Knowra Mabel Normand Mabel Normand Mabel Normand (1892–1930) was an American silent-film actor, screenwriter, and director whose energetic performances and comic timing helped shape early slapstick.
Mabel at the Wheel : A 1914 Keystone comedy short starring Mabel Normand and directed by Mack Sennett and Normand. Its automobile chase and action-comedy showcase her physical performance and early directing role.
Mack Sennett : A Canadian-American film producer and director who founded Keystone Studios and popularized slapstick comedy. He employed Normand, directed her, and became her longtime professional and personal partner.
Slapstick : A style of physical comedy built around exaggerated action, mishaps, and comic violence. It is the comic form Normand helped establish in early American films.
Women in early Hollywood : Women who worked as performers, writers, directors, and producers in the early American film industry. Normand's work as an actor, screenwriter, and director exemplifies women's varied creative roles.
Mabel's Strange Predicament : A 1914 Keystone short in which Mabel Normand plays a hotel guest caught in comic misunderstandings. The film features Normand opposite Charlie Chaplin in one of his first screen appearances as the Tramp.
Charlie Chaplin : An English comic actor and filmmaker best known for creating the silent-film character the Tramp. Normand acted with Chaplin at Keystone and directed him in several early films.
Keystone Cops : A troupe of inept policemen featured in chaotic silent comedies produced by Keystone Studios. Their pursuit routines supplied the escalating disorder surrounding many Keystone performers, including Normand.
Women film directors : Women who direct motion pictures, a role present since the earliest years of cinema. Normand directed films during an era when women had greater access to directing than later Hollywood offered.
Mickey : A 1918 feature comedy starring Mabel Normand as a poor young woman raised in a mining camp. Its commercial success made Normand a major feature-film star.
Roscoe Arbuckle : An American silent-film comedian and director known for his physical comedy and large screen presence. Arbuckle and Normand appeared together in Keystone comedies, including Tillie's Punctured Romance.
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