Max Linder

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. 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

Easter Parade

Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty

Charlie the Innkeeper

Birth of the Tramp

The Theft of the Mona Lisa

Harlequin's Story

Life and Deaths of Max Linder

Max's Hat

All Movies (127)

• Life and Deaths of Max Linder2026 · as Self (archive footage)
• Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty2020 · as archive footage
• Max Linder Collection 1917-19222014
• Tout sur mon père Max Linder2013 · as Self (archive footage)
• Birth of the Tramp2013 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Man in the Silk Hat1983 · as Self (archive footage)
• Laugh with Max Linder1963 · as Self (archive footage)
• All in Good Fun1955 · as Archive Footage
• Easter Parade1948 · as Audience Member (uncredited)
• The Way of the World1947 · as (Archive Footage)
• Those Were The Days1946 · as (self)
• Charlie the Innkeeper1939
• The Theft of the Mona Lisa1931 · as (archive footage)
• Au secours !1924 · as Max
• King of the Circus1924 · as Max Graf von Pompadour
• The World of Yesteryear – Max Linder1924 · as Self
• The Three Must-Get-Theres1922 · as Dart-In-Again
• Be My Wife1921 · as Max, the Fiancé
• Seven Years Bad Luck1921 · as Max
• Le Petit Café1919
• Max, médecin malgré lui1917 · as Max
• Max the Heartbreaker1917
• Max in a Taxi1917 · as Himself
• Max Wants a Divorce1917 · as Max
• Max Comes Across1917 · as Max
• Max and the Purse1917
• Max devrait porter des bretelles1917 · as Max
• Max Linder Visits Charlie Chaplin1917 · as Self
• Chance and Love1915 · as Max
• Hairdresser of Love1915
• Max in Monaco1915
• The False Max Linder1914 · as Max
• Max asthmatique1914 · as Max
• Max in the Convent1914
• The Forced Marriage1914
• Max Plays at Drama1914
• Max and the Lady Doctor1914 · as Max
• Max Plays the Part1914
• Max as a Chiropodist1914 · as Max
• Max Wishes He Hadn't1914
• Max and the Jealous Husband1914 · as Max
• Max Speaks English1914 · as Max
• Max Sets the Style1914 · as Max
• Max's Latest Hobby1914
• Max's Vacation1914 · as Max
• Max as a Musician1913 · as Max
• An Unexpected Marriage1913
• Max's Hat1913 · as Max
• Le billet doux1913 · as Max
• Max Hates Cats1913
• Max Toreador1913
• Le duel de Max1913 · as Max
• Max Linder Does All the Sports1913 · as Max
• Max: Jockey for Love1913 · as Max
• Max Linder's Appointment1913
• Max Takes a Picture1913
• Max and the Statue1912 · as Max
• Max Wants to Grow1912 · as Max
• The Water-Funker1912 · as Max
• Jalousie1912
• Max: Boxer By Love1912
• The Romance of Max1912 · as Max
• Long-Lasting Love1912 · as Max
• Cordial Agreement1912
• Max émule de Tartarin1912 · as Max
• Max, Tango Teacher1912
• A Farmhouse Romance1912 · as Max
• The Wedding Trunk1912 · as Max
• Max and the Donkey1912 · as Max
• Un pari original1912 · as Max
• An Agitated Night1912
• Max Fears the Dogs1912 · as Max
• Max Juggles for Love1912 · as Max
• Max amoureux de la teinturière1912 · as Max
• Max and His Dog Dick1912 · as Max
• Max Takes Back His Freedom1912 · as Max (uncredited)
• Max Sets the Fashion1912 · as Max
• Max Takes Tonics1911 · as Max
• Max and Jane Want to Do Theater1911 · as Max
• Max a un duel1911 · as Max
• Max Is Convalescent1911 · as Max
• Max and His Mother-in-Law1911 · as Max
• Max se marie1911 · as Max
• Max Takes a Bath1911 · as Max
• Une ruse de mari1911
• Champion de boxe1911 · as Max
• Comment Max fait le tour du monde1911
• Max Gets Stuck Up1910 · as Max
• Max manque un riche mariage1910 · as Max
• Max Embarrassed1910 · as Max
• Trop aimée1910 · as Max
• Max's First Job1910 · as Max
• The Puzzle1910
• Max Skiing1910 · as Max
• The Effects of Pills1910 · as Max
• Max est distrait1910 · as Max
• A Short-Sighted Duellist1910 · as Max
• Max Makes a Touch1910
• I Want a Baby1910
• The Adventures of Tartarin the Younger1910 · as Tartarin
• Le serment d'un prince1910 · as Jacques de Lacerda
• The Dentures1909
• The Barometer of Fidelity1909
• The Little Vixen1909
• A Conquest1909
• Love's Surprises1909
• In Love with the Bearded Woman1909
• Romeo Turns Bandit1909
• The Gentleman Thief1909 · as Arsène Lupin
• Beginning of the Serpentine Dance1908 · as The ballet master
• Noisy Neighbors1908
• His First Cigar1908
• In a Difficult Position1908 · as Dieutegarde
• Troubles of a Grass Widower1908
• A Drama in Seaville1907 · as The Rival
• Pitou, bonne d'enfants1907
• Harlequin's Story1907 · as Polichinelle / Ponchinella / Harlequin
• Max Learns to Skate1907 · as Max
• For a Necklace1907
• At the Show1907
• Phial of Poison1907
• Attempted Suicide1906
• Joined Lips1906
• C'est Papa qui a pris la purge1906 · as Man on park bench
• Unforeseen Meeting1905
• First Night Out1905
• A Nervous Twitch Is Catching (Un Tic Nerveux Contagieux)—

All TV Shows (1)

• Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma1978 · as Self (archive footage)