Max Linder: The First Movie Comedian

by Paul Etcheverry

Parisian boulevardier Max Linder was cinema's first comedian, an accomplished star in France before D. W. Griffith and Allan Dwan started their film careers; Chaplin described him as "the great master". Linder (1883-1925) starred in his own series of comedy short subjects as early as 1905, before Mack Sennett, before John Bunny, before Mabel Normand, before Fred Mace.

The dapper, top-hatted performer's innovative role in developing screen comedy is comparable to Emile Cohl's pioneering contributions to animation. The perpetually-cool "silk hat slicker" character of the inspired 1920's comic actor Raymond Griffith could be regarded as a creative homage to Max Linder.

Max reprend sa liberté (1912)