logo

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

37

Gender

Male

Birthday

1882-12-13

Day of Death

1953-08-17 (71 years old)

Place of Birth

Birmingham, England, UK

Also Known As

Albert Austin

Biography

Albert Austin (13 December 1881 or 1885 – 17 August 1953) was an actor, film star, director and script writer, noted mainly for his work in Charlie Chaplin films. He was the brother of actor William Austin. He was born in Birmingham, England, and was a music hall performer before coming to the U.S. with Chaplin, both as members of the Fred Karno troupe, in 1910. Noted for his painted handlebar mustache and acerbic manner, he worked for Chaplin's stock company and played supporting roles in many of his films, often as a foil to the star, and working as his assistant director. After the development of sound films, he moved into scriptwriting, directing and acting, chiefly in comedy short subjects. Among other things, he assisted Chaplin in developing the plot of The Adventurer (1917). However, he only received screen credit as a collaborator once, for City Lights. As an actor, he appeared in Chaplin's comedies for the Mutual Film Corporation. Later he had two brief, uncredited roles in one of Chaplin's 'silent' comedies made in the sound era, City Lights (1931). Austin is also seen very briefly (as a cab driver) at the beginning of Chaplin's short film One A.M.. He also appeared in movies starring Jackie Coogan and Mack Sennett. Austin's best known performance may be in Chaplin's short The Pawnshop. Austin enters the shop with an alarm clock, hoping to pawn it. To establish the clock's value, Chaplin dissects it. Austin maintains a deadpan expression as Chaplin progressively destroys his clock, then hands the pieces back to Austin. He had the leading role in Mary Pickford's Suds (1920), where he co-stars as a customer leaving his shirt at her laundry. In that film he appears without his comic mustache. In his final years he worked as a police officer at the Warner Brothers studios, according to a New York Times obituary. Description above from the Wikipedia article Albert Austin licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Acting

The Rink

1916

The Rink

as

The Cook

The Pawnshop

1916

The Pawnshop

as

Clock Client

The Count

1916

The Count

as

Guest (uncredited)

The Kid

1921

The Kid

as

Car Thief / Man in Shelter (uncredited)

The Adventurer

1917

The Adventurer

as

The Butler

The Immigrant

1917

The Immigrant

as

A Diner / Immigrant

The Floorwalker

1916

The Floorwalker

as

Shop Assistant

The Fireman

1916

The Fireman

as

Fireman

One A.M.

1916

One A.M.

as

Le chauffeur de taxi

Triple Trouble

1918

Triple Trouble

as

A Man

Shoulder Arms

1918

Shoulder Arms

as

American Soldier / Clean Shaven German Soldier / Bearded German Soldier

Pay Day

1922

Pay Day

as

Workman

The Professor

1919

The Professor

as

Man in flophouse

Suds

1920

Suds

as

Horace Greensmith

Behind the Screen

1916

Behind the Screen

as

Stagehand (uncredited)

Chaplin's Goliath

1996

Chaplin's Goliath

as

Self (archive footage)

Easy Street

1917

Easy Street

as

Policeman / Preacher (uncredited)

The Cure

1917

The Cure

as

Sanitarium Attendant

The Vagabond

1916

The Vagabond

as

Trombonist (uncredited)

City Lights

1931

City Lights

as

Street Sweeper / Burglar (uncredited)

The Gold Rush

1925

The Gold Rush

as

Prospector (uncredited)

The Circus

1928

The Circus

as

Clown (uncredited)

The Bond

1918

The Bond

as

Friend

A Dog's Life

1918

A Dog's Life

as

Crook (uncredited)

The Chaplin Revue

1959

The Chaplin Revue

as

Various (archive footage)

The Charlie Chaplin Festival

1941

The Charlie Chaplin Festival

as

Various Roles (archive footage)

Grief

1921

Grief

as

How to Make Movies

1918

How to Make Movies

as

The Genie/Laboratory Supervisor/Golfer(uncredited)

Unknown Chaplin

Unknown Chaplin

as

Self & In Out-Takes

Production

Crew

Directing