Frank Alexander (actor)


Frank Alexander was an American silent film comedian and actor.

Biography

Alexander, who was morbidly obese, was best known for playing villains in the films of Larry Semon, who are often the father of Semon's love interest. He is best known to contemporary audiences for portraying a villainous interpretation of Uncle Henry, eventually proclaimed "Prince of Whales" upon reaching the Emerald City in Semon's Wizard of Oz. He was also part of the comedy team called "A Ton Of Fun" with two other large actors, Kewpie Ross and Hilliard Karr.
Richard M. Roberts's article in Classic Images listed the top ten ingredients of a Larry Semon film, which began with these four:
  1. Larry Semon
  2. A heroine
  3. A fat guy
  4. A really fat guy
He was proclaimed at the time as one of the three fattest actors ever to appear on the screen, with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle as one of the others.

Filmography