Harold Lloyd

Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. was born on April 20, 1893 in Burchard, Nebraska. He began his career working with Thomas Alva Edison. By the age of 20, he was appearing in Mack Sennett's Keystone Comedies. He also began working at Universal Studios, where he met his life-long friend and collaborator, Hal Roach. The early days of their relationship produced a Charlie Chaplin knock-off character called "Lonesome Luke." By 1918, Lloyd changed his character to Harold, the character more familiar to modern audiences. In August of 1919, while shooting publicity stills, his right hand was mangled when what he thought was a prop smoke pot exploded. He continued his career, however, and in the 1920s, he produced groundbreaking comedies of the silent era like The Freshman, The Kid Brother and Safety Last! He continued his career into the talking era when he made films like Feet First and The Milky Way. He did work in Radio during the World War Two years and in 1947, he made his last film, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock. In 1962, Mr. Lloyd produced two compilation films of his work; the films were called Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy and The Funny Side of Life. Both of these films premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and began a revival of interest in his films. He died on March 8, 1971 in Beverly Hills, California.