Contents

Rivers, Manitoba

PART ONE LOW COMEDY

1 The Smallest Comedian

2 Keep Your Eye on the Kid

3 Big Frog in a Little Puddle

4 Not Like the Old Man Anymore

5 I Cast My Lot with the Pictures

6 Getting Restless

Jasper, Alberta

PART TWO THAT WONDERFUL SPIRIT OF YOUTH

7 The Comedy Sensation of the Screen World

8 The Most Unique and Original Comedian

9 Spooling Comedy

10 Our Hospitality

11 The Navigator

12 Friendless

13 The General

14 Steamboat Bill, Jr.

15 Giving In

16 The Cameraman

Montreal, Quebec

PART THREE YOU STUDIO PEOPLE WARP MY CHARACTER

17 The Gag Day Is Over

18 Running Around Loose

19 Crash in to My Life

20 I’ve Got Lots of Time

21 One of the Skeletons in the M-G-M Closet

22 A Comedy Sequence Here and There

23 Diggin’ Up Material

Montreal, Quebec

PART FOUR THE BIGGEST STAR IN THE PICTURE

24 Along Came Television

25 The Worst Thing Ever Made

26 Merton of the Movies

27 Once Upon a Mattress

28 The Laughter of the World

29 The Railrodder

30 Something Like a Genius

Acknowledgments

Notes and Sources

List of Illustrations

Appendix I: Film Chronology

Appendix II: Significant Television Appearances

Index