Born today in 1894, Buster Keaton, famed silent film star, has ties to Muskegon through the Bluffton Actor’s Colony. Meanwhile, Oscar-winner Charlton Heston, born in 1923, spent much of his childhood in St. Helen, Michigan, acting out scenes from his favorite books in the northern woods.
TRANSCRIPT
In downtown Muskegon, Michigan, there’s a statue of The Great Stone Face, Buster Keaton, who was born today in 1895. Buster’s father Joe co-founded a Vaudvillian summer retreat, the Bluffton Actor’s Colony between Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake. As film grew in popularity, the Vaudeville visitors dwindled, but even now, the International Buster Keaton Society hold their appreciation for films like 7 Days and The General at Muskegon’s Frauenthal Theater.
Also today, in 1923, Oscar-winning actor Charleton Heston was born in Evanston, IL. Much of his childhood though was in St. Helen, Michigan, a bit west of Houghton Lake. And in addition to the fishing and hunting the young boy enjoyed, Heston said much of his youth was spent acting out scenes from his favorite books while paying in the woods up North.