Charles ‘Chic’ Sale was primarily a stage comedian, who, although he infrequently appeared on Broadway from 1902-30 and appeared in a handful of silent films, spent the majority of his career treading the boards of vaudeville as a comedian, usually in the persona of ‘Lem Putt’, a carpenter from Urbana, Illinois who specialized in the building of outhouses.
By age 49 his stage act had become so popular that he felt compelled to write, with the help of two newspaper writers, a 3000-word collection of his monologues (at the urging of his lawyer who expressed dismay over lesser comedians stealing his act), which was published as “The Specialist”. The book was a huge hit, published in nine languages, and remains in print to this day. (Sale took six months off touring to personally answer fan mail resulting from the book. A sequel was published as “I’ll Tell You Why”.) During the 1930s and ’40s there were outhouses sporting “Chic Sale” signs all over the world, his name becoming synonymous for toilet (which didn’t please him in the least) and the butt of fellow comedian Groucho Marx’s jokes.
After appearing in a flop Broadway show in 1930, Sale headed for Hollywood for good and became, thanks to effective makeup and complete mastery of his lanky body, a character actor. Still in his mid to late 40s, he convincingly played octogenarians. He did this so well that it was quite a shock to see him out of make-up; he was unrecognizable from his old man screen persona.
Chic Sale died of pneumonia in 1936 at just 51 years of age. He was survived by his wife Marie.
Charles ‘Chic’ Sale Biography / Wiki
| Name | Charles ‘Chic’ Sale |
| Also Know | Charles Partlow Sale, Charles Sale, Chas. ‘Chic’ Sale, Chick Sale, Chic Sale |
| Gender | Male |
| Known For | Acting |
| Place of Birth | Huron, South Dakota, USA |
| Date of Birth | 1885-08-25 |
| Age(as in 2022) | 51 |
| Deathday | 1936-11-07 |
Charles ‘Chic’ Sale Acting Movies
| Movie Name | Character | Release Date | Overview |
| Stranger in Town | Ulysses Crickle | 1932-07-07 | Crickle is a tenacious small-town grocer who stubbornly resists the efforts of a monopolistic chain-store firm to purchase his establishment. The chai… |
| The Expert | John T. Minick | 1932-03-05 | An elderly gentleman arrives for an extended stay with his grown son in Chicago…. |
| A Slip at the Switch | Lem | 1932-08-08 | Charles ‘Chic’ Sale gets in the middle of a train robbery!… |
| Whisperin’ Bill | Mr. Bowman | 1933-02-20 | A candidate for Congress visits Mr. Bowman at his farm to ask for his vote. In reply, Mr. Bowman recites the title poem. It tells the story of his son… |
| His Nibs | Theo. Bender (segment “His Nibs”) | 1921-10-21 | Shenanigans at a small town movie theater…. |
| The New School Teacher | Professor Timmons | 1924-05-31 | The new teacher is brutally terrorized by the pupils and becomes the laughingstock of town. Then dramatic events occur which give him a chance for red… |
| Important News | Elmer ‘Scoop’ Stevens | 1936-02-29 | In this short film, a small-town newspaper editor struggles with what to publish on his paper’s front page…. |
| Old Shep | Farmer | 1936-05-14 | A man preparing to shoot his ailing elderly dog sadly recounts their time together…. |
| The Great American Pie Company | Ephraim Deacon | 1935-11-09 | In this comedic short, two pie vendors discuss merging their businesses, but one of them may have an ulterior motive…. |
| The Perfect Tribute | Abraham Lincoln | 1935-08-15 | The day after his Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln meets a wounded Confederate soldier in a hospital. The blinded rebel, not knowing his … |
| Lucky Dog | Arthur Wilson | 1933-04-20 | A rich man’s enemies cause him to lose his money, his best friend (his dog), as he goes to jail. Once free he spends all his time hunting for his lost… |
| The Ladies’ Man | 1928-12-28 | A 1928 comedy short… | |
| Rocky Mountain Mystery | Tex Murdock | 1935-03-01 | A mining engineer teams up with a crusty deputy sheriff to solve the mystery killings at an old mine where the owner’s family waits for him to die, an… |
| Men Of America | Smokey Miller | 1932-11-25 | Bank robbers and killers cause mayhem in a small western town…. |
| The Chief | Uncle Joe | 1933-11-03 | The dim-witted son of a heroic fire chief tries to follow in his late father’s footsteps, only to become the unknowing pawn of corrupt politicians…. |
| When a Feller Needs a Friend | Uncle Jonas Tucker | 1932-04-30 | A lame boy’s uncle tries to rescue him from his over-protective parents…. |
| The Gentleman from Louisiana | Deacon Devlin | 1936-08-14 | In Victorian-era USA, a horse-jockey becomes a scapegoat in the nefarious schemes of a group of small-time criminals…. |
| The Man I Marry | Sheriff Clem Loudecker | 1936-10-31 | A wealthy young man writes a play under a different name to prove to his overbearing mother that he can succeed on his own…. |
| Man Hunt | Ed Hoggins | 1936-01-29 | A bored small-town teacher gets mixed up with an escaped bank robber…. |
| Treasure Island | Ben Gunn | 1934-08-17 | In this early film adaptation of the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, young Jim Hawkins is caught up with the pirate Long John Silver in searc… |
| You Only Live Once | Ethan | 1937-01-23 | Based partially on the story of Bonnie and Clyde, Eddie Taylor is an ex-convict who cannot get a break after being released from prison. When he is fr… |
| The Star Witness | Pvt. Summerill | 1931-08-22 | A tough District Attorney goes after a murderous crime gang, only to find that his witnesses, an innocent family, have clammed up in fear of reprisals… |
| Hollywood on Parade No. B-9 | Hick | 1934-04-28 | Jimmy Durante asks popular song writing team Mack Gordon and Harry Revel to demonstrate some of their songs. There is interplay with impersonator Flor… |
| James Stewart: A Wonderful Life | Self (archive footage) | 1988-11-22 | Documentary about James Stewart’s long career as an actor and positive personal life…. |
Writing
| Movie Name | Job | Release Date | Overview |
| The Specialist | Writer | 1966-08-21 | Lem Putt specializes in building outdoor lavatories…. |
Credit: TMDB
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