The forgotten Scottish comedian with a remarkably similar look

He was a box-office hit hailed as one of ‘the greatest comedians of the day’ – but history has largely forgotten silent movie star Billie Richie.

The Glaswegian was Scotland's first international film star, but he became overshadowed by Charlie Chaplin, who used several of the same comic techniques - including the tramp persona and drunk act.

Now one silent film historian is making an attempt to tip the balance back in favour of the overlooked Scot,  described in newspaper reports of the day as the ‘tutor and teacher’ of Chaplin and ‘the funniest man in pictures’.

John Bengtson, who has written three books about Hollywood’s early years, will show rare clips of Richie’s work and praise his pioneering work in an online talk this week.

Like Chaplin and Stan Laurel, Ritchie was part of the UK music hall roster of producer Fred Karno, the man credited with popularising the custard-pie-in-the-face gag, before finding international fame through American comedy movies.

The Scot, who was born in 1878, started making Hollywood films in 1914, employed by the L-KO Kompany. It was the same year Chaplin’s silver-screen career began with Stan Stennet’s rival Keystone Studios.

Their work and look was remarkably similar, and while Richie made a number of successful films, his career was cut short by a series of on-set injuries. He died in 1921, aged 42, reportedly from injuries sustained when he was attacked by an ostrich on a studio lot two years earlier - although his death certificate recorded the actual cause of death as stomach cancer.

His widow and former stage partner, Winifred Frances, later became Chaplin’s wardrobe mistress.

A 2010 academic paper looking at possible plagiarism between the two comedians concluded that their similiaries were 'ther result of shared formative influences rather than outright imitation'.

Bengtson’s talk on the comic next Sunday is part of HippFest, a celebration of silent films being staged by the Hippodrome cinema in Bo’ness, West Lothian.

The description of the event says: ‘He was billed alongside Chaplin as one of "the greatest comedians of the day" and was among a small number of stars whose names were guaranteed to boost box office receipts in cinemas UK-wide. However, today few people in Scotland have heard of him, or seen the many side-splitting, slapstick moments he made for film in Hollywood.’

Scotland’s only silent film festival will also examine the effects of the 1918-19 Spanish flu on cinemas. The full programme is available hippfest.co.uk, where you can also buy £20 passes for all the events.

Here are some clips showing the similarity between Richie’s persona and Chaplin’s:

Published: 14 Mar 2021