38 Facts About Mack Sennett

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.

Mack Sennett produced short features that displayed his Bathing Beauties, many of whom went on to develop successful acting careers.

Mack Sennett's parents married in 1879 in Tingwick, Quebec and moved the same year to Richmond, Quebec where Sinnott was hired as a laborer.

Mack Sennett's parents had all their children and raised their family in Richmond, then a small Eastern Townships village.

At that time, Mack Sennett's grandparents were living in Danville, Quebec.

Mack Sennett moved to Connecticut when he was 17 years old.

Mack Sennett lived for a while in Northampton, Massachusetts, where, according to his autobiography, he first got the idea to become an opera singer after seeing a vaudeville show.

In New York City, he took on the stage name Mack Sennett and became an actor, singer, dancer, clown, set designer, and director for the Biograph Company.

The comic formulas, however well executed, were based on humorous situations rather than the personal traits of the comedians; the various social types, often grotesquely portrayed by members of Mack Sennett's troupe, were adequate to render the largely "interchangeable routines: "Having a funny moustache, or crossed-eyes, or an extra two-hundred pounds was as much individualization as was required.

Chaplin, Langdon, and Lloyd were all on the lot at one point or another, but developed their styles only in spite of Mack Sennett, and grew to their artistic peaks only away from his influence.

Mack Sennett developed the Kid Comedies, a forerunner of the Our Gang films, and in a short time, his name became synonymous with screen comedy which were called "flickers" at the time.

Also beginning in 1915, Mack Sennett assembled a bevy of women known as the Mack Sennett Bathing Beauties to appear in provocative bathing costumes in comedy short subjects, in promotional material, and in promotional events such as Venice Beach beauty contests.

Mack Sennett's bosses retained the Keystone trademark and produced a cheap series of comedy shorts that proved unsuccessful.

Mack Sennett went on to produce more ambitious comedy short films and a few feature-length films.

Hundreds of other independent exhibitors and moviehouses switched from Pathe to the new MGM or Paramount shorts, but Mack Sennett remained loyal to Pathe and fulfilled his contract to deliver silent comedies through 1929.

In 1928, Mack Sennett canceled all of his talent contracts and retooled his studio for the new talking-picture technology.

Mack Sennett's leading star at the time, Ben Turpin, was suddenly unemployed and moved to the Weiss Brothers studio.

Mack Sennett made a reasonably smooth transition to sound films, releasing them through Educational.

Mack Sennett won an Academy Award in the novelty division for his film Wrestling Swordfish, in 1932.

Mack Sennett often clung to outmoded techniques, making his early-1930s films seem dated and quaint: he dressed some of his actors in eccentric makeups and loud costumes, which were amusing in the cartoonish silent films but ludicrous in the new, realistic atmosphere of talking pictures.

One of his biggest stars, Andy Clyde, left the studio after Mack Sennett, wanting to economize, tried to cut Clyde's salary.

In 1932, Mack Sennett attempted to re-enter the feature-film market on a grand scale with Hypnotized.

Mack Sennett announced that Hypnotized would run 15 reels, or two-and-a-half hours, more than twice the length of a typical comedy feature of the day.

Mack Sennett was having differences with his distributor, Earle Hammons of Educational.

Mack Sennett was very temperamental and wanted the exhibitor to do certain things, but they wouldn't stand for it.

Mack Sennett wouldn't stand for Hammons not telling him how much [money] he was cutting out of the grosses for himself.

Two other Mack Sennett shorts were made with Fields scripts: The Singing Boxer with Donald Novis and Too Many Highballs with Lloyd Hamilton.

Actually, Mack Sennett was not involved in the making of this film; it was directed by Ralph Staub.

Mack Sennett made one last attempt to continue working in the comedy field.

Mack Sennett was finished, and the studio was happy with Jules.

Mack Sennett went into semi-retirement at the age of 55, having produced more than 1,000 silent films and several dozen talkies during a 25-year career.

Rumors abounded that Mack Sennett would be returning to film production, but apart from Mack Sennett reissuing a couple of his Bing Crosby two-reelers to theaters, nothing happened.

Mack Sennett wrote a memoir, King of Comedy, in collaboration with Cameron Shipp.

Mack Sennett made a cameo appearance in Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops.

Mack Sennett was never married, but his tumultuous relationship with actress Mabel Normand was widely publicized in the press at the time.

Mack Sennett died on November 5,1960, in Woodland Hills, California, aged 80.

Mack Sennett was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Mack Sennett was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2014.