Harry Langdon

A top vaudeville comedian for the first quarter of the 20th century, Harry Langdon rose from performing in Midwest traveling shows to headlining at the Palace Theatre in New York City. He was compared to Chaplin for his work in the classic silent films Tramp, Tramp, Tramp and The Strong Man, and he is often recognized as one of the “big four silent comedians” alongside Chaplin, Lloyd and Keaton. Later in his career, Langdon appeared in a number of talking films, starring or co-starring in almost a hundred of them between 1924 and 1945 and working with several legendary directors, from Frank Capra to Michael Curtiz.
This second edition of the only book-length biography of Langdon includes significant new information, including expanded coverage of his early years and more personal details that fill out the human side to the Langdon story. The book also includes a comprehensive filmography and several photographs from all phases of Langdon’s life and career.

Bill Schelly has been chronicling the history of popular culture since the 1960s, beginning with his magazine Sense of Wonder. He has written or edited several books, and is associate editor of the Eisner Award–winning magazine Alter Ego. He lives in Seattle.

William Schelly
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 216
Bibliographic Info: 60 photos, filmography, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2008
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3691-0
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5185-2
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Preface      1

1. A Handy Young Fellow      3

2. Master Vaudevillian      12

3. In the Movies      18

4. Edwards, Ripley and Capra      30

5. Actor as Auteur      37

6. Prime Langdon      44

7. The New Boss      55

8. A Meeting of Angels      66

9. Ripley Rising      77

10. Time Capsule      86

11. A Poor Soul      92

12. The Lost Cause      105

13. Heart Trouble      117

14. Tough Luck      124

15. Comeback      138

16. The End of the Elf      146

17. Stan, Ollie and Harry      155

18. Anti-Climax      164

19. Post Mortems      177

Harry Langdon Filmography      187

Chapter Notes      197

Bibliography      201

Index      203

“does a good job tracking Langdon’s long and varied career…even more welcome…insightful…an essential addition”—Rogue Cinema.com; “excellent”—Plan Nine Crunch; “recommend[ed]”—newsfromme.com.