Ford Sterling

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Marvel Rea (left), Ford Sterling, and Alice Maison, appearing in Mack Sennett Comedies

Ford Sterling (November 3, 1882 – October 13, 1939) was an American actor.

Born George Ford Stich in La Crosse, Wisconsin, he began his career in silent films in 1911 with Biograph Studios. When director Mack Sennett left to set up Keystone Studios, Sterling followed him. There, he performed what is probably his most remembered role as 'Chief Teeheezel' in the Keystone Kops series of slapstick comedies in a successful career that spanned twenty-five years.

Making a smooth transition to talking films, Ford Sterling made the last of his more than two hundred and seventy film appearances in 1936. He died in 1939 of a heart attack (following long standing diabetes) in Los Angeles, California and is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Ford Sterling has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6612 Hollywood Blvd.

[edit] Sources

Ford Sterling

Wendy Warwick White's biography Ford Sterling - His Life and Films, published by McFarland.

Note: The biography details his life from vaudeville, burlesque, Shakespeare, baseball--in the course of his career, Ford Sterling performed them all. The well-educated son of a middle-class Chicago family, Sterling succumbed to the acting bug and left school at the age of 18. After trying a variety of performing activities--including working as an aerobatic circus clown--Sterling found his true niche in comedy. Best known for his role as the Keystone Kops villain, Sterling was a comedy legend as great as Charlie Chaplin in the opening decades of the twentieth century. He left his mark on silent film and effortlessly made the transition to sound, becoming one of the most sought-after character actors of the 1920s.

From A Dutch Gold Mine to Many Unhappy Returns,

Note:This biography chronicles the life and times of George Ford Stich, Jr. (aka Ford Sterling). It follows Sterling from his childhood to his college days at Notre Dame, where he got his first taste of acting. The main focus of the work is Sterling's career, from 1911 to 1937, which is unfortunately largely forgotten today. With an emphasis on correcting inaccuracies and restoring Sterling's legacy, this volume examines his on-screen work, his production ventures, his reputation as a world renowned photographer and his final debilitating illness. A detailed filmography provides all known production, cast and crew information as well as a synopsis for each film when available. The work is also indexed.