Joseph F. "Buster" Keaton was born in Piqua, Kansas on October 4, 1895, while his parents, Joseph and Myra Keaton, were appearing in a traveling medicine show with a stock company on a bill that included the later famous magician Harry Houdini. According to a story Joseph later told interviewers, a cyclone struck Piqua and blew away the performance tent, and when he returned to his boarding house after searching the countryside for it, he found that his wife had given birth to their first child. Keaton made his first stage appearance at just 24 hours old in the Catholic Hall, which was serving as a substitute theater for the evening's performance. When he was five years old, the family began touring vaudeville as "The Three Keatons." In 1917, Keaton went to Hollywood to begin a movie career that lasted until his death in February, 1966. Many of his silent films are recognized as classics of the genre, and he starred in or directed more than 150 movies and appeared in 40 television shows. He was known as "the great stone face" for his ability to maintain a serious demeanor while performing outrageous comedy routines.