This is a picture taken of Chester Cooper Conklin at the age of 33. He was born in Oskaloosa in 1886. The 1900 city directory shows a Philemon B. Conklin, occupation: gardener, living at 1215 Third Ave. E. Later, in a 1903 directory, it shows the same Conklin living at the “corner of 3rd Ave. East and South 11th St.” It’s probable that this Conklin listed was where his father and mother lived. He was one of three children who grew up in an unhappy childhood, and Chester, at the age of 15, ran away from home. In Des Moines, he found a job in a hotel as a bellhop. Young Conklin once vowed to a friend he would never ever return to his home, a pledge that he kept. Next, he moved to Omaha, Neb., to engage in live theatre and as a comedian, which led to touring with a traveling circus as a clown and Vaudeville shows. Conklin grew a huge mustache, which turned out to be his trademark, and at 27 in 1913, was hired by Keystone Studios. It is rumored that he was one of the “Keystone Cops.” At that studio, he made his first short comedy, “Cupid In a Dental Parlor.” Chester Conklin made a great number of films with Charlie Chaplin. The last film with Chaplin was in 1940 in “The Great Dictator.” Conklin and Chaplin became life-long friends. Conklin, at age 85, died in Van Nuys, Calif., in 1971. When Chester was 8, his mother was found burned to death in the family garden. Thought at first to have been a suicide, eventually, his father was charged with murder, but was found not guilty. Such a terrible tragedy at this tender age must have made an indelible mark on him. His later life, filled with laughter, was certainly in stark contrast with his childhood. He must have been a great talent, because Chester Conklin has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Vine Street.

— Chuck Russell