silver screen fox

Why the gays are still thirsty for silent film star Buster Keaton, the original short king

By · 10 comments · Updated on January 26, 2024
Image Credits: Getty Images (left) | ‘Battling Butler,’ Kino Video (center) | ‘Hard Luck,’ Metro Pictures (right)

Today, October 4, marks what would be the 128th birthday of Buster Keaton, silver screen star of the silent film era and—at 5’5″—Hollywood’s original short king.

Although he’s over a century-and-a-quarter old, the gays are still thirsting over the envelope-pushing actor-filmmaker to this day. And it’s not hard to see why…

For starters, that face? Why, it belongs on a movie screen! While not conventionally rugged or masculine, Keaton’s visage was angular and alluring, with a sort of soft beauty that some view as rather androgynous.

And that body-ody-ody—don’t get us started. Look, when you’re continually putting your life on the line for show-stopping daredevil stunts, you’ve got to be in peak physical condition. Don’t let his small frame fool you; Keaton was ripped!

Buster Keaton flexing | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Oh, and did we mention he was caked up, too?

But even beyond the thirst, there’s something about Keaton that’s long appealed to queer audiences—we just have to dig a little bit deeper to unpack it.

Originally from Kansas, Keaton was born into a vaudeville family and began performing with them at theaters across the country at the age of three. The show frequently featured the young star tumbling all around the stage, performing jaw-dropping feats of physical comedy—all while rarely incurring an injury.

(Born Joseph Frank Keaton, it’s said he earned the nickname “Buster” when, at just 18 months old, he apparently fell down a flight of stairs without a single bruise or scratch.)

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Hollywood has always been flush with queer artists, both behind and in front of the camera, telling stories that have simmered with subliminal same-sex desire, particularly between men who are meant to represent masculine ideals. 

After the family act proved to be a success—and courted a number of child abuse controversies—Keaton grew fascinated by the emerging art of film in his 20s. He brought his sense of comic timing and derring-do to the screen with great success, and is best remembered for the films he wrote, directed, and starred in himself, like Sherlock, Jr., The General, and The Cameraman.

He’s been hailed as one of the greatest directors of all time, and is often spoken of in the same breath as Charlie Chaplin as one of the defining artists of the silent film era. (Though, unlike his contemporary, Keaton’s much less problematic.)

Even if you’ve never seen a Keaton film, surely you’re familiar with some of his technically impressive set pieces, most of which will still leave you wondering how he possibly could’ve pulled them off.

More focused on laughs and shocks, many of his film’s plots were admittedly threadbare, largely concerned with Keaton’s characters winning the affections of a thinly-sketched woman. Most other men that appeared in these stories were viewed as romantic rivals—bigger, badder, tougher guys he’d have to use his cunning to best if he ever wanted to woo his crush.

But within that fairly rigid, heterosexual framework, Keaton was often playing someone more achievable, more relatable: The fumbling underdog, a collegiate geek, a dandy with refined tastes, an artist, a failed cowboy, an everyman deemed too weak to join the army.

It’s through these roles that queer audiences (who were largely not out at the time, of course) were able to see themselves on screen—maybe for the first time—identifying with movie heroes who didn’t abide by traditional standards of macho-ness.

What we mean is: Gays loving Buster Keaton is nothing new—we’ve been stanning him since the beginning.

In honor of Keaton’s 128th birthday, scroll below for some of our favorite posts celebrating this cinematic trailblazer for the timeless hottie that he is:

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This 1927 Best Picture winner is not-so-secretly a gay love story between two fighter pilots

Ocsar-winning ‘Wings’ features the first same-sex kiss in mainstream American cinema.

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