Albert Austin 13 December 1881 or 1885 17 August 1953 was an actor film star director and script writer noted mainly for his work in Charlie Chaplin films He was the brother of actor William Austin He was born in Birmingham England and was a music hall performer before coming to the US with Chaplin both as members of the Fred Karno troupe in 1910 Noted for his painted handlebar mustache and acerbic manner he worked for Chaplins stock company and played supporting roles in many of his films often as a foil to the star and working as his assistant director After the development of sound films he moved into scriptwriting directing and acting chiefly in comedy short subjects Among other things he assisted Chaplin in developing the plot of The Adventurer 1917 However he only received screen credit as a collaborator once for City Lights As an actor he appeared in Chaplins comedies for the Mutual Film Corporation Later he had two brief uncredited roles in one of Chaplins silent comedies made in the sound era City Lights 1931 Austin is also seen very briefly as a cab driver at the beginning of Chaplins short film One AM He also appeared in movies starring Jackie Coogan and Mack Sennett Austins best known performance may be in Chaplins short The Pawnshop Austin enters the shop with an alarm clock hoping to pawn it To establish the clocks value Chaplin dissects it Austin maintains a deadpan expression as Chaplin progressively destroys his clock then hands the pieces back to Austin He had the leading role in Mary Pickfords Suds 1920 where he costars as a customer leaving his shirt at her laundry In that film he appears without his comic mustache In his final years he worked as a police officer at the Warner Brothers studios according to a New York Times obituary Description above from the Wikipedia article Albert Austin licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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