Ben Turpin

Ben Turpin
Turpin in the 1920s
Birth name	Bernard Turpin
Born	(1869-09-19)September 19, 1869 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	July 1, 1940(1940-07-01) (aged 70) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Medium	Comedian, actor
Years active	1907–1940
Genres	Silent films
Spouse	Carrie Lemieux (m. 1907–25) Babette Dietz (m. 1926–40)

Bernard "Ben" Turpin (September 19, 1869 – July 1, 1940) was an American comedian and actor, best remembered for his work in silent films.

Turpin was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 19, 1869, the son of a candy store owner, Ernest Turpin, and Sarah Buckley.

Turpin and his first wife, actress Carrie Lemieux, were married in Chicago on February 18, 1907. In 1923, Mrs. Turpin became ill with influenza, which caused the loss of her hearing. Heartbroken, Turpin took his seriously ill wife to the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in Quebec, hoping she would be healed. She eventually became an invalid, with Turpin placing his career on hold to care for her. Carrie died on October 2, 1925. Turpin remarried on July 8, 1926 to Babette Dietz in Los Angeles.

He was a Roman Catholic, and a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California.

Turpin worked in vaudeville, burlesque, and circuses. He had a distinctive appearance, with a small wiry frame, a brush mustache, and crossed eyes. Turpin's famous eyes, he said, only crossed as a young adult after he suffered an accident. He was convinced that the crossed eyes were essential to his comic career; his co-workers recalled that after he received any blow to the head he made a point of looking himself in the mirror to assure himself that they had not become uncrossed. He was a devout Catholic, and his workmates occasionally goaded him by threatening to pray that his eyes would uncross, thus depriving him of his livelihood.

Turpin famously bought a $25,000 insurance policy with Lloyd's of London, payable if his eyes ever uncrossed. A 1920 version of the story had his eyes insured for $100,000. How serious this was is open to question; such publicity stunts centered around a performer's "trademark" were common at the time.