. Morgue by day, brothel by night? This film should've gone down as one of the most ludicrous attempts at comedy ever made, but it didn't. The entire premise never should have worked. Of course, what sells the film is the chemistry between Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton, who totally have an 80's Odd Couple kind of relationship. I'm stunned that this film doesn't have more of a following, as it still holds up and is full of memorable moments (and a brief appearance from a young Kevin Costner as an extra). ![]() ![]() Night Shift is a surprisingly funny gem that came out of the early 80's and is most likely responsible for jumpstarting the careers of both Ron Howard and Michael Keaton.
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