Charley Chase: From Keystone to Hal Roach

Charley Chase (1893-1940) is widely considered by film fans to be one of the geniuses of silent comedy. Born Charles Parrott in Baltimore, Maryland, a brief career in vaudeville led to bit parts at Keystone Films. Unhappy playing second fiddle to luminaries such as Chaplin and Arbuckle, Parrott famously approached Hal Roach, telling him, "I can play anything!" Rechristened Charley Chase, he was soon starring in his own series of two-reel comedies for Roach. In these films, Charley usually played a sophisticated young man (sometimes a harried husband, or an overworked businessman) plunged into an unfortunate succession of embarrassing incidents. Most of the Chase shorts were directed by Leo McCarey, later to be famous for the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup and an Academy Award winner for Going My Way (1944).