Max Linder
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. 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
King of the Circus
Max Graf von Pompadour
Max in a Taxi
Himself
Max Wants a Divorce
Max
Max Comes Across
Max
All in Good Fun
Archive Footage
Max a un duel
Max
The Man in the Silk Hat
Self (archive footage)
An Agitated Night
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
Self (archive footage)
The Theft of the Mona Lisa
(archive footage)
Max Juggles for Love
Attempted Suicide
A Short-Sighted Duellist
Max
Life and Deaths of Max Linder
Self (archive footage)
First Night Out
The World of Yesteryear – Max Linder
Self
Une ruse de mari
Those Were The Days
(self)
Un pari original
Max
Max Speaks English
Max
Birth of the Tramp
Self (archive footage)
Julot va dans le monde
Julot
Easter Parade
Audience Member (uncredited)
Long-Lasting Love
Max
Max in the Convent
I Want a Baby
Max Makes a Touch
Max Wishes He Hadn't
The Three Must-Get-Theres
Dart-In-Again
Max's First Job
Max
Max in Monaco
Cordial Agreement
Phial of Poison
Champion de boxe
Max
A Nervous Twitch Is Catching (Un Tic Nerveux Contagieux)
A Farmhouse Romance
Max
The Gentleman Thief
Arsène Lupin
Max asthmatique
Max
The Effects of Pills
Max
Jalousie
Max Sets the Fashion
Max
Max as a Musician
Max
Chance and Love
Max
Chaussure trop étroite
Max
Beginning of the Serpentine Dance
The ballet master
Le serment d'un prince
Jacques de Lacerda
Max and Jane Want to Do Theater
Max
Max Is Convalescent
Max
Unforeseen Meeting
Max Takes Back His Freedom
Max (uncredited)
Le billet doux
Max
Max Linder's Appointment
The Wedding Trunk
Max
Max Takes Tonics
Max
Max and the Statue
Max
A Conquest
The Little Vixen
Max and the Donkey
Max
Noisy Neighbors
The Barometer of Fidelity
Max Toreador
At the Show
Max and His Mother-in-Law
Max
Max Wants to Grow
Max
Max Sets the Style
Max
The Forced Marriage
Max Learns to Skate
Max
Le duel de Max
Max
Max Linder Visits Charlie Chaplin
Self
Au secours !
Max
Max, médecin malgré lui
Max
Seven Years Bad Luck
Max
Max as a Chiropodist
Max
C'est Papa qui a pris la purge
Man on park bench
Max Fears the Dogs
Max
Max, Tango Teacher
Max Plays at Drama
Max Plays the Part
Max est distrait
Max
Max amoureux de la teinturière
Max
Les Étudiants de Paris
His First Cigar
Max: Jockey for Love
Max
The Romance of Max
Max
In Love with the Bearded Woman
Hairdresser of Love
Max Skiing
Max
The False Max Linder
Max
Max the Heartbreaker
Tout sur mon père Max Linder
Self (archive footage)
The Husband's Trick
The Water-Funker
Max
Be My Wife
Max, the Fiancé
Pitou, bonne d'enfants
An Unexpected Marriage
Romeo Turns Bandit
Max and the Purse
Trop aimée
Max
Max's Hat
Max
Max Linder Does All the Sports
Max
Max's Vacation
Max
Troubles of a Grass Widower
Max se marie
Max
Le Petit Café
Max's Latest Hobby
Max Gets Stuck Up
Max
Max: Boxer By Love
Max and the Lady Doctor
Max
Joined Lips
The Dentures
Love's Surprises
The Adventures of Tartarin the Younger
Tartarin
Max Takes a Picture
In a Difficult Position
Dieutegarde
Harlequin's Story
Polichinelle / Ponchinella / Harlequin
Max and the Jealous Husband
Max
Max Hates Cats
Comment Max fait le tour du monde
Max Takes a Bath
Max
For a Necklace
Max Embarrassed
Max
Max devrait porter des bretelles
Max
Max émule de Tartarin
Max
Max and His Dog Dick
Max
Laugh with Max Linder
Self (archive footage)
Max manque un riche mariage
Max