Mack Swain, American Actor

Mack Swain (February 16, 1876 - August 25, 1935) was an American actor and vaudevillian, prolific throughout the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. ) from Wikipedia

Mack Swain (1876-1935) -American comedian. Outer: Entered show business quite young, touring with minstrel shows, vaudeville troupes and stock companies. In 1899, he married Cora King. Spent some two decades on the stage, before joining the Keystone stable in his late 30s. 6’2”, 280 lbs. Started out as a support to Charlie Chaplin, playing his large size off the diminutive comedian as a heavy foil, before starring in his own series as an oversized lecher named Ambrose with a huge mustache and heavy make-up. Remained with Keystone for 4 years, then moved around to several studios, as his initial film career waned. Married. Rescued by Charlie Chaplin, who cast him in his most memorable role as prospector Big Jim McKay in The Gold Rush, in 1925, where in his hunger and delerium, he imagines Chaplin as an edible chicken. Played character parts and occasional leads in feature films, and then retired, before dying of a probable heart attack. Inner: Genial, modest, lovable. Large-framed lifetime, once again, of playing with the comic possibilities of a huge body, and once more being undone by his appetites and a heart that could not support his overblown physical frame.