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Max Linder is, very unfortunately, one of the least known of the great silent film comedians today, but his influence on his fellow-comics is in several ways undisputed. His work was highly acknowledged by Charlie Chaplin, who dedicated one of his photos "To the one and only Max, the Professor, from your disciple." Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd both considered Linder the father of silent film comedy, and the screen characters of Charley Chase and Raymond Griffith resemblance Max's "dandy" remarkably. But Linder's work reached further admirers than filmmakers during his own era. Richard Onner, director of The Omen, Superman and the three Lethal Weapon--films once described Linder as "one of the funniest men I've ever seen, and Robert Bengini, leading lead and director of Oscar-winner Life Is Wonderful, has also expressed admiration of his films.
Born into a wine-growing family in Saint-Loubes, France, on December 16, 1883, Max Linder was fascinated of the theater at an early age. His parents, while surely impressed of their son's artistic interests, weren't pleased after receiving message that Max went to theaters rather than school; they sent him to Paris, hoping he would take his studies more seriously there. It quickly turned out their attempt was useless, however. Having failed at least three exams, Max dropped out of school at 17 to join vaudeville.
Sometime during the spring of 1905, Linder was discovered by movie producer Charles Pathé while performing on stage. The producer, one of the very first in his businness, offered the young man a job in his studio to a larger salary, which Linder couldn't refuse. He made a modest debut on the silver screen in July the same year. It would last two years until he got recognized, when he created his character; an incurable dandy dressed in silk hat, black coat, striped pants, a little mustasche and squirrel-brown eyes under the well-combed black hair. This attractive little figure would dominate the movies for almost ten years.
Linder's international break through took place in 1910, when Lucien Nonguet directed a series of one-reelers which all were entitled 'Max' in this or another way:Max Takes a Bath, Who Killed Max?, Max and His Mother-in-Law, etc. Cinéma Max Linder was opened that very same year. Shortly afterwards, the comedian began to write as well as direct his own films. His salary gradutated in 1911 to 350 francs, in 1914 to one million.
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