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Max Linder
Actor

Max Linder

16 Dec 1883Born
1 Nov 1925Died
41Age at death
121Credits

Biography

Although all too frequently neglected by fans of silent comedy, Max Linder is in many ways as important a figure as Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, or Harold Lloyd, not least because he predated (and influenced) them all by several years, and was largely responsible for the creation of the classic style of silent slapstick comedy.

He started out as an actor in the French theatre, but after making his screen debut in 1905 he quickly became an enormously famous and successful film comedian on both sides of the Atlantic, thanks to his character "Max", a top-hatted dandy. By 1912, he was the highest-paid film star in the world, with an unprecedented salary of one million francs.

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He began to direct films in 1911 and showed equal facility behind the camera, but his career suffered an almost terminal blow when he was called up to fight in World War I. He was gassed, and the illness that resulted would blight his career.

Although offered a contract in America, recurring ill-health meant that his US films had little of the sparkle of his early French work, and a brief attempt to revive his career by making films for the recently-formed United Artists (one of whose founders, of course, was Chaplin) in the early 1920s came to little, although these later films are now regarded as classics.

He returned to France and killed himself in a suicide pact with his wife in 1925.

Known for

Filmography

The 80 most recent of 121 credits.

  1. TBAA Nervous Twitch Is Catching (Un Tic Nerveux Contagieux)Film
  2. 2020Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of LibertyFilm: archive footage
  3. 2014Max Linder Collection 1917-1922Film
  4. 1963Laugh with Max LinderFilm: Writer
  5. 1955All in Good FunFilm: Archive Footage
  6. 1948Easter ParadeFilm: Audience Member (uncredited)
  7. 1947The Way of the WorldFilm: (Archive Footage)
  8. 1946Those Were The DaysFilm: (self)
  9. 1939Charlie the InnkeeperFilm
  10. 1931The Theft of the Mona LisaFilm: (archive footage)
  11. 1927Maxim's PorterFilm: Writer
  12. 1924Au secours !Film: Max, Writer
  13. 1924King of the CircusFilm: Max Graf von Pompadour, Writer
  14. 1922The Three Must-Get-TheresFilm: Dart-In-Again, Director, Writer
  15. 1921Be My WifeFilm: Max, the Fiancé, Director, Writer
  16. 1921Seven Years Bad LuckFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  17. 1919Le Petit CaféFilm: Writer
  18. 1917Max, médecin malgré luiFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  19. 1917Max the HeartbreakerFilm: Director
  20. 1917Max in a TaxiFilm: Director
  21. 1917Max Wants a DivorceFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  22. 1917Max Comes AcrossFilm: Max, Writer, Director
  23. 1917Max and the PurseFilm: Director
  24. 1917Max devrait porter des bretellesFilm: Max, Director
  25. 1915Chance and LoveFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  26. 1915Hairdresser of LoveFilm: Director
  27. 1915Max in MonacoFilm: Director
  28. 1914The False Max LinderFilm: Max
  29. 1914Max asthmatiqueFilm: Max, Director
  30. 1914Max in the ConventFilm
  31. 1914The Forced MarriageFilm: Director
  32. 1914Max Plays at DramaFilm
  33. 1914Max and the Lady DoctorFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  34. 1914Max Plays the PartFilm
  35. 1914Max as a ChiropodistFilm: Max, Director
  36. 1914Max Wishes He Hadn'tFilm: Writer, Director
  37. 1914Max and the Jealous HusbandFilm: Max, Director
  38. 1914Max Speaks EnglishFilm: Max, Director
  39. 1914Max Sets the StyleFilm: Max, Director
  40. 1914Max's Latest HobbyFilm: Director
  41. 1914Max's VacationFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  42. 1913Max as a MusicianFilm: Max, Writer, Director
  43. 1913An Unexpected MarriageFilm: Director
  44. 1913Max's HatFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  45. 1913Le billet douxFilm: Max, Director
  46. 1913Max Hates CatsFilm: Director
  47. 1913Max ToreadorFilm: Director, Writer
  48. 1913Le duel de MaxFilm: Max, Director
  49. 1913Max Linder Does All the SportsFilm: Max, Director
  50. 1913Max: Jockey for LoveFilm: Max, Director
  51. 1913Max Linder's AppointmentFilm: Director, Writer
  52. 1913Max Takes a PictureFilm
  53. 1912Max and the StatueFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  54. 1912Max Wants to GrowFilm: Max, Director
  55. 1912The Water-FunkerFilm: Max, Director
  56. 1912JalousieFilm: Writer, Director
  57. 1912Max: Boxer By LoveFilm: Director
  58. 1912The Romance of MaxFilm: Max, Director
  59. 1912Long-Lasting LoveFilm: Max, Director
  60. 1912Cordial AgreementFilm: Director, Writer
  61. 1912Max émule de TartarinFilm: Max, Director
  62. 1912Max, Tango TeacherFilm: Director
  63. 1912A Farmhouse RomanceFilm: Max, Director
  64. 1912The Wedding TrunkFilm: Max, Director
  65. 1912Max and the DonkeyFilm: Max, Director
  66. 1912Un pari originalFilm: Max, Director
  67. 1912An Agitated NightFilm: Director
  68. 1912Max Fears the DogsFilm: Max, Director
  69. 1912Max Juggles for LoveFilm: Max, Director
  70. 1912Max amoureux de la teinturièreFilm: Max, Director
  71. 1912Max and His Dog DickFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  72. 1912Max Takes Back His FreedomFilm: Max (uncredited), Director, Writer
  73. 1912Max Sets the FashionFilm: Max, Director
  74. 1911Max Takes TonicsFilm: Max, Director
  75. 1911Max and Jane Want to Do TheaterFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  76. 1911Max a un duelFilm: Max, Director
  77. 1911Max Is ConvalescentFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  78. 1911Max and His Mother-in-LawFilm: Max, Director, Writer
  79. 1911Max se marieFilm: Max, Director
  80. 1911Max Takes a BathFilm: Max

Biography and credits from TMDB. This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.