Frank Dwight Alexander (May 25, 1879 – September 8, 1937) was an American silent film comedian and actor. He was occasionally billed as Fatty Alexander.
Biography
In the mid-1910s, Alexander acted in comedy roles for Keystone Studios, often with Sydney Chaplin.
Alexander, who was morbidly obese (350 pounds), played 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[citation needed] listed the top ten ingredients of a Larry Semon film, which began with these four:
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.
Alexander died of a heart attack on September 8, 1937, aged 58. He weighted 465 pounds when he died. He was cremated two days later at Hollywood Cemetery. His ashes are unmarked but lie in the Garden of Beginnings at Hollywood Forever Cemetery near Los Angeles.
