Black Larsen?


The man who is looking for his wallet in the swept up trash; did he look like/does anyone know if he is Black Larsen from Chaplin's The Gold Rush?

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Well spotted! There's a distinct resemblance, and the beards seem exactly alike in detail.

The man in Sherlock Jr isn't credited, but Black Larsen in The Gold Rush is played by Tom Murray, who had played with Chaplin before. Here's his short filmography:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0615306/

It fits time-wise: Sherlock Jr premiered 21 April 1924, and The Gold Rush had started shooting earlier that year, on 8 February.

We might even speculate about Keaton mentioning to Chaplin that he needed a mean-looking guy for this scene, and Chaplin "loaning" him Murray for one day...?!

So I think it's very likely that you are right. This would be something for the scholars to look further into.


"See what you made of me, and still you prosper, you hell cat!"

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[deleted]

Thank you! I watched The Gold Rush the other day for the first time and the Larsen character caught my eye. I immediately posted a comment on youtube (The Gold Rush is on youtube) asking if people knew anything about the actor but I got no good reply ( someone thought I was referring to the "sheik" character who looks nothing like Black Larsen). I should have come here in the first place.

"We've got lumps of it round the back."

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