By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

NEW YORK CITY (Dec. 11, 1998) -- How serious is actor Michael Keaton about Christmas? "I used to literally climb on the roof on Christmas Eve, going 'Ho-ho-ho,' just to fool my kid about Santa."

So when the chance came to play a snowman in a holiday movie, Keaton jumped at it. "I read the script -- and I cried -- so I figured there was something there," Keaton says during a round of hotel-suite interviews.

In Jack Frost, he plays a father who, after his death, returns in the form of a snowman to make up for lost time with his young son.

"I love the idea that the film might become a perennial -- show up every Christmas," Keaton says.

Because he's a special-effects snowman for most of the film, Keaton had an easy shooting schedule. We see him as the father, a professional blues musician, only in the early scenes. "I worked three weeks -- and then did another four days recording the (snowman) voice."

But he was involved in the film's development. He steered director Troy Miller toward 12-year-old actor Joseph Cross, who had played a boy tormented by Keaton, as a demented prison escapee, in Desperate Measures.

"I felt so bad about terrorizing the kid in Desperate Measures that I decided to make a movie in which I could be nice to him.

Keaton says he enjoyed the challenge of becoming a musician for Jack Frost. He learned a bit of guitar and harmonica, and trained with Trevor Rabin, who's worked with Yes and developed music for Frost. By the time production began, Keaton was prepared to sing his own vocals, and also wrote two songs that ended up in the finished film (and, presumably, on the soundtrack album).

Initially known for his work in such comedies as Night Shift and Mr. Mom, Keaton hit Hollywood's A list in 1988 with the frenetic Beetlejuice and solemn Clean and Sober. Later he was Tim Burton's unorthodox choice for the first two Batman films, and moved on to a mix of comedy and drama in Speechless and Pacific Heights.

One of Keaton's biggest fans is Mark Canton, former chairman of Columbia-TriStar and producer of Jack Frost.

"Michael is one of America's most underrated actors," Canton says. "He's less concerned with being a star than with being an actor."

Canton says he was especially impressed that Keaton declined to do the later Batman sequels, despite the promise of big paychecks. "He didn't take the money and run."

Now 47, Keaton isn't sure what's next, though there's been some talk about putting federal agent Ray Nicolet, the supporting character played by Keaton in Jackie Brown and Out of Sight -- into a film of his own.