Eric Campbell (actor)
| Eric Campbell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Alfred Eric Campbell 26 April 1880 Cheshire, England |
| Died |
20 December 1917 (aged 37) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Years active | 1916 - 1917 |
| Spouse(s) | Fanny Gertrude Robotham (1901-1917) Pearl Gillman (1917) |
Alfred Eric Campbell (26 April 1880 – 20 December 1917), was a British actor. He was a key member of Charlie Chaplin's film ensemble, invariably playing an intimidating bully, and appeared in eleven of Chaplin's films before he was killed in a car crash at the age of 37. He is the subject of a documentary by filmmaker Kevin Macdonald.
Campbell was previously believed to have been born in Scotland in Dunoon, traditional Clan Campbell country, but he is now believed to have been born in Cheshire. Most sources give his year of birth as 1879, but online birth records show that the birth of an Alfred Eric Campbell was registered in Altrincham in April–June 1880, no birth with this name was registered in Cheshire in 1879.
Campbell began acting in "fit-ups" (local theatres) in Scotland and Wales, playing melodramatic roles. In this setting he was 'discovered' by Fred Karno, the English impresario who, impressed by Campbell's size and baritone voice, took him to London and to act in the slapstick comedy style for which Campbell became famous.
Campbell went to New York in 1914, following Chaplin and his then understudy Stan Laurel, who had moved there in 1913. Campbell soon became established in America as a stage actor. In 1916 Chaplin, in New York to sign his contract with Mutual, saw Campbell in a play on Broadway. Subsequently, Chaplin invited him to Hollywood to join the cast of actors for the 12 Mutual films Chaplin had contracted to make.
Campbell's first film with Chaplin was The Floorwalker (1916). In it he achieved recognition for the "escalator scene," in which he chased Chaplin through a department store. It was in their second film together, The Fireman (1916), that Campbell developed the role which featured in all his work with Chaplin. A tall man towering 6 ft. 5 in.(1.98 m.) and weighing almost 300 pounds (136 kg), he became the bully and comic foil to the Little Tramp's antics. His best role is probably in Easy Street (1917), in which, as a brutal bully, he bends a cast-iron street lamp standard to a right angle to intimidate the policeman played by Chaplin. Chaplin was then the most famous film star in the world with many imitators. Campbell also had imitators, including Oliver Hardy who played second banana to Chaplin's impersonator, Billy West.
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