| Charley Chase | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Joseph Parrott October 20, 1893 Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Died | June 20, 1940 (aged 46) Hollywood, California, United States |
| Other name(s) | Charlie Chase, Charles Chase, Charles Parrott, Jimmy Jump, Jimmie Jump, Charley Chan Chase |
| Occupation | comedian, director, screenwriter, songwriter |
| Years active | 1912-1940 |
| Spouse(s) | Bebe Eltinge (1914-1940) |
Charley Chase (October 20, 1893 - June 20, 1940) was an American comedian, screenwriter and film director, best known for his work in Hal Roach short film comedies. Events 1740 - Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 451 - Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius ' defeats Attila the Hun. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience primarily by making them laugh A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film. Screenwriters or scenarists are Scriptwriters who write the Screenplays from which Films and Television programs are made A songwriter is someone who writes the Lyrics to songs the Musical composition (chords or Melody to songs or both Events 1740 - Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 451 - Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius ' defeats Attila the Hun. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience primarily by making them laugh Screenwriters or scenarists are Scriptwriters who write the Screenplays from which Films and Television programs are made A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film. Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr ( January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and Short subject is a format description originally coined in the North American Film industry in the early period of cinema. He was the older brother of comedian/director James Parrott. James Parrott ( August 2 1898 – May 10 1939) was an American Actor and Film director; and the younger brother
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Life and career
Born Charles Joseph Parrott in Baltimore, Maryland, Chase started his career in films by working at the Christie Comedies in 1912. Christie Film Company was an American pioneer motion picture company founded in Hollywood California by Al Christie and Charles Christie The year 1912 in film involved some significant events Events Mack Sennett, who had previously worked as an actor and comedy director with D He then moved to Keystone Studios, where he began appearing in bit parts in the Mack Sennett films, including those of Charlie Chaplin. Keystone Studios was an early Movie studio founded in Edendale California in 1912 as the Keystone Pictures Studio by Mack Sennett ( January 17, 1880 &ndash November 5, 1960) was an Academy Award -winning director and was known as the innovator By 1915 he was playing juvenile leads in the Keystones, and directing some of the films as "Charles Parrott. " His Keystone credentials were good enough to get him steady work as a comedy director with other companies; he directed many of Chaplin imitator Billy West's comedies, which featured a young Oliver Hardy as villain. Oliver Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 &ndash August 7, 1957) was an American comic Actor
In 1920, Chase began working as a film director for Hal Roach Studios; among his notable early works for Roach was supervising the first entries in the Our Gang series. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr ( January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and "The Little Rascals" redirects here For other uses see The Little Rascals (disambiguation. Chase became Director-General of the Hal Roach Studio in late 1921, supervising the production of all the Roach series with the exception of the Harold Lloyd comedies. Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr ( April 20, 1893 &ndash March 8, 1971) was an American Film actor and producer He eventually moved back in front of the camera with his own series of shorts following Lloyd's departure from the studio in 1923, adopting the screen name Charley Chase.
Direction of the Chase series was soon taken over by Leo McCarey, who in collaboration with Chase formed the comic style of the series — an emphasis on characterization and farce instead of knockabout slapstick. Thomas Leo McCarey ( October 3, 1898 - July 5, 1969) was an Academy Award -winning American Film director Chase was a master of the comedy of embarrassment, and he played either hapless young businessmen or befuddled husbands in dozens of situation comedies. His screen persona was that of a pleasant young man with a dapper mustache and ordinary street clothes; this set him apart from the clownish makeups and crazy costumes used by his contemporaries.
Chase remained the guiding hand behind the films, acting as director, writer, and, editor. However, he only began to receive director's credit, as Charles Parrott, on his own films in 1933. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Some of Chase's starring shorts of the 1920s, particularly Mighty Like a Moose, Fluttering Hearts, and Limousine Love are among the finest in silent comedy.
Chase moved with ease into sound films in 1929 and continued to be very prolific, often putting his fine singing voice on display and including his often humorous, self-penned songs in his comedy shorts. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Chase's The Pip from Pittsburgh (1931), co-starring Thelma Todd, is one of the most celebrated Hal Roach comedies of the 1930s. Events Top grossing films Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff Ingagi, starring Sir Hubert Thelma Todd ( July 29, 1905 – December 16, 1935) was an American actress of the late 1920s and early 1930s film Throughout the decade, the Charley Chase shorts continued to stand alongside Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang as the core output of the Roach studio. Laurel and Hardy were the popular American -based comedy team of thin British-born Stan Laurel (1890-1965 and heavy American-born Oliver Hardy (1892-1957 Chase appeared on-screen with Laurel and Hardy in their 1933 feature film Sons of the Desert. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. But Chase had no place in producer Roach's ambitious plans to make prestigious feature films, and he was dismissed from the Roach studio in 1936. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Later years
In 1937, Chase began working at Columbia Pictures, where he spent the rest of his career starring in his own series of two-reel comedies, as well as producing and directing other Columbia comedies, including those of The Three Stooges (1938's Mutts to You and Flat Foot Stooges) and Andy Clyde. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. }} Columbia Pictures Industries Inc is an American Film production and distribution company The Three Stooges were an American Vaudeville and Comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous Short subject films Mutts to You is the 34th Short subject starring American Slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. Flat Foot Stooges is the 35th Short subject starring American Slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. Andrew "Andy" Clyde ( March 25, 1892 — May 18, 1967) was a Scottish movie and TV actor whose career spanned more than He also directed the classic Violent Is the Word for Curly and penned the song "Swingin' The Alphabet," which the Stooges would perform for the remainder of their careers. Violent Is the Word for Curly is the 32nd Short subject starring American Slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. Chase's own shorts at Columbia favored broader sight gags and more slapstick than his earlier, more subtle work, although he does sing in two of the Columbias, The Grand Hooter and The Big Squirt (both 1937). Many of Chase's Columbia short subjects were strong enough to be remade in the 1940s with other comedians.
Chase suffered from alcoholism for most of his professional career, and his tumultuous lifestyle began to take a serious toll on his health. Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions His hair had turned prematurely gray, and he dyed it jet-black for his Columbia comedies. Even with the dark hair, though, he looked far older than his years. Though still producing quality comedies, Chase's physical decline in the late 1930s is evident in his work.
His younger brother, Jimmy Parrott, had personal problems resulting from a drug treatment; his diet medications were actually pep pills, and he developed a dependency. He died in 1939.
Older brother Charley was devastated. He had refused to give his brother money to support his drug habit, and friends knew he felt responsible for Jimmy's death. He coped with the loss by throwing himself into his work (one of his last comedies, The Heckler, is one of his funniest) and by drinking more heavily than ever, despite doctors' warnings. The stress ultimately caught up with him; only months after his brother's death, Charley Chase died of a heart attack in Hollywood, California in 1940 and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately-owned Cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles, in the United States. Glendale ( is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Chase was 46.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Charley Chase has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6630 Hollywood Boulevard. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a Sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood Los Angeles California, USA, that
Renewed Interest
Since the 1990s, there has been a revival of interest in the films of Charley Chase, due in large part to the increased availability of his work and the undated, contemporary feel of his best comedies. An extensive website researching his life and work, The World of Charley Chase, was created in 1996, and a biography, Smile When the Raindrops Fall, was published in 1997. His films, particularly his canonical silent work, are now being screened in repertory theaters more often than ever. Chase's sound comedies for Hal Roach were briefly televised in the late 1990s on the short-lived American cable network The Odyssey Channel. Retrospectives of his silent comedies organized by The Silent Clowns Film Series were held in 1999 and 2006 in New York City. The City of New York A marathon of selected Charley Chase shorts from the silent era was broadcast in 2005 on the American cable television network Turner Classic Movies. Turner Classic Movies ( TCM) is a cable television channel featuring commercial -free classic movies mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner Kino International released two Charley Chase DVD collections in 2004-2005, and a long-anticipated two-disc set from Milestone Films is currently in production. In late 2006, Turner Classic Movies began to air the Charley Chase sound-era comedies on American cable TV. In 2007, Charley Chase's Mighty Like a Moose (1926) was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. The National Film Registry is the registry of Films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of
Further reading
- Smile When the Raindrops Fall by Brian Anthony and Andy Edmonds (1997) ISBN 0-810-83377-8
- The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-Reel Hollywood Film Comedies, 1933-1958 by Ted Okuda with Edward Watz (1998) ISBN 0-786-40577-5
See also
External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Chase, Charley |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Parrott, Charles Joseph |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actor, comedian, director, writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 20, 1893 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Baltimore, Maryland , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 20, 1940 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Hollywood, California, United States |
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