Michael Keaton Credits Parents, Family In Emotional Speech

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- To the world, he is Michael Keaton the movie star, but in accepting his Golden Globe last night, he revealed himself to someone else.

"My name is Michael John Douglas. I'm from Forest Grove, Pennsylvania."

With that Keaton -- or Douglas -- paid homage to his upbringing in a tiny enclave nestled between Robinson and Kennedy Township, his family and his hard-working parents.

"I am the seventh child of George and Leona Douglas," he continued at the Golden Globes. "I can't remember a time when my father didn't work two jobs, my mother wasn't saying the Rosary or going to Mass or trying to take care of seven kids in a rundown farm house."

"I knew he was doing it for us," said Joyce Douglas. "I knew that speech for for us and so that's what made me cry."

Watching at home, Keaton's older sister Joyce Douglas of Wexford was moved to tears and called her younger brother this morning to tell him.

She told him, "I looked at you, but I saw mother and dad right behind you."

Keaton's mom volunteered at the Ohio Valley Hospital while young Michael was student and altar boy at St. Malachy's School in Kennedy and ticked off a litany of core values he learned there.

"The themes were pretty simple work hard, don't quit, be appreciative, be grateful, be thankful, be respectful," he said.

Keaton who hosts all of his brothers and sister every year at his mountain ranch used the occasion to pay tribute to family and all the people who formed and guided him along the way.

"This is my background this is who I am," Joyce Douglas said.

"To come from the place I come from, my friends and my family, thank you very much. I'm extremely grateful," Keaton said.

Michael Keaton left the Pittsburgh area, but Pittsburgh never left him what he learned growing up here has made him what he is today.

You May Also Be Interested In These Latest News Stories

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter