Mack Sennett

Mack Sennett
Black and white portrait photograph of Mack Sennett in 1916. He is dressed in a jacket, shirt and tie and is looking into the camera.
The Moving Picture World, 1916
Born
Michael Sinnott

(1880-01-17)January 17, 1880
Danville, Quebec, Canada
DiedNovember 5, 1960(1960-11-05) (aged 80)
Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Producer
  • actor
  • director
  • studio head
Years active1902–1949

Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career.[1]

Born in Danville, Quebec,[2][3][4][a] in 1908, he started acting in films in the Biograph Company of New York City, and later opened Keystone Studios in Edendale, California in 1912. Keystone possessed the first fully enclosed film stage, and Sennett became famous as the originator of slapstick routines such as pie-throwing and car-chases, as seen in the Keystone Cops films.[5] He also produced short features that displayed his Bathing Beauties, many of whom went on to develop successful acting careers.[6][7]

After struggling with bankruptcy and the dominance of sound films in the early 1930s, Sennett was presented with an honorary Academy Award in 1938 for his contributions to the film industry, with the Academy describing him as a "master of fun, discoverer of stars, sympathetic, kindly, understanding comedy genius".[8]

  1. ^ "Comic greats: The man who founded fun". The Hindu. September 6, 2014. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  2. ^ "L'homme derrière le succès de Charlie Chaplin est de Danville". Radio-Canada.ca. November 11, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  3. ^ "Bio". translate.google.com. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  4. ^ "Mack Sennett". BFI. November 5, 1960. Archived from the original on November 30, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  5. ^ "'Mack Sennett Collection' gathers 50 slapstick classics into one set". Los Angeles Times. September 29, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  6. ^ D’haeyere, Hilde. "Splashes of Fun and Beauty: Mack Sennett’s Bathing Beauties." Slapstick Comedy, edited by Rob King and Tom Paulus, Routledge USA, 2010, pp. 207–25. ISBN 978-0-203-87676-3
  7. ^ Basinger, Jeanine (2012). Silent Stars, p. 205. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-3078-2918-4
  8. ^ "The 10th Academy Awards Memorable Moments | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". www.oscars.org. August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2023.


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