Max Linder
Born
December 16, 1883
Died
November 1, 1925 (41 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Cavernes, Saint-Loubès, Gironde, France
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
Au secours !
Max
1924
The Three Must-Get-Theres
Dart-In-Again
1922
Be My Wife
Max, the Fiancé
1921
Seven Years Bad Luck
Max
1921
Max the Heartbreaker
1917
Max in a Taxi
Himself
1917
Max Wants a Divorce
Max
1917
Max and the Purse
1917
Max in Monaco
1915
The False Max Linder
Max
1914
Max and the Lady Doctor
Max
1914
Max Plays the Part
1914
Max as a Chiropodist
Max
1914
Max Wishes He Hadn't
1914
Max Speaks English
Max
1914
Max Sets the Style
Max
1914
Max's Vacation
Max
1914
Max's Hat
Max
1913
Max Linder Does All the Sports
Max
1913
Max: Jockey for Love
Max
1913
Max Takes a Picture
1913
Max and the Statue
Max
1912
Max Wants to Grow
Max
1912
The Water-Funker
Max
1912
Jalousie
1912
Max: Boxer By Love
1912
The Romance of Max
Max
1912
Long-Lasting Love
Max
1912
Cordial Agreement
1912
A Farmhouse Romance
Max
1912
The Wedding Trunk
Max
1912
Max and the Donkey
Max
1912
An Agitated Night
1912
Max Fears the Dogs
Max
1912
Max Juggles for Love
1912
Max and His Dog Dick
Max
1912
Max Sets the Fashion
Max
1912
Max Takes Tonics
Max
1911
Max and Jane Want to Do Theater
Max
1911
Max Is Convalescent
Max
1911
Max and His Mother-in-Law
Max
1911
Max Takes a Bath
Max
1911
Une ruse de mari
1911
Champion de boxe
Max
1911
Max Gets Stuck Up
Max
1910
Max Embarrassed
Max
1910
Max's First Job
Max
1910
Le serment d'un prince
Jacques de Lacerda
1910
The Dentures
1909
The Barometer of Fidelity
1909
The Little Vixen
1909
Love's Surprises
1909
Romeo Turns Bandit
1909
Troubles of a Grass Widower
1908
His First Cigar
1908
In a Difficult Position
Dieutegarde
1908
Harlequin's Story
Polichinelle / Ponchinella / Harlequin
1907
Max Learns to Skate
Max
1907
At the Show
1907
C'est Papa qui a pris la purge
Man on park bench
1907
Joined Lips
1906
First Night Out
1905
A Nervous Twitch Is Catching (Un Tic Nerveux Contagieux)
Life and Deaths of Max Linder
Self (archive footage)
2024
Tout sur mon père Max Linder
Self (archive footage)
2013
Birth of the Tramp
Self (archive footage)
2013
The Man in the Silk Hat
Self (archive footage)
1983
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
1978
Laugh with Max Linder
Self (archive footage)
1963
All in Good Fun
Archive Footage
1955
Easter Parade
Audience Member (uncredited)
1948
Those Were The Days
(self)
1946
The Theft of the Mona Lisa
(archive footage)
1931
King of the Circus
Max Graf von Pompadour
1924
The World of Yesteryear – Max Linder
Self
1924
Le Petit Café
1919
Max, médecin malgré lui
Max
1917
Max Comes Across
Max
1917
Max devrait porter des bretelles
Max
1917
Max Linder Visits Charlie Chaplin
Self
1917
Chance and Love
Max
1915
Hairdresser of Love
1915
Max asthmatique
Max
1914
Max in the Convent
1914
The Forced Marriage
1914
Max Plays at Drama
1914
Max and the Jealous Husband
Max
1914
Max's Latest Hobby
1914
Max as a Musician
Max
1913
An Unexpected Marriage
1913
Le billet doux
Max
1913
Max Hates Cats
1913
Max Toreador
1913
Le duel de Max
Max
1913
Max Linder's Appointment
1913
Max émule de Tartarin
Max
1912
Max, Tango Teacher
1912
Un pari original
Max
1912
Max amoureux de la teinturière
Max
1912
Max Takes Back His Freedom
Max (uncredited)
1912
Max a un duel
Max
1911
Max se marie
Max
1911
Comment Max fait le tour du monde
1911
Max manque un riche mariage
Max
1910
Trop aimée
Max
1910
Max Skiing
Max
1910
The Effects of Pills
Max
1910
Max est distrait
Max
1910
A Short-Sighted Duellist
Max
1910
Max Makes a Touch
1910
I Want a Baby
1910
The Adventures of Tartarin the Younger
Tartarin
1910
A Conquest
1909
In Love with the Bearded Woman
1909
The Gentleman Thief
Arsène Lupin
1909
Noisy Neighbors
1908
Beginning of the Serpentine Dance
The ballet master
1908
Pitou, bonne d'enfants
1907
Chaussure trop étroite
Max
1907
The Husband's Trick
1907
For a Necklace
1907
Phial of Poison
1907
Julot va dans le monde
Julot
1906
Les Étudiants de Paris
1906
Attempted Suicide
1906
Unforeseen Meeting
1905