Charley Chase(1893-1940)
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
While Charley Chase is far from being as famous as "The Big Three"
(Charles Chaplin,
Buster Keaton and
Harold Lloyd) today, he's highly
respected as one of the "greats" by fans of silent comedy.
Chase (real name Charles Parrott) was born in Maryland, USA, in 1893.
After a brief career in vaudeville, burlesque, and musical comedy he appeared with Al Christie at Universal
Studios as a comedian in 1913 before moving to the Mack Sennett Studios the
following year. His career in films did not start off with
remarkable success. He played bit parts in a large number of short
comedies, coming to notice in 'The Knockout' with Charlie Chaplin, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Edgar Kennedy and The Keystone Cops. This was followed by appearing in a number of films written and directed by Chaplin. At the end of 1914 he was one of the stars in the spectacular Tillie's Punctured Romance featuring all the stars on the lot, and which took 14 weeks to shoot. He spent another year with Sennett starring in his own shorts, one of his first being Settled at the Seaside co starring Mae Busch. In 1915he started directing films using his real name and switching to his stage name when starring. He moved to Fox Studios in 1916 where he directed, wrote and starred in comedies some of which featured Chester Conklin. After a couple of further studio moves he rejoined Sennett then went to Paramount before arriving at Hal Roach Studios in 1920 as
a director, before Roach realized what a gifted performer he had hired.
"I can play anything!" Chase told Roach, and eventually his claim was
confirmed. Although Mack Sennett's Keystone studio has earned legendary
status as the ultimate factory of comic invention, it can hardly be
denied that Roach developed a more refined style of comedy which
obviously fitted Chase better (indeed, Sennett's unsophisticated
product increasingly lost favor with the movie-going public by the
early 1920s, while Roach's studio flourished). During five years,
1924-29, he starred in nearly a hundred two-reelers, most of which were
directed by Leo McCarey.
Chase usually portrayed an apparently gentle and charming man who in
reality, it eventually turned out, was quite a loser after all. His
character was largely inspired by Lloyd Hamilton, another neglected
comedian whom Chase had directed in several two-reelers. Among
Charley's most memorable shorts are Innocent Husbands, Mighty Like a
Moose, and Movie Night.
From the beginning, Charley Chase was a "critics' darling," but none of
his movies were remarkably successful at the box office. There is no
official "explanation" to this, but one reason may be that Chase, in
contrast to the more popular clowns, never starred in any feature
during the silent period. On a personal level, Chase was severely
hobbled by alcoholism, which is unapparent in his films.
Chase made several promising appearances after the talkies arrived, in
1929-30, especially in Laurel and Hardy's highly acclaimed feature
Sons of the Desert (1933).
Despite this, he was never offered any further appearances in features.
But he continued to perform in shorts and did also direct some of the
Three Stooges' early movies. He died in 1940, not yet 47 years of age,
of a heart attack. It is reasonable to believe that his early death was
to a large extent caused by his addiction to alcohol, a problem which
had troubled his family for several years. His brother James, also an
actor, had died the year before. The two brothers had been close
throughout their lives, although their personal problems frequently
affected each other (or perhaps that was the reason for their being so
close.) Chase was married to Bebe Eltinge from 1914, a marriage that
lasted until his death and produced two daughters, Polly and June.
Chase's silent work was celebrated on DVD in two volumes from Kino
Video. At long last his comic genius is being recognized.
(Charles Chaplin,
Buster Keaton and
Harold Lloyd) today, he's highly
respected as one of the "greats" by fans of silent comedy.
Chase (real name Charles Parrott) was born in Maryland, USA, in 1893.
After a brief career in vaudeville, burlesque, and musical comedy he appeared with Al Christie at Universal
Studios as a comedian in 1913 before moving to the Mack Sennett Studios the
following year. His career in films did not start off with
remarkable success. He played bit parts in a large number of short
comedies, coming to notice in 'The Knockout' with Charlie Chaplin, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Edgar Kennedy and The Keystone Cops. This was followed by appearing in a number of films written and directed by Chaplin. At the end of 1914 he was one of the stars in the spectacular Tillie's Punctured Romance featuring all the stars on the lot, and which took 14 weeks to shoot. He spent another year with Sennett starring in his own shorts, one of his first being Settled at the Seaside co starring Mae Busch. In 1915he started directing films using his real name and switching to his stage name when starring. He moved to Fox Studios in 1916 where he directed, wrote and starred in comedies some of which featured Chester Conklin. After a couple of further studio moves he rejoined Sennett then went to Paramount before arriving at Hal Roach Studios in 1920 as
a director, before Roach realized what a gifted performer he had hired.
"I can play anything!" Chase told Roach, and eventually his claim was
confirmed. Although Mack Sennett's Keystone studio has earned legendary
status as the ultimate factory of comic invention, it can hardly be
denied that Roach developed a more refined style of comedy which
obviously fitted Chase better (indeed, Sennett's unsophisticated
product increasingly lost favor with the movie-going public by the
early 1920s, while Roach's studio flourished). During five years,
1924-29, he starred in nearly a hundred two-reelers, most of which were
directed by Leo McCarey.
Chase usually portrayed an apparently gentle and charming man who in
reality, it eventually turned out, was quite a loser after all. His
character was largely inspired by Lloyd Hamilton, another neglected
comedian whom Chase had directed in several two-reelers. Among
Charley's most memorable shorts are Innocent Husbands, Mighty Like a
Moose, and Movie Night.
From the beginning, Charley Chase was a "critics' darling," but none of
his movies were remarkably successful at the box office. There is no
official "explanation" to this, but one reason may be that Chase, in
contrast to the more popular clowns, never starred in any feature
during the silent period. On a personal level, Chase was severely
hobbled by alcoholism, which is unapparent in his films.
Chase made several promising appearances after the talkies arrived, in
1929-30, especially in Laurel and Hardy's highly acclaimed feature
Sons of the Desert (1933).
Despite this, he was never offered any further appearances in features.
But he continued to perform in shorts and did also direct some of the
Three Stooges' early movies. He died in 1940, not yet 47 years of age,
of a heart attack. It is reasonable to believe that his early death was
to a large extent caused by his addiction to alcohol, a problem which
had troubled his family for several years. His brother James, also an
actor, had died the year before. The two brothers had been close
throughout their lives, although their personal problems frequently
affected each other (or perhaps that was the reason for their being so
close.) Chase was married to Bebe Eltinge from 1914, a marriage that
lasted until his death and produced two daughters, Polly and June.
Chase's silent work was celebrated on DVD in two volumes from Kino
Video. At long last his comic genius is being recognized.