Background
Born Gabriel Leuvielle near Bordeaux to parents who had abandoned the stage for the vineyard, he determined to be an actor at an early age.
Born Gabriel Leuvielle near Bordeaux to parents who had abandoned the stage for the vineyard, he determined to be an actor at an early age.
After winning prizes at the Bordeaux Conservatoire, he spent three years with a Bordeaux repertory company, the Théâtre des Arts. Arriving in Paris, Linder played small parts on the legitimate stage as well as entertaining in nightclubs. From 1905 onwards he augmented these nocturnal performances with work before the cameras at the Pathé studios during the day, using the name Max Linder in order not to jeopardize his standing in the theater. In 1907 Pathé’s star comedian, Andre Deed, left the company and Linder was given the opportunity to star in his own series of comedies.
Of the many and varied characterizations attempted by Linder in his search for a suitable screen persona, one emerged that was to make him famous worldwide. Almost always topped by a high silk hat, the figure adopted by Linder was that of a well-dressed, dapper gentleman with a neat moustache who could be counted on to wring disaster from everyday social predicaments. The popularity of Linder’s films was phenomenal, and several hundred were produced before the outbreak of World War I. At the height of his prewar fame, Linder, who by then usually also directed his own films, made personal appearances throughout Europe.
Linder, whose health was frail, volunteered for the French army when war broke out. He was wounded in action twice and subsequently suffered a nervous breakdown. While recuperating from an ill-advised stint as an air force pilot, he accepted an offer from the American studio Essanay to replace Charles Chaplin. Linder’s first American sojourn was unsuccessful, but he returned (at Chaplin’s urging) in 1919 and formed his own production company. Of his American feature films, only the first, Seven Years Bad Luck, was profitable, and Linder returned to Europe. Increasing depression culminated in the double suicide of Linder and his wife in Paris in 1925. Their daughter. Maud, barely four months old at the time of her parents’ death, has since been active in reviving, restoring and gaining recognition for her father’s work.
Quotes from others about the person
THE GENIUS OF MAX LINDER
He was brilliant and unpredictable, and ad libbed frequently. He never did the act the same way twice. Linder was one of the truly great comedians of our time. His pantomime and appeal were eloquent. He had an inspired comedy sense, and he also had an analytical, ingenious mind.
Except for Chaplin, I have never known another comedian who had such an objective view of his art. Linder was sensitive and responsive to any audience, and could talk audience psychology with the intellectual perception of a professor. On stage he would introduce a new bit suddenly and without previous thought, and later he would give a profound and apposite reason for having done what had come spontaneously.
Film composer Dimitri Tiomkin, Linder’s accompanist at his 1914 personal appearance in Saint Petersburg, speaking in November 1951.