h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

very few things make me smile more than seeing Buster Keaton at work. I loved his stony expression as things went awry ( as they usually did). He bravely embraced TV in his later years, and made a memorable appearance in "A Funny thing happened on the way to the Forum."

I love the escalator in this clip, and Keaton's acrobatic efforts to escape its clutches.

What was it about daredevil antics in those old silent pictures? I remember Harold Lloyd hanging on to the hands of a large clock, many stories above the street.

Is it any wonder that these stars broke bones occasionally?

Keaton started early. He and his dad had a vaudeville act. His dad would throw him around the stage. He loved it.

Since they traveled from town to town, his dad sometimes got arrested for child endangerment...

Eddie Foy Sr. got in trouble for putting his children to work in the entertainment industry, at least according to the plot of "The Seven little Foys." There is a courtroom scene in which Foy has his kids show how inept they are at all aspects of entertainment. How can they be working if they're that bad at what they do?

Unfortunately, nowadays there are vast swaths of the U.S. where treating children badly has come to seem okay.

I wonder what Keaton thought of his father's treatment?

Apparently, Keaton loved it.

That's what counts