Editing Mack Sennett

{{Short description|Canadian-American film producer (1880–1960)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Mack Sennett
| image         = Mack Sennett 1916.jpg
| alt           = Black and white portrait photograph of Mack Sennett in 1916. He is dressed in a jacket, shirt and tie and is looking into the camera.
| caption       = ''[[The Moving Picture World]]'', 1916
| birth_name    = Michael Sinnott
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1880|01|17|mf=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Danville, Quebec]], Canada
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1960|11|05|1880|01|17|mf=y}}
| death_place   = [[Woodland Hills, California]], U.S.
| occupation    = {{hlist|Producer|actor|director|studio head}}
| years_active  = 1902–1956
}}
'''Mack Sennett''' (born '''Michael Sinnott'''; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career.<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |date=2014-09-06 |title=Comic greats: The man who founded fun |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/the-man-who-founded-fun/article6386456.ece |access-date=2023-08-09 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

Born in [[Danville, Quebec]],<ref name=":3">{{cite web | title=L'homme derrière le succès de Charlie Chaplin est de Danville | website=Radio-Canada.ca | date=2015-11-11 | url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/749196/mack-sennett-realisateur-danville-charlie-chaplin-keystone-hollywood | access-date=2021-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Bio | website=translate.google.com | url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/fr/article/mack-sennett&prev=search&pto=aue | access-date=2021-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Mack Sennett | website=BFI | date=1960-11-05 | url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9ee74ae7 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130154339/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9ee74ae7 | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 30, 2017 | access-date=2021-09-20}}</ref>{{efn|Some sources cite Melbourne, now part of [[Richmond, Quebec|Richmond]].}} he started acting in films in the [[Biograph Company]] of [[New York City]] in 1908, and later opened [[Keystone Studios]] in [[Edendale, Los Angeles|Edendale, California]] in 1912. Keystone possessed the first fully enclosed film stage, and Sennett became famous as the originator of [[slapstick]] routines such as pie-throwing and car-chases, as seen in the [[Keystone Cops]] films.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-09-29 |title='Mack Sennett Collection' gathers 50 slapstick classics into one set |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/classichollywood/la-et-mn-ca-mack-sennett-sider-20140928-story.html |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> He also produced short features that displayed his [[Sennett Bathing Beauties|Bathing Beauties]], many of whom went on to develop successful acting careers.<ref name=":0">D’haeyere, Hilde. "Splashes of Fun and Beauty: Mack Sennett’s Bathing Beauties." ''Slapstick Comedy'', edited by Rob King and Tom Paulus, Routledge USA, 2010, pp. 207–25. {{ISBN|978-0-203-87676-3}}</ref><ref name=":1">Basinger, Jeanine (2012). ''Silent Stars'',  p. 205. Alfred A. Knopf. {{ISBN|978-0-3078-2918-4}}</ref>

After struggling with bankruptcy and the dominance of [[sound film]]s in the early 1930s, Sennett was presented with an honorary [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] in 1938 for his contributions to the film industry, with the academy describing him as a "master of fun, discoverer of stars, sympathetic, kindly, understanding comedy genius".<ref name="oscars.org">{{Cite web |date=2014-08-27 |title=The 10th Academy Awards Memorable Moments {{!}} Oscars.org {{!}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1938/memorable-moments |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=www.oscars.org |language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
Born Michael Sinnott in [[Danville, Quebec]],<ref name=":3" /> he was the son of [[Irish Catholic]] John Sinnott and Catherine Foy. His parents married in 1879 in [[Tingwick]], Quebec and moved the same year to Richmond, Quebec where Sinnott was hired as a laborer.<ref name="Spokane Daily Chronicle - March 25th 1932">{{cite web |title=Give Citizenship to Mack Sennett |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19320325&id=ZoUSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3fQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2954,5607197 |access-date=23 April 2010}}</ref> By 1883, when Sennett's brother George was born, Sinnott was working as an innkeeper, a position he held for many years. Sennett's parents had all their children and raised their family in Richmond, then a small [[Eastern Townships]] village. At that time, Sennett's grandparents were living in Danville, Quebec. Sennett moved to [[Connecticut]] when he was 17 years old.<ref name="Spokane Daily Chronicle - March 25th 1932" />

He lived for a while in [[Northampton, Massachusetts]], where, according to his autobiography, he first got the idea to become an opera singer after seeing a [[vaudeville]] show. He said that the most respected lawyer in town, Northampton mayor (and future President of the United States) [[Calvin Coolidge]], as well as Sennett's mother, tried to talk him out of his musical ambitions.<ref name=":4">King of Comedy by Mack Sennett, 1954</ref>

In New York City, he took on the stage name Mack Sennett and became an actor, singer, dancer, [[clown]], [[set designer]], and director for the [[Biograph Company]]. A distinction in his acting career, often overlooked, is that he played [[Sherlock Holmes]] 11 times, albeit as a [[Parody film|parody]], between 1911 and 1913.<ref name="survival1">{{cite web |url=https://www.flickeralley.com/the-survival-of-mack-sennetts-comedies/ |title=The Survival of Mack Sennett's Comedies – Flicker Alley |access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-date=April 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418215351/https://www.flickeralley.com/the-survival-of-mack-sennetts-comedies/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Keystone Studios==
[[File:Keystone Studios (00069483).jpg|thumb|The Mack Sennett [[Keystone Studios]] in 1915|222x222px]]
With financial backing from Adam Kessel and Charles O. Bauman of the [[New York Motion Picture Company]], Sennett founded [[Keystone Studios]] in [[Edendale, Los Angeles, California|Edendale, California]] &ndash; now a part of [[Echo Park, California|Echo Park]] &ndash; in 1912. The original main building which was the first totally enclosed film stage and studio ever constructed,<ref name=":8" /> is still standing, as of 2023.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Lank |first=Barry |date=2023-01-27 |title=The real Mack Sennett studio in Echo Park - the one you never see |url=https://www.theeastsiderla.com/neighborhoods/echo_park/the-real-mack-sennett-studio-in-echo-park---the-one-you-never-see/article_00ab5cf0-9794-11ed-9f01-db8cee58be77.html |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=The Eastsider LA |language=en}}</ref> Many successful actors began their film careers with Sennett, including [[Marie Dressler]], [[Mabel Normand]], [[Charlie Chaplin]], [[Harry Langdon]], [[Roscoe Arbuckle]], [[Harold Lloyd]], [[Raymond Griffith]], [[Gloria Swanson]], [[Charley Chase]], [[Ford Sterling]], [[Andy Clyde]], [[Chester Conklin]], [[Polly Moran]], [[Slim Summerville]], [[Louise Fazenda]], [[The Keystone Cops]], [[Carole Lombard]], [[Bing Crosby]], and [[W. C. Fields]].<ref>Sinnott, 1999: “Sennett trained a coterie of clowns and comediennes that made the Keystone trademark world famous: Mabel Normand, Marie Dressler, Gloria Swanson, Fatty Arbuckle, Harry Langdon, Ben Turpin, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and W.C. Fields among them. Such important directors as Frank Capra, Malcolm St. Clair, and George Stevens also received experience under Sennett’s tutelage.”</ref><ref>Silver, 2009: "His gift was in providing a haven or school for ambitious young talents."</ref>

{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk|align=left|fontsize=90%|salign=right|quote="In its pre-1920s heyday [Sennett's Fun Factory] created a vigorous new style of motion picture comedy founded on speed, insolence and destruction, which won them the undying affection of the French [[Dada]]ists…" —Film historian Richard Koszarski<ref name="koz 54"/>}}

Dubbed the King of Hollywood's ''Fun Factory'',<ref>Walker, 2010 p. 7</ref> Sennett's studios produced [[slapstick]] comedies that were noted for their hair-raising car chases and [[custard pie]] warfare, especially in the [[Keystone Cops|''Keystone Cops ''series]]. The comic formulas, however well executed, were based on humorous situations rather than the personal traits of the comedians; the various social types, often grotesquely portrayed by members of Sennett's troupe, were adequate to render the largely "interchangeable routines: "Having a funny moustache, or crossed-eyes, or an extra two-hundred pounds was as much individualization as was required."<ref>Silver, 2009: “Fatty’s persona as the “jolly fat man” constrained him from being something more than that. The more conventionally good-looking Chaplin and Keaton could eventually aspire to roles that were more promising, leading to their ultimate transcendence of slapstick.” And: “I have felt that Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton rose to the heights of screen comedy by distancing themselves from their Sennett/Normand/Arbuckle roots.”</ref><ref name="koz 54">Koszarski, 1976 p. 54</ref>{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk|align=right|fontsize=90%|salign=right|quote= "It is an axiom of screen comedy that a Shetland pony must never be put in an undignified position. People don't like it...immunity of pretty girls doesn't go as far as the immunity of the Shetland pony...you can have her fall into mud puddles. They will laugh at that. But the spectacle of a girl dripping with pie is unpleasing...movie fans don't like to see pretty girls smeared up with pastry. Shetland ponies and pretty girls are immune."— Max Sennett, from ''The Psychology of Film Comedy'', November 1918<ref>Koszarski, 1976 p. 54: ''From Motion Picture Classic''</ref>}}Film historian [[Richard Koszarski]] qualifies "fun factory" influence on comedic film acting:

{{blockquote |"While Mack Sennett has a secure and valued place in the history of screen comedy, it is surely not as a developer of individual talents... Chaplin, Langdon, and Lloyd were all on the lot at one point or another, but developed their styles only in spite of Sennett, and grew to their artistic peaks only away from his influence... screen comedy followed Chaplin's lead and began to focus more on personality than situation."<ref>Koszarski, 1976 p. 54: "Sennett is [incorrectly] credited with developing most of the great comic talent of the silent film."</ref>}}

Sennett's first female comedian was Mabel Normand, who became a major star under his direction and with whom he embarked on a tumultuous romantic relationship.<ref name=":4" /> Sennett also developed the ''Kid Comedies'', a forerunner of the ''[[Our Gang]]'' films, and in a short time, his name became synonymous with screen comedy which were called "flickers" at the time.<ref name=":4" /> In 1915, Keystone Studios became an autonomous production unit of the ambitious [[Triangle Film Corporation]], as Sennett joined forces with [[D. W. Griffith]] and [[Thomas H. Ince|Thomas Ince]], both powerful figures in the film industry.<ref>{{cite book |last=Booker |first=Keith M. |title=Historical Dictionary of American Cinema |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y04MQEgHbZsC&q=Keystone+Studios+became+an+autonomous+production&pg=PA205 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |date=2011-03-17 |isbn=978-0-8108-7459-6}}</ref>{{clear}}

===Sennett Bathing Beauties===
[[File:MackSennetBathingBeauties.JPG|thumb|300px|Sennett Bathing Beauties]]
{{main|Sennett Bathing Beauties}}
Also beginning in 1915, Sennett assembled a bevy of women known as the Sennett Bathing Beauties to appear in provocative bathing costumes in comedy short subjects, in promotional material, and in promotional events such as [[Venice, Los Angeles#Venice Beach|Venice Beach]] beauty contests.<ref name=":0" /> The Sennett Bathing Beauties continued to appear through 1928.<ref name=":1" />

[[File:Mabel's Dramatic Career 1913.jpeg|thumb|right|300px|Movie theatre audience members Roscoe Arbuckle and Sennett square off while watching [[Mabel Normand]] onscreen in ''[[Mabel's Dramatic Career]]'' (1913).]]
[[File:The Fatal Mallet.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Mabel Normand, Sennett, and Charlie Chaplin in ''[[The Fatal Mallet]]'' (1914)]]
[[File:Love, Speed and Thrills - Walter Wright - 1915, Keystone Film - EYE FLM39508 - OB 685625.webm|300px|thumb|[[Silent film]] ''Love, Speed and Thrills'' (1915), directed by Walter Wright and produced by Sennett, is a chase film in which a man (named Walrus) kidnaps the wife of his benefactor, but the so-called "Keystone Cops" are also chasing down Walrus.]]

==Independent production==
[[Image:Mack Sennett Studios 1917.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Mack Sennett Studios, c. 1917]]
In 1917, Sennett gave up the Keystone trademark and organized his own company, Mack Sennett Comedies Corporation.<ref name=":4" /> Sennett's bosses retained the Keystone trademark and produced a cheap series of comedy shorts that proved unsuccessful. Sennett went on to produce more ambitious comedy short films and a few feature-length films.<ref name=":4" />

Many of Sennett's films of the early 1920s were inherited by [[Warner Bros.]]<ref name="survival1" /> after Warner had merged with the original distributor, First National. Warner added music and commentary to several of these short subjects, and the new versions were released to theaters between 1939 and 1945. Many of Sennett's First National films physically deteriorated due to inadequate storage. Hence, many of Sennett's films from his most productive and creative period no longer exist.<ref name="survival1"/>

==Move to Pathé Exchange==
In the mid-1920s, Sennett moved to [[Pathé Exchange]] distribution.<ref name=":4" /> In 1927, Hollywood's two most successful studios, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] and [[Paramount Pictures]], took note of the profits being made by smaller companies such as Pathé Exchange and [[Earle Hammons]]'s [[Educational Pictures]].<ref name=":4" /> MGM took over the [[Hal Roach]] comedy shorts from Pathé, and Paramount reactivated its short subjects. Hundreds of other independent exhibitors and moviehouses switched from Pathé to the new MGM or Paramount shorts, but Sennett remained loyal to Pathé<ref name=":4" /> and fulfilled his contract to deliver silent comedies through 1929.

==Sound films==
In 1928, Sennett canceled all of his talent contracts and retooled his studio for the new talking-picture technology. Sennett's enthusiasm for talking pictures was such that he was the first to get a talkie short subject on the market, in 1928.<ref name=":4" /> His leading star at the time, [[Ben Turpin]], was suddenly unemployed and moved to the [[Louis Weiss (producer)|Weiss Brothers]] studio.

Sennett made a reasonably smooth transition to [[sound film]]s, releasing them through Educational.<ref name=":4" /> Sennett occasionally experimented with color as well.<ref name=":4" /> In 1932, he was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Live Action Short Film]] in the comedy division for producing ''[[The Loud Mouth]]'' (with [[Matt McHugh]], in the sports-heckler role later taken in [[Columbia Pictures]] remakes by [[Charley Chase]] and [[Shemp Howard]]).<ref name=":5">{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=The Official Academy Awards Database |url=https://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227145302/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ |archive-date=February 27, 2009 |access-date=February 1, 2018 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]}}</ref> Sennett also won an Academy Award in the novelty division for his film ''[[Wrestling Swordfish]]'', also in 1932.<ref name=":5" />

Mack Sennett often clung to outmoded techniques, making his early-1930s films seem dated and quaint: he dressed some of his actors in eccentric makeups and loud costumes, which were amusing in the cartoonish silent films but ludicrous in the new, realistic atmosphere of talking pictures. Sennett was also having financial problems during the [[Great Depression]]. One of his biggest stars, Andy Clyde, left the studio after Sennett, wanting to economize, tried to cut Clyde's salary.

In 1932, Sennett attempted to re-enter the feature-film market on a grand scale with ''[[Hypnotized (1932 film)|Hypnotized]]''. Remembering the successful campaign for his very first feature-length comedy ''Tillie's Punctured Romance'', which in 1914 was the longest comedy film ever produced, Sennett planned ''Hypnotized'' along similar lines as an epic production that would be shown first-run in select [[roadshow theatrical release|roadshow]] engagements. Sennett announced that ''Hypnotized'' would run 15 reels, or two-and-a-half hours, more than twice the length of a typical comedy feature of the day.<ref>''Film Daily'', "Sennett 15-Reel Film Titled", Feb. 16, 1932, p. 2.</ref> Sennett wanted [[W. C. Fields]] to star as a carnival hypnotist, but Fields declined and the role went to [[Ernest Torrence]], sharing the spotlight with blackface comedians [[Moran and Mack]], "The Two Black Crows". Production was completed in August 1932, but fell far short of Sennett's grandiose predictions. The finished film ran an ordinary 70 minutes and was released through ordinary channels by [[Sono Art-World Wide Pictures|World Wide Pictures]] (Educational's feature-film outlet) in December 1932.

Sennett was also having differences with his distributor, Earle Hammons of Educational. [[Jack White (film producer)|Jack White]], Educational's leading producer, explained, "We put Mack Sennett out of business. Theaters had [our] comedies booked solid. Sennett was very temperamental and wanted the exhibitor to do certain things, but they wouldn't stand for it. Sennett wouldn't stand for Hammons not telling him how much [money] he was cutting out of the grosses for himself. Sennett told him to go to hell."<ref>Jack White to David Bruskin, ''Behind the Three Stooges: The White Brothers'', Directors Guild of America, 1993, p. 148,</ref> Sennett left Educational and signed with [[Paramount Pictures]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Hoberman |first=J. |date=2014-09-12 |title=The Man Who Put the K in Kops |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/movies/homevideo/the-mack-sennett-collection-volume-one-gathers-50-shorts.html |access-date=2023-08-09 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Sennett signed both [[Bing Crosby]] and [[W. C. Fields]] for two-reel comedies. Fields wrote and starred in four famous Sennett-Paramount comedies. Two other Sennett shorts were made with Fields scripts: ''The Singing Boxer'' (1933) with [[Donald Novis]] and ''Too Many Highballs'' (1933) with [[Lloyd Hamilton]].<ref name=":4" /> Despite Paramount's wide distribution of the Crosby and Fields shorts, Sennett's studio did not survive the Depression.<ref name=":4" /> Sennett's partnership with Paramount lasted only one year and he was forced into bankruptcy in November 1933.<ref name=":4" />

On January 12, 1934, Sennett was injured in an automobile accident that killed [[Charles Mack (blackface performer)|blackface performer Charles Mack]] in [[Mesa, Arizona]].<ref>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |title=Mack, comedian, Killed in Crash. Moran, His Partner in Blackface Skits, Escapes Injury in Arizona Mishap |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/01/12/archives/mack-comedian-killed-in-crash-moran-his-partner-in-blackface-skits.html |quote=... injured Mack Sennett, former producer of 'Bathing Beauty' film comedies. |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 12, 1934 |access-date=22 March 2015 }}</ref>

His last work, in 1935, was as a producer-director for Educational, in which he directed [[Buster Keaton]] in ''[[The Timid Young Man]]'' and [[Joan Davis]] in ''[[Way Up Thar]]''.<ref name=":4" />

The 1935 [[Vitaphone]] short subject ''[[Keystone Hotel (film)|Keystone Hotel]]'' featured several alumni from the Mack Sennett studios: Ben Turpin, Ford Sterling, Hank Mann, and Chester Conklin. Actually, Sennett was not involved in the making of this film; it was directed by [[Ralph Staub]].

Sennett made one last attempt to continue working in the comedy field. By this time he had been supplanted as the major producer of two-reel comedies by [[Jules White]] at [[Columbia Pictures]]. White's brother, Jack White, recalled: "When Jules and I were at Columbia in the 1930s, Sennett tried to come to Columbia but they wouldn't have him. He was finished, and the studio was happy with Jules."<ref>Jack White to David Bruskin, p. 148.</ref> Sennett did sell some scripts and stories to Jules White, receiving screen credit as "Michael Emmes" (the "Emmes" being formed by Sennett's initials). Columbia really didn't need Sennett's services; the studio already had four producers and six directors on its short-subject payroll.<ref>[[Ted Okuda]] with Edward Watz, ''The Columbia Comedy Shorts'', McFarland, 1986, p. 20.</ref>

Mack Sennett went into semi-retirement at the age of 55, having produced more than 1,000 silent films and several dozen [[talkies]] during a 25-year career.<ref name=":4" /> His studio property was purchased by [[Mascot Pictures]] (later part of [[Republic Pictures]]), and many of his former staffers found work at Columbia.<ref name=":4" />

In March 1938, Sennett was presented with an honorary [[Academy Award]]: "for his lasting contribution to the comedy technique of the screen, the basic principles of which are as important today as when they were first put into practice, the Academy presents a Special Award to that master of fun, discoverer of stars, sympathetic, kindly, understanding comedy genius – Mack Sennett."<ref name="oscars.org"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=King |first=Susan |date=2018-02-27 |title=Honorary Oscars: A look back at 90 years, from Charlie Chaplin to Bob Hope to Donald Sutherland |url=https://www.goldderby.com/article/2018/honorary-oscars-90-years-charlie-chaplin-bob-hope-donald-sutherland-news-photos/ |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=GoldDerby |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Later projects==
Rumors abounded that Sennett would be returning to film production (a September 1938 publicity release indicated that he would be working with [[Stan Laurel]] of [[Laurel and Hardy]]), but apart from Sennett reissuing a couple of his Bing Crosby two-reelers to theaters, nothing happened.<ref>Walker, 2010, p. 227.</ref>

Sennett did appear in front of the camera, however, in ''[[Hollywood Cavalcade]]'' (1939), itself a thinly disguised version of the Mack Sennett-Mabel Normand romance.<ref name=":4" />

In 1949, he provided film footage for the first full-length comedy compilation film, ''Down Memory Lane'' (1949), written and narrated by [[Steve Allen]].<ref>[[Scott MacGillivray]], ''Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward'', Second Edition, iUniverse, 2009, p. 257. {{ISBN|978-1-4401-7237-3}}</ref> Sennett made a guest appearance in the film, and received a special "Mack Sennett presents" credit.

Sennett wrote a memoir, ''King of Comedy'', in collaboration with Cameron Shipp. The book was published in 1954, prompting TV producer [[Ralph Edwards]] to mount a tribute to Sennett for the television series ''[[This Is Your Life (American franchise)|This Is Your Life]]''.<ref>Thomas, Bob (1954). "Sennett Takes Sentimental Journey in Past at Reunion". ''Panama City News'', March 12, 1954. Retrieved from [http://looking-for-mabel.webs.com/sennettobelisk.htm Looking for Mabel Normand] on 3 February 2012.</ref> Sennett made a cameo appearance (for $1,000) in ''[[Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops]]'' (1955).<ref>Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo, '' Abbott and Costello in Hollywood'', Putnam, 1991, p. 245. {{ISBN|0-399-51605-0}}</ref>

Sennett's last appearance in the national media was in the NBC radio program ''Biography in Sound'', relating memories of working with W.C. Fields. The program was broadcast February 28, 1956.<ref>"Magnificent Rogue: The Adventures of W. C. Fields", ''Biography in Sound'', The Paley Center for Media, https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=ed&p=33&item=R89:0171.</ref>

==Personal life==
Sennett was never married, but his tumultuous relationship with actress Mabel Normand was widely publicized in the press at the time.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Mack Sennett |url=https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/mack-sennett/ |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en}}</ref> According to the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', Sennett reportedly lived a "madcap, extravagant life", often throwing "lavish parties", and at the peak of his career he owned three homes.<ref name=":6" />

On March 25, 1932, he became a United States citizen.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 26, 1932 |title=Mack Sennett is Naturalized |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/03/26/archives/mack-sennett-is-naturalized.html}}</ref>

===Death===
Sennett died on November 5, 1960, in [[Woodland Hills, California]], aged 80.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Mack Sennett, 76, Film Pioneer Who Developed Slapstick, Dies. Keystone Kops, Custard Pies and Bathing Beauties Were Symbols of His Movies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/11/06/archives/mack-sennett-76-film-pioneer-who-developed-slapstick-dies-keystone.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 6, 1960 }}</ref> He was interred in the [[Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City|Holy Cross Cemetery]] in [[Culver City, California]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Sennett Buried in Hollywood |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/11/24/archives/i-sennett-buried-in-hollywood.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 24, 1960}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{{main|Mack Sennett filmography}}

==Tributes==
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Sennett was honored with a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 6712 [[Hollywood Boulevard]].<ref name=":6" /> He was also inducted into [[Canada's Walk of Fame]] in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Canada's Walk of Fame |url=https://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/ |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=Canada's Walk of Fame |language=en-CA}}</ref>

The building of Sennett's original studio in Echo Park was deemed a historical landmark by [[The City of Los Angeles]] in 1982.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Report - HPLA |url=https://hpla.lacity.org/report/5f0801a0-5e91-478f-a88a-ad4eb26b8e68 |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=historicplacesla.org}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
* In ''[[A Story of Water]]'', a 1961 short film by [[Jean-Luc Godard]] and [[François Truffaut]], the directors dedicated the film to Mack Sennett.
* In 1974, [[Michael Stewart (playwright)|Michael Stewart]] and [[Jerry Herman]] wrote the musical ''[[Mack & Mabel]]'', chronicling the romance between Sennett and Mabel Normand.
* Sennett also was a leading character in ''[[The Biograph Girl]]'', a 1980 musical about the silent film era.
* [[Peter Lovesey]]'s 1983 novel ''Keystone'' is a [[whodunnit]] set in the Keystone Studios and involving (among others), Mack Sennett, Mabel Normand, Roscoe Arbuckle, and the Keystone Cops.
* [[Dan Aykroyd]] portrayed Mack Sennett in the 1992 movie ''[[Chaplin (film)|Chaplin]]'' alongside [[Marisa Tomei]] as Mabel Normand and [[Robert Downey Jr.]] as Charlie Chaplin.
* Joseph Beattie and Andrea Deck portrayed Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand, respectively, in episode eight of series two of ITV's ''[[Mr. Selfridge]]''.
* [[Carol Burnett]] did a lengthy tribute skit to Mack Sennett on her show that aired on [[Me TV]] in June 2021.

==See also==
* [[Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* Koszarski, Richard. 1976. ''Hollywood Directors: 1914-1940''. Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 76-9262. 
* Silver, Charles. 2009. ''Send in the Clowns. AN AUTEURIST HISTORY OF FILM'' https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2009/12/22/send-in-the-clowns/ Retrieved 3 October 2020.
* Sinnott, Michael. 1999. ''Mack Sennett: Canadian-American director and producer.'' Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mack-Sennett Retrieved 3 October 2020.
* Walker, Brent. 2010. ''Mack Sennett's fun factory: a history and filmography of his studio and his Keystone and Mack Sennett comedies, with biographies of players and personnel.'' Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.; {{ISBN|0786457074}}

'''Further reading'''
* Lahue, Kalton (1971) ''Mack Sennett's Keystone: The man, the myth and the comedies''. New York: Barnes; {{ISBN|978-0-498-07461-5}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Mack Sennett |sopt=t}}
* {{IMDb name|784407|Mack Sennett}}
* {{Find a Grave|942}}
* [https://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/1789/mack-sennett Mack Sennett] at Virtual History

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[[Category:Canadian comedy film directors]]
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