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