Ben Turpin was a cross-eyed slapstick comedian of silent movies. After many years as a burlesque comedian he entered films in 1907, at the dawn of cinema; he spent two years appearing in numerous Essanay shorts but failed to become popular. He went back to burlesque until 1914, when he returned to films. In 1915 he became better known when he was cast as a foil to Charlie Chaplin; he and Chaplin didn't get along, though, and in 1916 he began starring in his own films. In 1917 he joined Mack Sennett and finally became a leading comedy star; his greatest success was in a series of parodies of popular movies, in which he lampooned such screen idols as Valentino and Erich von Stroheim. His comedy style did not survive the transition to sound, though he appeared in a handful of films in the '30s.