Harry Philmore Langdon

 Harry Philmore Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944)

At the height of his film career, he was considered one of the four best comics of the silent film era. His screen character was that of a wide-eyed, childlike man with an innocent's understanding of the world and the people in it. He was a first-class pantomimist. Most of Langdon's 1920s work was produced at the famous Mack Sennett studio. His screen character was unique and his antics so different from the broad Sennett slapstick that he soon had a following. Success led him into feature films, directed by Arthur Ripley and Frank Capra. With such directors guiding him, Langdon's work rivaled that of Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton. Many consider his best films to be The Strong Man (1926), Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1926), and Long Pants (1927). Langdon acted as producer on these features, which were made for his own company, The Harry Langdon Corporation, and released by First National. After his initial success, he fired Frank Capra and directed his own films, including "Three's a Crowd", "The Chaser", and "Heart Trouble", but his appeal faded. These films were more personal and idiosyncratic, and audiences of the period were not interested. Also, Langdon's babyish character did not adapt well to sound films; as producer Hal Roach remarked, "He was not so funny articulate" (he featured Langdon in several unsuccessful sound shorts in 1929–1930). But Langdon was a big enough name to command leads in short subjects for Educational Pictures and Columbia Pictures. Langdon continued to work steadily in low-budget features and shorts into the 1940s, playing mild-mannered goofs.

Harry Langdon kept busy in pictures and completed his final Columbia short Pistol Packin' Nitwits only weeks before his death of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 22, 1944. He was cremated, and the ashes interred at Grand View Memorial Park in Glendale, California.