Ford Sterling

Ford Sterling, born George Franklin Stich on November 3, 1883, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, was an American comedian and actor who built a career spanning stage, silent film, and talking pictures. The son of Mary Kirby and George Stitch, he is best remembered for his association with Keystone Studios and his role as the original chief of the Keystone Cops.

Sterling left home at twelve years old to join the George Hutchinson repertory company. He subsequently worked with the Flying Lees circus in an aerial act before moving to the Forepaugh Amalgamated Circus, where he spent five years performing as an acrobatic clown. After leaving the circus, he joined a musical show in New York City, where his featured performances caught the attention of producer Mack Sennett.

His Broadway career ran from 1905 to 1907. During that period, Sterling appeared in King Casey, the musical Breaking Into Society, and A Woman's Pity. It was his work in New York that led directly to his transition into film, as Sennett's offer came after seeing him perform there.

Sterling entered silent films in 1911 with Biograph Studios. When Sennett departed to establish Keystone Studios in 1912, Sterling followed, spending eight years there through 1920. At Keystone he primarily portrayed police chiefs, most notably the character Chief Teeheezel in the Keystone Cops slapstick comedy series, and was counted among the four principal performers associated with that company. By 1913 and throughout the decade, Sterling ranked among the most widely recognized screen comedians in the world. When Charlie Chaplin joined Keystone in early 1914, he initially found himself expected to imitate Sterling. The two appeared together in the one-reel films A Thief Catcher and Between Showers, both released in 1914.

During the 1920s, Sterling moved away from short comedies and took supporting roles in feature-length films of both comedic and dramatic character. Among these was He Who Gets Slapped in 1924, in which he appeared opposite Lon Chaney. He also starred as Michael Poole in Howard Hughes' film Everybody's Acting in 1926, a production that is now considered lost. That same year, Sterling's work as an amateur photographer reached a notable distinction when some of his photographs were exhibited at the Louvre in 1924, a pursuit in which he had won multiple prizes.

With the arrival of talking pictures, Sterling returned to short comedy work and made a successful transition to sound film. His film appearances numbered more than two hundred and seventy in total, with his final screen credit coming in 1936. For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Sterling received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6612 Hollywood Boulevard.

Sterling was married to actress Teddy Sampson. He spent eighteen months in a hospital before his death, and his left leg was amputated above the knee in the week preceding it. He died on October 13, 1939, in Los Angeles, California, of thrombosis following long-standing diabetes, and is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.