Biography
Snub Pollard (born Harold Fraser; 9 November 1889 – 19 January 1962) was an Australian-born vaudeville performer who rose to fame as a silent film comedian in Hollywood during the 1920s.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Pollard began his career performing with Pollard's Lilliputian Opera Company as a child. Like many actors in this popular juvenile troupe, he adopted the surname Pollard as his stage name. The company managed several successful professional children's troupes that toured Australia and New Zealand in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In 1908, Pollard joined the company's North American tour and chose to remain in the United States afterward. By 1915, he was frequently seen in uncredited film roles; for instance, Charles Epting identified him in Charlie Chaplin’s 1915 short film By the Sea. Pollard later credited Hal Roach with discovering him while he was performing on stage in Los Angeles.
He appeared in supporting roles alongside Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels in their early films. Known for his long face and inverted Kaiser Wilhelm mustache, which became his signature look, Pollard was given his own series of one- and two-reel shorts by Lloyd’s producer Hal Roach. His most notable work includes the 1923 film It's a Gift, where he portrayed an inventor of intricate Rube Goldberg-style devices, including a magnet-powered car.
Shortly after his second marriage in early 1923, Pollard and his wife Elizabeth returned to Australia to visit family. His visit drew significant attention, and he appeared in several theaters discussing the film industry. Upon returning to the U.S., he left Roach’s studio and joined the low-budget Weiss Brothers studio in 1926, where he co-starred with Marvin Loback in a series that emulated Laurel and Hardy’s style by replicating their plots and gags.
Pollard later said that the Great Depression devastated his investments and that he struggled to adapt to sound films. Nevertheless, during the 1930s, he took on small roles in talking comedies and provided comic relief in B westerns. His silent film comedy background ensured roles in slapstick revivals, including appearances in Hollywood Cavalcade (1939), The Perils of Pauline (1947), and Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). In the mid-1940s, he was a regular supporting player in Columbia Pictures’ two-reel comedies.
In his later years, Pollard abandoned his distinctive mustache and found steadier work as mostly uncredited bit parts, often portraying mousy, nondescript characters with little or no dialogue.
Snub Pollard passed away from cancer on 19 January 1962 at the age of 72, concluding nearly five decades in the film industry. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.
In recognition of his contributions to cinema, Pollard was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6415½ Hollywood Boulevard.
