Sydney Chaplin

Acting

Sydney Chaplin

Born — Died

1885-03-14 — 1965-04-16

Place of birth

London, England

Known for

Acting

Credits

46 titles

Sydney John Chaplin (né Hill; 16 March 1885 – 16 April 1965) was an English actor. Chaplin was the elder half-brother of actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin and served as his business manager in later life. Through their mother Hannah, they were older half-brothers to the younger Wheeler Dryden, who grew up separately with his father in England and was not told about his half-brothers until 1915. Dryden later emigrated to the United States, joining the Chaplins in Hollywood. Sydney Chaplin was also a half-uncle of actor Sydney Chaplin (1926–2009), who was named after him.

Known for

Film credits

1920s · 14 titles

Pay Day poster
7.0

A bricklayer and his wife clash over his end-of-the-week partying.

Pay Day

1922

The Pilgrim poster
6.9

The Tramp is an escaped convict who is mistaken as a pastor in a small town church.

The Pilgrim

1923

Her Temporary Husband poster
8.0

Blanche will inherit her aunt's large estate, providing that she gets married within 24 hours. She chooses to wed John, an old man living at a rest home who is not expected to live much longer.

Her Temporary Husband

1923

A Little Bit of Fluff poster
9.0

Syd Chaplin And Betty Balfour star in this British International Picture.

A Little Bit of Fluff

1928

The Man on the Box poster
6.2

A wealthy young man disguises himself as a gardener to be near the woman he secretly loves. He discovers that the butler is an enemy spy who plans to steal military secrets, and has to find a way to stop him.

The Man on the Box

1925

Oh! What a Nurse! poster
9.0

Oh! What a Nurse! is a 1926 American comedy film directed by Charles Reisner and written by Darryl F. Zanuck. The film stars Sydney Chaplin, Patsy Ruth Miller, Gayne Whitman, Matthew Betz, Edith Yorke, and David Torrence. The film was released by Warner Bros. on March 7, 1926.

Oh! What a Nurse!

1926

No artwork available
7.5

A comedy short directed by character Slim Summerville.

Hello, 'Frisco

1924

The Better 'Ole poster
5.7

The adventures of Old Bill and his friends Bert and Alf in the trenches of the first World War.

The Better 'Ole

1926

Charley's Aunt poster
NR

Charley Wyckham and Jack Chesney pressure fellow student Fancourt Babberly to pose as Charley's Brazilian Aunt Donna Lucia. Their purpose is to have a chaperone for their amorous visits with Amy and Kitty, niece and ward of crusty Stephen Spettigue. Complications begin when Fancourt, in drag, becomes the love object of old Spettigue and Sir Francis Chesney.

Charley's Aunt

1925

The Missing Link poster
4.5

Arthur Wells, an impoverished poet, impersonates a big-game hunter in an attempt to locate the missing link. However, the poet has an aversion to animals...tame or wild.

The Missing Link

1927

The Rendezvous poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Rendezvous

1923

The Galloping Fish poster
7.0

Freddy Wetherill and his bride, Hyla, quarrel at her mother's beach cottage, and Hyla sends her new husband home alone. Seeking distraction from his troubles, Freddy enters a vaudeville theater where Undine, "the diving Venus," and her trained seal, Bubbles, are performing. Outside the theater, Freddy meets Undine's fiancé, George Fitzgerald, and becomes involved in George's effort to hide Undine's seal from a bill collector armed with an order of attachment because of an unpaid hotel bill. Complications arise when Freddy Wetherill's dying rich uncle, Cato Dodd, notifies him that he wants Hyla to nurse him. To insure he stays in his uncle's will, Freddy substitutes Undine for Hyla and takes George along to act as his "valet." Naturally, Bubbles comes along, too. This movie is presumed to be lost.

The Galloping Fish

1924

The Fortune Hunter poster
8.0

The Fortune Hunter is a lost 1927 silent film comedy directed by Charles Reisner and starring Syd Chaplin. It is based on the 1909 Broadway play The Fortune Hunter by Winchell Smith. It was produced by Warner Brothers who released it with a Vitaphone soundtrack.

The Fortune Hunter

1927

The Perfect Flapper poster
7.0

A 1924 film directed by John Francis Dillon.

The Perfect Flapper

1924

1910s · 15 titles

A Dog's Life poster
7.3

The Tramp and his dog companion struggle to survive in the inner city.

A Dog's Life

1918

Shoulder Arms poster
6.8

An American doughboy, stationed in France during the Great War, goes on a daring mission behind enemy lines and becomes a hero.

Shoulder Arms

1918

The Bond poster
5.1

A propaganda film created by Charlie Chaplin at his own expense for the Liberty Load Committee to help sell U.S. Liberty Bonds during World War I. The story is a series of sketches humorously illustrating various bonds like the bond of friendship and of marriage and, most important, the Liberty Bond, to K.O. the Kaiser which Charlie does literally.

The Bond

1918

No artwork available
NR

Fatty's Wine Party is a 1914 American short comedy film directed by and starring Fatty Arbuckle.

Fatty's Wine Party

1914

A Lover's Lost Control poster
5.7

Mr. and Mrs. Gussle get up to some hijinks in this Keystone comedy.

A Lover's Lost Control

1915

Gussle's Backward Way poster
5.0

This film concerns the adventures of Gussle, played by Sydney Chaplin, in Big Bear Lake area of California. The picture opens with our hero riding a mule through a creek bed, when he is set upon by some robbers. Gussle outsmarts them by attempting to hand over his goods by stretching across the stream, but dropping the goods into the water thereby making the robber also fall in. He makes his way to an inn and recounts his experiences to the other guests and then they all go out and spend time playing in the snow. Some trick photography is used to make it appear that Gussle is making a mule walk backwards.

Gussle's Backward Way

1915

No artwork available
NR

Another of the fast and furious slapstick comedies produced for Keystone that is long on speed and mugging and short on jokes. Gussle and his wife decide to go mountain climbing and shoot at each other in a not very interesting effort. Syd does not even manage his usual graceful surprise movements in this, but spends, like most of the cast, a lot of time falling down.

Gussle Tied to Trouble

1915

Gussle's Day of Rest poster
5.5

The disgraceful Reggie Gussle spends a day at the park with his hated wife while trying to steal a lovely girl from her boyfriend.

Gussle's Day of Rest

1915

A Submarine Pirate poster
4.9

A waiter tricks his way into command of a sub in order to rob a ship carrying gold bullion.

A Submarine Pirate

1915

No artwork available
7.5

The ever-disreputable Reggie Gussle, mistreating his caddy and generally making an ass of himself on the golf course, receives a well-deserved golf ball to the noggin, temporarily rendering him disoriented. The offending golfer, Ambrose, and his wife feel terrible about the erring ball; but if they knew what Gussle was capable of, they'd have left him lying on the green. Later, at his social club, Gussle gets thrown out of a card game for cheating. Ambrose, ignorant of the exiting Gussle's dishonesty, greets him warmly before joining the game himself. Gussle suddenly has an idea that will give him revenge on the card players and get rid of Ambrose so that Gussle can make his moves on his gullible friend's beautiful wife.

Gussle, the Golfer

1914

No artwork available
NR

Short with Sydney Chaplin. The comical character has lots of adventures such as falling, being beaten up or trying to push his wife in a manhole.

Giddy, gay and ticklish

1915

Gussle's Wayward Path poster
5.0

Gussle (Syd Chaplin) comes home with a cute little dog but doesn't want the wife to see it--leading up to a rather funny bit you'll have to see for yourself. The marriage, at first, seems ideal and Gussle and his wife seem devoted. However, it soon seems that this is an act for Syd and it's obvious he's quite the philanderer. Eventually, the wife catches on and sets out to catch him--leading to a rather cute and unexpected ending.

Gussle's Wayward Path

1915

No artwork available
5.0

Featuring Charlie Chaplin's half-brother as The Husband, Phyllis Allen as The Wife, Slim Summerville as The Boy Friend, Cecile Arnold as The Girl Friend, and Mack Swain as The Bartender.

Caught in a Park

1915

No artwork available
NR

Gussle Rivals Jonah is a silent comedy

Gussle Rivals Jonah

1915

No artwork available
NR

The old saying goes that "In the spring a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love", but when one young man tries to turn his "fancy" in a local park, he runs up against a cop who is determined to stop him.

That Springtime Feeling

1915

Series credits

Behind the camera

A Lover's Lost Control poster
5.7

Mr. and Mrs. Gussle get up to some hijinks in this Keystone comedy.

A Lover's Lost Control

1915

Gussle's Backward Way poster
5.0

This film concerns the adventures of Gussle, played by Sydney Chaplin, in Big Bear Lake area of California. The picture opens with our hero riding a mule through a creek bed, when he is set upon by some robbers. Gussle outsmarts them by attempting to hand over his goods by stretching across the stream, but dropping the goods into the water thereby making the robber also fall in. He makes his way to an inn and recounts his experiences to the other guests and then they all go out and spend time playing in the snow. Some trick photography is used to make it appear that Gussle is making a mule walk backwards.

Gussle's Backward Way

1915

King, Queen, Joker poster
6.5

King, Queen, Joker is a 1921 silent feature farce written and directed by Sydney Chaplin, Charlie's older brother. The picture was produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. The film was shot in England, France and the United States. Less than a reel of this film, the barbershop sequence, survives at the British Film Institute. It was included in the 2011 Criterion DVD special two disc edition release of The Great Dictator.

King, Queen, Joker

1921

No artwork available
NR

Another of the fast and furious slapstick comedies produced for Keystone that is long on speed and mugging and short on jokes. Gussle and his wife decide to go mountain climbing and shoot at each other in a not very interesting effort. Syd does not even manage his usual graceful surprise movements in this, but spends, like most of the cast, a lot of time falling down.

Gussle Tied to Trouble

1915

A Submarine Pirate poster
4.9

A waiter tricks his way into command of a sub in order to rob a ship carrying gold bullion.

A Submarine Pirate

1915

Gussle's Wayward Path poster
5.0

Gussle (Syd Chaplin) comes home with a cute little dog but doesn't want the wife to see it--leading up to a rather funny bit you'll have to see for yourself. The marriage, at first, seems ideal and Gussle and his wife seem devoted. However, it soon seems that this is an act for Syd and it's obvious he's quite the philanderer. Eventually, the wife catches on and sets out to catch him--leading to a rather cute and unexpected ending.

Gussle's Wayward Path

1915

No artwork available
NR

Gussle Rivals Jonah is a silent comedy

Gussle Rivals Jonah

1915