Biography
Frank "Fatty" Alexander was a large comedian who appeared in silent one- and two-reel slapstick comedies as a sidekick before co-starring with fellow heavyweights Hilliard Karr and 'Kewpie Ross' in F.B.O.'s low-budget "Ton of Fun" series at the end of the silent film era. Born in Olympia, Washington on May 25, 1879, Alexander worked as a cowboy and stage driver before gaining significant weight and shifting his focus from the open spaces to Hollywood.
He debuted on screen with Keystone supporting comedian Syd Chaplin in Gussle's Backward Way (1915), the eighth of Chaplin's nine "Gussle" comedies, which was also Chaplin’s directorial debut. Ironically, Syd Chaplin—Charlie Chaplin's older half-brother—had made his acting debut the previous year in Fatty's Wine Party (1914) with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, whose screen persona Alexander emulated. At 266 lbs, Arbuckle was Paramount's top star before his career was derailed by manslaughter trials; Alexander, however, outweighed him at 350 lbs.
Although Syd Chaplin continued his Gussle character for one more film, Alexander did not appear as his sidekick but remained at Keystone. His next role was as a fireman in Mack Swain's When Ambrose Dared Walrus (1915). After appearing in a couple of comedies with Harold Lloyd at Fox in 1917, Alexander joined comedian Larry Semon’s troupe, whose popularity and earnings rivaled Charlie Chaplin's.
Alexander became part of Semon’s stock company at Vitagraph alongside Oliver Hardy, whom Alexander made look slim compared to his future partner Stan Laurel. Between 1918 and 1925, Alexander appeared in 27 Semon films, including Babes and Boobs (1918), Bathing Beauties and Big Boobs (1918), and Boodle and Bandits (1918). Kid Speed (1924) exemplified Semon’s quickly produced two-reel farces at Charles Ray Studios.
In Kid Speed, Alexander played Avery DuPays (a pun on avoirdupois), the city's wealthiest man who plans to marry off his daughter Lou (Dorothy Dwan) to the winner of the Big Auto Race. Lou prefers The Speed Kid (Semon), her real-life husband, over Dangerous Dan McGrew (Oliver "Babe" Hardy), whom Fatty's character favors. McGrew sabotages The Kid’s brakes, but The Speed Kid still wins the race and Lou’s affection. The second reel features the race, including a scene where The Speed Kid crashes through a farmhouse, emerging covered in a sheet that evokes the Ku Klux Klan, frightening his African-American mechanic Spencer Bell—often credited as "G. Howe Black" and typically forced into stereotypical roles. Former heavyweight boxing champion James J. Jeffries also appears briefly as a blacksmith who punches Hardy’s character.
Alexander’s collaboration with Semon ended after portraying Dorothy’s father in Semon’s Wizard of Oz (1925), a box office failure that ended Semon’s career. Alexander earned a spot in screen history as "Fatty" Alexander, part of "A Ton of Fun," a trio of very large comedians featured in two-reel slapstick comedies produced by Joe Rock from 1925 to 1927. The group debuted in Tailoring (1925), with Alexander billed as 'Tiny'—a name he also used in All Tied Up (1925), directed by and co-starring Slim Summerville. These shorts were produced by Poverty Row's Standard Photoplay Co. and released by Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Office (F.B.O.), the precursor to RKO Radio Pictures.
Advertised by F.B.O. as the "three fattest men on the screen," Alexander performed alongside Hilliard Karr ("Fat" Karr) and Kewpie Ross in 34 shorts, many featuring "Heavy" in the title, such as The Heavy Parade (1926), Heavy Fullbacks (1926), Heavy Infants (1928), and the oddly named Heavyation (1926). Known as "The Three Fatties," the "Ton of Fun" team delivered some of the most anarchic comedy per pound of their era. In Three of a Kind (1927), the trio plays entertainers at a nightclub where a brawl breaks out, resulting in overturned tables and smashed dishes.
After completing the final "Ton of Fun" short, A Joyful Day (1928), Alexander became a supporting actor at Hal Roach Studios, appearing in two Leo McCarey-directed shorts: Feed 'em and Weep (1928) and Madame Q (1929), starring Edgar Kennedy. With the advent of sound films, Alexander's career declined. At Roach, he supported Harry Langdon in The Shrimp (1930) but thereafter was cast in small roles at various studios, including Roach, Universal, and RKO, often playing fat men. He appeared alongside ZaSu Pitts in two comedies and had a role in the early George Stevens comedy The Kick-Off! (1931). His final film was the 1933 W.C. Fields comedy The Barber Shop, in which he appeared uncredited.
Frank "Fatty" Alexander died at age 58 in his home at 4155 Lankershim Blvd., Los Angeles, California, on September 8, 1937. His obituary in Variety described him as a 440-pound comic.
