Max Linder | |
|---|---|
 Linder in the February 1922 issue of Photoplay | |
| Born | Gabriel Leuvielle 16 December 1883 Cavernes, Saint-Loubès, Gironde, France |
| Died | 1 November 1925 (aged 41) Paris, France |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, film director, screenwriter, film producer, comedian |
| Years active | 1899–1925 |
| Spouse |
Hélène "Ninette" Peters
(m. 1923) |
| Children | Maud Linder |
Gabriel Leuvielle[1][2] (16 December 1883[3][2] – 1 November 1925), known professionally as Max Linder (French: [maks lɛ̃.dɛʁ]), was a French actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and comedian of the silent film era. His onscreen persona "Max" was one of the first recognizable recurring characters in film. He has also been cited as the "first international movie star"[4] and "the first film star anywhere".[5]
Born in Cavernes, France to Catholic parents, Linder grew up with a passion for theater and enrolled in the Conservatoire de Bordeaux in 1899. He soon received awards for his performances and continued to pursue a career in the legitimate theater. He became a contract player with the Bordeaux Théâtre des Arts from 1901 to 1904, performing in plays by Molière, Pierre Corneille, and Alfred de Musset.
From the summer of 1905, Linder appeared in short comedy films for Pathé, at first usually in supporting roles. His first major film role was in the Georges Méliès-like fantasy film The Legend of Punching. During the following years, Linder made several hundred short films portraying "Max", a wealthy and dapper man-about-town frequently in hot water because of his penchant for beautiful women and the good life. Starting with The Skater's Debut in 1907, the character became one of the first identifiable motion-picture characters who appeared in successive situation comedies. By 1911, Linder was co-directing his own films (with René LePrince) as well as writing the scripts.
Linder enlisted at the outbreak of the First World War, and worked at first as a dispatch driver and entertainer. During his service, he was injured several times, and the experiences reportedly had a devastating effect on him both physically and mentally.[6] Linder later moved to the U.S. but was unable to achieve success. He died in 1925 in a purported suicide pact with his wife in Paris.
- ^ Although Max's birth name has often been given as Gabriel-Maximillien, his birth certificate only lists him as "Gabriel Leuvielle".
- ^ a b Mathiesen, Snorre Smári (2018). "Max Linder: Father of Film Comedy".
- ^ Linder himself claimed that he was born in 1885, and 1882 has also been proposed as his year of birth. His daughter, however, consistently stated that the year he was born was 1883, and showed his birth certificate in the documentary The Man in the Silk Hat.
- ^ Waldekranz, Rune: Filmens Historia - Del 1, p. 208 (P.A. Norstedt & Söners Förlag, Stockholm)
- ^ Hutchinson, Pamela (2019-11-22). "Fame at last – was this the world's first film star?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
Andrew Shail, senior lecturer in film at Newcastle University, has uncovered what appears to be the first film-star marketing: a poster for a Pathé Frères film featuring [Max] Linder called Le Petit Jeune Homme, released in Europe in September 1909. Whereas Linder had been known on-screen as a first-name-only character called "Max" since 1907's The Skater's Debut, this poster uses his full name, and is thus the earliest surviving European evidence of publicity for a regular film performer. [...] 'This makes Linder – as far as we can tell – the first film star anywhere,'
- ^ Mathiesen, Snorre Smàri: "Max Linder: Father of Film Comedy" (Classic Images, March 2012, p. 76)