“Birdman” MICHAEL KEATON belatedly realized he coulda got his wings clipped BIGTIME for making like a real-life superhero – not merely one nominated for an Oscar – when he busted into the middle of a fist-swinging basketball brawl and bravely ordered beefy, overheated wannabe studs: “BREAK IT UP!”
Walking along Venice Beach, the 63-year-old star stopped to watch a pickup game, and when a fight broke out, our 5-foot-9 hero instantly waded between the two teams and – even though totally dwarfed – got all ballsy, taking control and calming everyone down.
Now my KICKER: Michael then stuck around and refereed the game!
But later, he told a pal who’d eyewitnessed all: “Don’t EVER let me do that again!”
