Mack Sennett


Actor, Director, Producer
Mack Sennett

About

Also Known As
Mikall Sinnott, Michael Sinnott
Birth Place
Danville, Quebec, CA
Born
January 17, 1880
Died
November 05, 1960
Cause of Death
Heart Attack

Biography

Once dubbed "The King of Comedy," producer and director Mack Sennett was a ringmaster for a motley crew of comedic talent that included Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand and the Keystone Kops, who slid, slipped and slapped their way across American movie screens of the 1910s. His anarchic world of cross-eyed rubes, nightmare-bearded villains, comely bathing beauties and bumb...

Family & Companions

Mabel Normand
Companion
Actor, director.

Bibliography

"King of Comedy"
Mack Sennett (1954)

Notes

The romance of Sennett and Normand formed the basis for the unsuccessful 1974 Broadway musical "Mack and Mabel".

Biography

Once dubbed "The King of Comedy," producer and director Mack Sennett was a ringmaster for a motley crew of comedic talent that included Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand and the Keystone Kops, who slid, slipped and slapped their way across American movie screens of the 1910s. His anarchic world of cross-eyed rubes, nightmare-bearded villains, comely bathing beauties and bumbling cops falling off cliffs, out of buildings, and throwing custard pies was an unexpected creation of a man who grew up wanting to be an opera star. Sennett's brand of crude slapstick humor proved to be highly popular with audiences and helped him become one of the most powerful men of early Hollywood. With outside financial backing, Sennett set up his famed Keystone Studios in 1912 and began cracking out one- and two-reel shorts by the hundreds. He also ventured into feature filmmaking, most notably with "Tillie's Punctured Romance" (1914), starring Mabel Normand, with whom he had a long and problematic romance until the mid-1920s. In 1917, Sennett left Keystone to make movies independently, only to stubbornly hold onto a tired, out-dated formula throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Among the pratfalls, chases, character stereotypes and pantomime, Sennett set the tone in Hollywood's early days and created the ground rules for American screen comedy that were to follow.

Born on Jan. 17, 1880 in Danville, Quebec, Canada, Sennett was raised the son of Irish immigrant farmers who moved the family to Connecticut when he was 17. They lived for a time in Northampton, MA where the young Sennett had his first taste of vaudeville as an audience member. After an encounter with fellow Canadian Marie Dressler, the young Sennett was introduced to producer David Belasco and he soon had a new career on the vaudeville stage. In New York, he met the formidable film producer-director D.W. Griffith, for whom he played a bevy of roles at the famed Biograph Company, including the lead in "The Curtain Pole" (1909), Griffith's only attempt at a comedy. He was also noted for portraying sleuth Sherlock Holmes a number of times, but often in more of a comedic representation. Meanwhile, Sennett stumbled into directing by accident when a director fell ill at the last minute and he was told to replace him. Griffith went on to assign him to supervise production of his comedy unit and by 1912, Sennett had set up his own Keystone Studios in Hollywood.

Sennett had in effect become America's self-appointed comic showman, and his Keystone operation became a California version of Henry Ford's automobile plant in Michigan. Comedies were cranked out at production-line speed, with several produced in one day from an outline prepared under Sennett's supervision. Drawn directly from the French company Pathe, Sennett instituted a strict formula for his movies despite the appearance of a frenzied freedom onscreen, eschewing characterization in favor of stereotypes for audiences to make an immediate identification. He also issued strict rules governing the type of gags that could be used, with manic car chases and pie tossing becoming comic staples. Meanwhile, the roster of Sennett's talent was impressive, with the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, Harold Lloyd, Raymond Griffith and Frank Capra all working for him. From 1912-17, Keystone became noted for the Sennett Bathing Beauties and the zany antics of the Keystone Kops, a group of anonymous police officers who fumbled their way through a variety of chases while waving their batons to the accompaniment of ragtime piano. Immediately popular, the Keystone Kops were a big hit for Sennett, and even counted unknowns Chaplin and Arbuckle among their ranks early in their careers.

But even as early as 1914, Sennett's Kops were relegated to supporting players for Chaplin, Arbuckle and Normand, who began breaking away to become major stars. Meanwhile, he made his first feature-length movie, "Tillie's Punctured Romance" (1914), while continuing to churn out shorts like "In the Clutches of the Gang" (1914) and "Wished on Mabel" (1915). His restrictive methods for making product limited the creative freedom of artists like Chaplin and Arbuckle, who were bursting with ideas and bolted from Keystone at the first opportunity. Even the troubled Mabel Normand, with whom Sennett had a long and rather tumultuous romance, left Keystone in 1918. Still, Sennett refused to change his methods and clung to his threadbare formula, but found enough success to leave Keystone in 1917 to begin independently producing movies, leaving the studio to falter until it finally declared bankruptcy in 1935. Now operating the Mack Sennett Comedies Corporation, Sennett began making more ambitious films with the likes of Billy Bevan, Harry Langdon and cross-eyed comedian Ben Turpin, whose penchant for crude comedy and being of rather unorthodox appearance fit the Sennett mold to a T. While he made many titles throughout the 1920s, most notably "The Extra Girl" (1923) with Normand, Sennett's films were destroyed by distributor Warner Bros. and no longer exist.

In the mid-1920s, Sennett chose to begin distributing his pictures through Pathé, which seemed like a shrewd move given the large amount of theaters they distributed to. But when Paramount and MGM began carving away at their market share, Pathé lost a large number of exhibiters and led to hard times for Sennett. By the end of the 1920s, he retooled his operations to accommodate the advent of sound pictures and voided all contracts he had with his players, losing some of his top talent. He did, however, make rather effortless transition and fully embraced the new technology, while even making occasional forays into experimenting with color. But despite his embrace of new technology, Sennett stubbornly clung to outmoded storytelling techniques that felt rather dated in the 1930s, though he did have some success with shorts starring Bing Crosby and W.C. Fields. Meanwhile, he partnered with Paramount Pictures, only to find the relationship last for a year. Unable to pull himself up during the Great Depression, he directed Buster Keaton in one of his last films, "The Timid Young Man" (1935), before lapsing into semi-retirement. He received an honorary Oscar in 1938 and appeared onscreen in several documentaries and compilation films. His Keystone Kops re-emerged in "Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops" (1955), only to once again slip into obscurity. Five years later, Sennett died on Nov. 5, 1960 in Woodland Hills, CA. He was 80 years old.

Filmography

 

Director (Feature Film)

The Road to Hollywood (1947)
Director of "I Surrender Dear" and "One More Chance"
The Timid Young Man (1935)
Director
Hypnotized (1932)
Director
One More Chance (1931)
Director
Midnight Daddies (1930)
Director
The Good-Bye Kiss (1928)
Director
The Old Barn (1928)
Director
Oh, Mabel Behave (1922)
Director
Home Talent (1921)
Director
Married Life (1920)
Director
Maggie's First False Step (1917)
Director
My Valet (1915)
Director
The Little Teacher (1915)
Director
Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914)
Director
Tango Tangles (1914)
Director
Chaplin at Keystone Part 1 (1914)
Director
Mabel's Strange Predicament (1914)
Director
Chaplin at Keystone Part 2 (1914)
Director
His Talented Wife (1914)
Director
A Colored Girl's Love (1914)
Director
Out and In (1913)
Director
The Professor's Daughter (1913)
Director
The Stolen Purse (1913)
Director
Heinze's Resurrection (1913)
Director
The Riot (1913)
Director
The Telltale Light (1913)
Director
The Bowling Match (1913)
Director
A Red Hot Romance (1913)
Director
Just Brown's Luck (1913)
Director
The Foreman of the Jury (1913)
Director
Love and Pain (1913)
Director
Love Sickness at Sea (1913)
Director
Hubby's Job (1913)
Director
Those Good Old Days (1913)
Director
The Gypsy Queen (1913)
Director
The Speed Queen (1913)
Director
The Waiters' Picnic (1913)
Director
Her New Beau (1913)
Director
The Hansom Driver (1913)
Director
When Dreams Come True (1913)
Director
Fatty and the Bathing Beauties (1913)
Director
For Lizzie's Sake (1913)
Director
The New Conductor (1913)
Director
The Gusher (1913)
Director
The Sleuths at the Floral Parade (1913)
Director
The Firebugs (1913)
Director
The Drummer's Vacation (1912)
Director
The New Neighbor (1912)
Director
Mabel's Adventures (1912)
Director

Cast (Feature Film)

Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955)
Himself
Down Memory Lane (1949)
Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)
Himself
Oh, Mabel Behave (1922)
Blaa Blaa
My Valet (1915)
His valet
Fatty's New Role (1915)
Fatty's Plucky Pup (1915)
The Little Teacher (1915)
The Stolen Purse (1913)
A Summer Tragedy (1910)
His Wife's Sweethearts (1910)
Effecting a Cure (1910)
The Passing of a Grouch (1910)
The Broken Doll (1910)
A Child's Impulse (1910)
The Gold-Seekers (1910)
The Two Brothers (1910)
The Thread of Destiny (1910)
Gold Is Not All (1910)
The Twisted Trail (1910)
A Lucky Toothache (1910)
An Affair of Hearts (1910)
Faithful (1910)
A Knot in the Plot (1910)
An Arcadian Maid (1910)
Never Again (1910)
Love in Quarantine (1910)
In the Season of Buds (1910)
A Midnight Cupid (1910)
The Dancing Girl of Butte (1910)
The Love of Lady Irma (1910)
Examination Day at School (1910)
The Purgation (1910)
All on Account of the Milk (1910)
The Call (1910)
Taming a Husband (1910)
The Affair of an Egg (1910)
When We Were in Our Teens (1910)
Not So Bad as It Seemed (1910)
A Victim of Jealousy (1910)
As It Is in Life (1910)
A Child's Faith (1910)
The Converts (1910)
Up a Tree (1910)
A Gold Necklace (1910)
In Old California (1910)
A Rich Revenge (1910)
The Politician's Love Story (1909)
The Heart of an Outlaw (1909)
A Burglar's Mistake (1909)
The Better Way (1909)
A Convict's Sacrifice (1909)
Was Justice Served? (1909)
In the Watches of the Night (1909)
The Brahma Diamond (1909)
The Seventh Day (1909)
The Road to the Heart (1909)
A Drunkard's Reformation (1909)
The Slave (1909)
At the Altar (1909)
A Midnight Adventure (1909)
The Way of Man (1909)
The Girls and Daddy (1909)
The Broken Locket (1909)
The Mended Lute (1909)
And a Little Child Shall Lead Them (1909)
The Suicide Club (1909)
The Sacrifice (1909)
A Fool's Revenge (1909)
In Little Italy (1909)
The Honor of Thieves (1909)
The Awakening (1909)
A Strange Meeting (1909)
Tragic Love (1909)
Lucky Jim (1909)
A Fair Exchange (1909)
The Little Darling (1909)
A Troublesome Satchel (1909)
A Sound Sleeper (1909)
A New Trick (1909)
A Wreath in Time (1909)
Choosing a Husband (1909)
Those Awful Hats (1909)
Jones' Burglar (1909)
One Busy Hour (1909)
Getting Even (1909)
'Tis an Ill Wind That Blows No Good (1909)
Jones and the Lady Book Agent (1909)
His Wife's Mother (1909)
The Mexican Sweethearts (1909)
A Trap for Santa Claus (1909)
The Message (1909)
The Maniac Cook (1909)
Jones and His New Neighbors (1909)
The Voice of the Violin (1909)
With Her Card (1909)
The Expiation (1909)
The Indian Runner's Romance (1909)
The Wooden Leg (1909)
Leather Stocking (1909)
The Son's Return (1909)
What Drink Did (1909)
In Old Kentucky (1909)
A Rude Hostess (1909)
The Jilt (1909)
Love Finds a Way (1909)
Resurrection (1909)
The Prussian Spy (1909)
The Day After (1909)
Jealousy and the Man (1909)
A Rural Elopement (1909)
Her First Biscuits (1909)
The Helping Hand (1908)
Behind the Scenes: Where All Is Not Gold That Glitters (1908)
Where the Breakers Roar (1908)
The Feud and the Turkey (1908)
A Smoked Husband (1908)
The Heart of O Yama (1908)
The Kentuckian (1908)
An Awful Moment (1908)
The Call of the Wild (1908)
The Sculptor's Nightmare (1908)
The King's Messenger (1908)
The Pirate's Gold (1908)
The Guerrilla (1908)
The Clubman and the Tramp (1908)
The Valet's Wife (1908)
Father Gets in the Game (1908)
The Black Viper (1908)
The Reckoning (1908)
The Invisible Fluid (1908)
Over the Hills to the Poor House (1908)
The Vaquero's Vow (1908)
Concealing a Burglar (1908)
Monday Morning in a Coney Island Police Court (1908)
The Song of the Shirt (1908)
The Test of Friendship (1908)
Money Mad (1908)
The Stage Rustler (1908)
Mr. Jones at the Ball (1908)
Betrayed by a Handprint (1908)
The Red Girl (1908)
The Devil (1908)
Romance of a Jewess (1908)
Thompson's Night Out (1908)
The Fatal Hour (1908)

Writer (Feature Film)

Hypnotized (1932)
Screenwriter
The Good-Bye Kiss (1928)
Scen
Suzanna (1923)
Adaptation
The Shriek of Araby (1923)
Author
The Extra Girl (1923)
Story
The Crossroads of New York (1922)
Scen
The Crossroads of New York (1922)
Story
A Small Town Idol (1921)
Scen
Molly O' (1921)
Story
Love, Honor and Behave (1920)
Scen
Yankee Doodle in Berlin (1919)
Story
The Lonely Villa (1909)
Screenwriter

Producer (Feature Film)

Down Memory Lane (1949)
Presented By
Midnight Daddies (1930)
Producer
His First Flame (1927)
Presented By
Suzanna (1923)
Supervisor
Suzanna (1923)
Presented By
The Shriek of Araby (1923)
Presented By
The Crossroads of New York (1922)
Presented By
Home Talent (1921)
Producer
Molly O' (1921)
Supervisor
A Small Town Idol (1921)
Presented By
A Small Town Idol (1921)
Supervisor
Love, Honor and Behave (1920)
Supervisor
Down on the Farm (1920)
Presented By
Down on the Farm (1920)
Supervisor
Yankee Doodle in Berlin (1919)
Supervisor
Mickey (1918)
Producer
A Modern Enoch Arden (1916)
Supervisor
Fatty's Chance Acquaintance (1915)
Producer
Fatty's Tintype Tangle (1915)
Producer
Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914)
Producer
Chaplin at Keystone Part 3 (1914)
Producer
Chaplin at Keystone Part 2 (1914)
Producer
Chaplin at Keystone Part 4 (1914)
Producer
Chaplin at Keystone Part 1 (1914)
Producer

Film Production - Main (Feature Film)

Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955)
Technical Advisor
Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)
Technical Advisor

Production Companies (Feature Film)

His First Flame (1927)
Company

Director (Short)

Match Play (1930)
Director
Hash House Mashers (1915)
Director
Mabel at the Wheel (1914)
Director
The Noise of Bombs (1914)
Director (Uncredited)
Mabel's Married Life (1914)
Director
A Fishy Affair (1913)
Director
Mabel's Dramatic Career (1913)
Director
Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life (1913)
Director
Peeping Pete (1913)
Director
Life in the Balance (1913)
Director (Uncredited)
A Bandit (1913)
Director
On His Wedding Day (1913)
Director
A Dash Through the Clouds (1912)
Director
Katchem Kate (1912)
Director
The Water Nymph (1912)
Director
A Grocery Clerk's Romance (1912)
Director
Manicure Lady (1911)
Director
With a Kodak (1911)
Director
Comrades (1911)
Director

Cast (Short)

His Bitter Pill (1916)
Mabel's Dramatic Career (1913)
Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life (1913)
Peeping Pete (1913)
The Water Nymph (1912)
Manicure Lady (1911)
Comrades (1911)
The Curtain Pole (1909)
Deceived Slumming Party (1908)

Writer (Short)

The Half-Back of Notre Dame (1929)
Writer
The Pride Of Pikeville (1927)
Writer
Lizzies of the Field (1924)
From Story
The Daredevil (1923)
Writer
Bright Eyes (1922)
Writer
Hearts and Flowers (1919)
Writer
A Clever Dummy (1917)
Writer (Uncredited)
Comrades (1911)
Writer

Producer (Short)

Don't Play Bridge with Your Wife (1933)
Producer
Too Many Highballs (1933)
Producer
Speed in the Gay Nineties (1932)
Producer
The Dentist (1932)
Producer
The Pharmacist (1932)
Producer
Match Play (1930)
Producer
Matchmaking Mama (1929)
Producer
The Half-Back of Notre Dame (1929)
Producer
The Best Man (1928)
Producer
Taxi for Two (1928)
Producer
His Unlucky Night (1928)
Producer
Run, Girl, Run (1928)
Producer
The Pride Of Pikeville (1927)
Producer
Broke in China (1927)
Producer
The Golf Nut (1927)
Producer
Catalina, Here I Come (1927)
Producer
Smith's Pony (1927)
Producer
Fiddlesticks (1927)
Producer
Saturday Afternoon (1926)
Producer
A Harem Knight (1926)
Producer
Ice Cold Cocos (1926)
Producer
Hoboken to Hollywood (1926)
Producer
A Sea Dog's Tale (1926)
Producer
Smith's Picnic (1926)
Producer
Super-Hooper-Dyne Lizzies (1925)
Producer
A Rainy Knight (1925)
Producer
Water Wagons (1925)
Producer
His Marriage Wow (1925)
Producer
Black Oxfords (1924)
Producer
Galloping Bungalows (1924)
Producer
Lizzies of the Field (1924)
Producer
Picking Peaches (1924)
Producer
Ten Dollars or Ten Days (1924)
Producer
The Daredevil (1923)
Producer
Gymnasium Jim (1922)
Producer
Bright Eyes (1922)
Producer
Don't Weaken! (1920)
Producer
Hearts and Flowers (1919)
Producer
A Clever Dummy (1917)
Producer (Uncredited)
Teddy at the Throttle (1917)
Producer
Her Torpedoed Love (1917)
Producer
Thirst (1917)
Producer
Madcap Ambrose (1916)
Producer
Wife and Auto Trouble (1916)
Producer
The Surf Girl (1916)
Producer
A Submarine Pirate (1915)
Supervisor
Do-Re-Mi-Boom! (1915)
Producer
Dirty Work in a Laundry (1915)
Producer
Gussle's Day of Rest (1915)
Producer
Court House Crooks (1915)
Producer
Lover's Lost Control (1915)
Producer
Dizzy Heights and Daring Hearts (1915)
Producer
Hash House Mashers (1915)
Producer
A Bird's a Bird (1915)
Producer
The Noise of Bombs (1914)
Producer
A Thief Catcher (1914)
Producer
The Face on the Barroom Floor (1914)
Producer
"Curses!" They Remarked (1914)
Producer
Shot in the Excitement (1914)
Producer
Recreation (1914)
Producer
The Great Toe Mystery (1914)
Producer
Mabel's Married Life (1914)
Producer
Bangville Police (1913)
Producer
On His Wedding Day (1913)
Producer
Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life (1913)
Producer
Mabel's Dramatic Career (1913)
Producer
The Speed Kings (1913)
Producer
His Sister's Kids (1913)
Producer
A Fishy Affair (1913)
Producer
Life in the Balance (1913)
Producer (Uncredited)
A Grocery Clerk's Romance (1912)
Producer
The Water Nymph (1912)
Producer

Life Events

1908

Entered film as actor with Biograph

1908

Co-starred in and contributed scripts to numerous shorts helmed by D.W. Griffith

1910

Began directing shorts

1912

Formed Keystone

1915

Keystone absorbed by Triangle Film Corporation

1917

Formed "Mack Sennett Comedies"

1939

Associate producer with 20th Century--Fox

Companions

Mabel Normand
Companion
Actor, director.

Bibliography

"King of Comedy"
Mack Sennett (1954)

Notes

The romance of Sennett and Normand formed the basis for the unsuccessful 1974 Broadway musical "Mack and Mabel".