Charles 'Chic' Sale

Acting

Biography

Charles 'Chic' Sale was primarily a stage comedian, who, although he infrequently appeared on Broadway from 1902-30 and appeared in a handful of silent films, spent the majority of his career treading the boards of vaudeville as a comedian, usually in the persona of 'Lem Putt', a carpenter from Urbana, Illinois who specialized in the building of outhouses. By age 49 his stage act had become so popular that he felt compelled to write, with the help of two newspaper writers, a 3000-word collection of his monologues (at the urging of his lawyer who expressed dismay over lesser comedians stealing his act), which was published as "The Specialist". The book was a huge hit, published in nine languages, and remains in print to this day. (Sale took six months off touring to personally answer fan mail resulting from the book. A sequel was published as "I'll Tell You Why".) During the 1930s and '40s there were outhouses sporting "Chic Sale" signs all over the world, his name becoming synonymous for toilet (which didn't please him in the least) and the butt of fellow comedian Groucho Marx's jokes. After appearing in a flop Broadway show in 1930, Sale headed for Hollywood for good and became, thanks to effective makeup and complete mastery of his lanky body, a character actor. Still in his mid to late 40s, he convincingly played octogenarians. He did this so well that it was quite a shock to see him out of make-up; he was unrecognizable from his old man screen persona. Chic Sale died of pneumonia in 1936 at just 51 years of age. He was survived by his wife Marie.

Filmography Movies

Acting

Lem Putt, the SpecialistMOVIE

MOVIE

Lem Putt, the Specialist

A carpenter who specializes in building outhouses becomes successful, but then things take a turn for the worse when his name becomes synonymous with "toilet".

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Lem Putt, the Specialist

MOVIE

Treasure Island

6.5(0.1K)

In this early film adaptation of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, young Jim Hawkins is caught up with the pirate Long John Silver in search of buccaneer Captain Flint's buried treasure.

The Fighting Westerner

5.2(0.0K)

A mining engineer teams up with a crusty deputy sheriff to solve the mystery killings at an old mine where the owner's family waits for him to die, and where a valuable radium strike may have been made.

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The Fighting Westerner

Tex Murdock

The Ladies' ManMOVIE

MOVIE

The Ladies' Man

A 1928 comedy short

You Only Live Once

7.1(0.2K)

Based partially on the story of Bonnie and Clyde, Eddie Taylor is an ex-convict who cannot get a break after being released from prison. When he is framed for murder, Taylor is forced to flee with his wife Joan Graham and baby. While escaping prison after being sentenced to death, Taylor becomes a real murderer, condemning himself and Joan to a life of crime and death on the road.

The Star Witness

6.9(0.0K)

A tough District Attorney goes after a murderous crime gang, only to find that his witnesses, an innocent family, have clammed up in fear of reprisals.

The Expert

7.3(0.0K)

An elderly gentleman arrives for an extended stay with his grown son in Chicago.

Stranger in Town

5.0(0.0K)

Crickle is a tenacious small-town grocer who stubbornly resists the efforts of a monopolistic chain-store firm to purchase his establishment. The chain manager retaliates by cutting off Crickles' supply of produce, whereupon his friends and neighbors save his business by supplying him with goods from their own farms.

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Stranger in Town

Ulysses Crickle

A Slip at the SwitchMOVIE

MOVIE