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Eric Campbell was born in Sale, Cheshire, on April 26, 1880, and began acting as a child. He married fellow music hall performer Fanny Gertrude Robotham on March 30, 1901. Later, he was hired by English music hall impresario Fred Karno to join his "Fun Factory" comedy troupes, which included other comics such as a young Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. Campbell arrived in New York with a Karno troupe in July 1914 and was soon employed by Broadway producer Charles Frohman. In late 1915, fellow Karno alumnus Chaplin and his brother Sid discovered Eric performing in George M. Cohan's play "Pom Pom" and brought him to Hollywood in March 1916.
Standing over 6 feet tall, weighing more than 250 pounds, and topped with a small shaved head, Campbell was built like a wrestler. Chaplin gave him an exaggerated appearance by darkening his eyes, adding bushy eyebrows, and a scraggly long beard, creating the menacing bearded ogre who starred opposite Chaplin in his most famous silent films. Campbell's first Chaplin film was The Floorwalker (1916), where he played the villainous heavy, a role he reprised in classics such as The Rink (1916), The Pawnshop (1916), The Adventurer (1917), The Cure (1917), The Immigrant (1917), Easy Street (1917), and Chase Me Charlie (1917). By summer 1917, Campbell had become Chaplin's favorite co-star and foil, nearly as famous as the comedian himself.
In early 1917, Campbell filmed his last Mutual film with Chaplin, The Adventurer, after which Chaplin began building his own studio on LaBrea Avenue in Hollywood, which still stands today. During the five-month construction, Chaplin lent Campbell to Mary Pickford, the world's biggest star, for her film Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley (1917). As filming started, Campbell was on the cusp of becoming a global star, but his personal life was soon overshadowed by tragedy and scandal.
On July 9, 1917, his wife suddenly died of a heart attack following dinner at a Santa Monica restaurant near their home. While walking to a nearby store to buy a mourning dress, his 16-year-old daughter Una was struck by a car and seriously injured. At a party on September 12, held for Artcraft Studio publicity man Pete Schmid, Campbell met Pearl Gilman, a petite vaudeville comedienne from a family known for gold-digging. She had married candy heir Charles W. Alisky in 1912, later divorced, and then married another wealthy man, Theodore Arnreiter. Her sister Mabelle was married to William E. Corey, an elderly steel magnate and owner of U.S. Steel.
Just five days after meeting, Campbell and Pearl Gilman Alisky-Arnreiter were married at the home of Elaine Hardy at 824 5th Street in Santa Monica. His daughter Una, still recovering at a friend's home in Santa Monica Canyon, was not informed of the wedding for several weeks. Less than two months after marrying the gentle giant, Gilman Alisky-Arnreiter filed for divorce. Campbell moved out of the Santa Monica bungalow and into the Los Angeles Athletic Club, taking a room next to his best friend Chaplin.
On December 20, Campbell attended a Christmas party at the Vernon Country Club and drove back to Los Angeles intoxicated. Approaching the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue at over 60 mph, he lost control of his car, crossed Wilshire, and collided head-on with another vehicle. He was killed instantly, his large body trapped in the wreckage for over five hours.
Heartbreak followed Campbell even after death. After his cremation, his ashes were sent to Rosedale Cemetery, where they remained for six months as the cemetery awaited payment for his funeral. When the bill went unpaid, the urn was returned to Handley Mortuary, where it sat unnoticed in a closet from 1917 until late 1938. When the mortuary closed, the urn was sent back to Rosedale, remaining in another closet for 13 more years. In 1952, a compassionate office worker arranged for Campbell's remains to be buried, but unfortunately, the exact burial location was not recorded, and the burly Scotsman is now lost among the markers and statues in the quiet cemetery. In 1996, a memorial plaque was placed in conjunction with a Scottish film about Campbell's life.
Campbell's death profoundly affected Chaplin and subtly influenced film history. Afterward, Chaplin's movies lost some of their comic mystery—the unique quality his Mutual films possessed but later works lacked. His subsequent films became more self-centered, missing the comedic interplay he shared with Campbell. It remains unknown how famous Eric Campbell might have become or what different films Chaplin could have made with his towering best friend.
