--- name: "Mack Swain" canonical: "https://film.one/person/mack-swain" fi1m_id: "mack-swain" imdb_id: "nm0841501" tmdb_id: 14435 wikidata_id: "Q1536200" roles: ["Actor"] born: "15 February 1876" died: "25 August 1935" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-25T06:12:54.089309+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Mack Swain ## Identity Mack Swain - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/mack-swain - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** mack-swain - **IMDb ID:** nm0841501 - **TMDB ID:** 14435 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1536200 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_Swain, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1536200, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0841501/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14435 Actor. Born 15 February 1876 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Died 25 August 1935. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 15 February 1876, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA - **Died:** 25 August 1935 - **Also known as:** Moroni Swain, Мак Свейн - **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 acting, 1 other - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_Swain, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1536200, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0841501/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14435 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*The Gold Rush*](https://film.one/film/the-gold-rush.md) (89) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Mack Swain > Mack Swain puts his size to comic use, but we like him most as Chaplin’s partner in trouble. In *The Gold Rush*, he knows how to let a physical joke take its time. In the cabin scenes of *The Gold Rush* (1925), Mack Swain’s Big Jim shares the cramped space and practical difficulties with Chaplin’s prospector. His size gives the scene an immediate comic advantage, but the performance depends on timing. Each attempt has time to register before the next complication arrives, and Swain gives Chaplin a partner whose reactions we can follow. We laughed at the pauses, because the prospect of these two having another go was enough. His early screen work encouraged a broader sort of character comedy. He entered Keystone under Mack Sennett in 1913, and his recurring Ambrose was vain and imposing, with dark eye make-up and a strand of hair on his forehead. Chester Conklin’s Walrus supplied a regular partner, including in *Love, Speed and Thrills* (1915). Swain’s stock of characters included bullies and blowhards, though he could also play the husband who was easily pushed about. Those broad types interest us less than the chance for two performers to work out a joke together. The return to Chaplin revived his career after a decline following Keystone. *The Idle Class* (1921) began the later run, followed by parts as the foreman in *Pay Day* (1922) and Deacon Jones in *The Pilgrim* (1923). Big Jim was the larger opportunity. In *The Gold Rush*, the physical comedy gains from having two men caught in the same difficulty, with time enough to notice how each responds. Swain gives us a second person to watch without making us lose track of the first. Chaplin is the collaborator to seek out for Swain’s most rewarding work, and the cabin material shows why. The confined playing area supplies a succession of practical problems without making the action hard to read; both performers let us understand the difficulty before proceeding. The film’s romantic passages sometimes take too long, but the scenes between the two men earn their pauses. Start with *The Gold Rush*, and resist the temptation to watch only Chaplin. ## Biography Mack Swain (born Moroni Swain) was an American actor and vaudevillian. In the early 1900s he ran his own stock theatre company in the western and midwestern United States. He worked in vaudeville before entering silent films at Keystone Studios under Mack Sennett in 1913. At Keystone he appeared in many comedies, including the Keystone Cops series, and was teamed with Chester Conklin as the characters Ambrose and Walrus. He later appeared in several Charlie Chaplin films, including *The Idle Class* (1921), *Pay Day* (1922), *The Pilgrim* (1923) and *The Gold Rush* (1925), in which he played Big Jim McKay. Swain was married to actress Cora King. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He died on 25 August 1935 in Tacoma, Washington. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) ### Performed in (1) — the average rests on these - *The Gold Rush* (1925), Fi1m 89, as Big Jim — [page](https://film.one/film/the-gold-rush.md) ### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited - *The Eagle* (1925), Fi1m 70, as Innkeeper (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-eagle.md) ## Complete filmography (110) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists* (1998), as Big Jim McKay (archive footage) - *The Chaplin Revue* (1959), as Various (archive footage) - *Yesterday and Today* (1953), as (archive footage) - *Happy Times and Jolly Moments* (1943), as (archive footage) - *Bad Boy* (1935), as Man on Rowing Machine - *Lighthouse Love* (1932), as Captain Wiggins—the Lighthouse Keeper - *The Midnight Patrol* (1932), Actor - *Stout Hearts and Willing Hands* (1931), as Kop(as the Original Keystone Kops) - *Love, Be with Humanity: Part 1* (1931), as Doctor - *Love, Be with Humanity: Part 2* (1931), as Doctor - *Finn and Hattie* (1931), as Le Bottin - *Soup to Nuts* (1930), as First Fat Diner (uncredited) - *Cleaning Up* (1930), as Mack - *The Sea Bat* (1930), as Dutchy - *Redemption* (1930), as Magistrate - *The Locked Door* (1929), as Hotel Proprietor - *The Cohens and Kellys in Atlantic City* (1929), as Mr. Tom Kelly - *The Last Warning* (1928), as Robert Bunce - *Caught in the Fog* (1928), as Detective Ryan - *The Girl from Nowhere* (1928), as Wilbur Ashcraft - *Tillie's Punctured Romance* (1928), as Tillie's Father - *Gentlemen Prefer Blondes* (1928), as Sir Francis Beekman - *The Girl from Everywhere* (1927), as Wilfred Ashcraft - Director - *A Texas Steer* (1927), as Bragg - *Becky* (1927), as Irving Spiegelberg - *My Best Girl* (1927), as Judge - *Finnegan's Ball* (1927), as Patrick Flannigan - *Mockery* (1927), as Vladimir Gaidaroff - *See You in Jail* (1927), as Slossom - *The Shamrock and the Rose* (1927), as Mike Kelly - *The Beloved Rogue* (1927), as Nicholas - *Whispering Wires* (1926), as McCarthy - *Her Big Night* (1926), as Myers · film producer - *The Nervous Wreck* (1926), as Jerome Underwood - *Footloose Widows* (1926), as Ludwig - *Kiki* (1926), as Pastryman (uncredited) - *Sea Horses* (1926), as Bimbo-Bomba - *Torrent* (1926), as Don Matías - *The Devil's Circus* (1926), Actor - *Hands Up!* (1926), as Silas Woodstock - *The Eagle* (1925), as Innkeeper (uncredited) — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/the-eagle.md) - *The Gold Rush* (1925), as Big Jim — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/the-gold-rush.md) - *Pitfalls of a Big City* (1923), as The Vamp's Husband - *This Way Out* (1923), as The Girl's Father - *The Pilgrim* (1923), as Deacon - *Pay Day* (1922), as Foreman - *The Idle Class* (1921), as Edna's Father (uncredited) - *Full o' Spirits* (1920), Actor - *Innocent Ambrose* (1920), as Ambrose Schnitz · Director - *Heroic Ambrose* (1919), as Ambrose Schnitz · Director - *Her First False Hare* (1919), as Unknown - *Oh, What a Knight* (1919), as The Sheriff - *Adventurous Ambrose* (1918), as Ambrose - *The Late Lamented* (1917), as Boarder (unconfirmed) - *Lost: A Cook* (1917), as Farmer Ambrose - *Thirst* (1917), as Ambrose - *His Naughty Thought* (1917), as Walter Ambrose - *The Pullman Bride* (1917), as Rover Peabody - the Chosen One - *Madcap Ambrose* (1916), as Ambrose - *His Bitter Pill* (1916), as Jim - a Big Hearted Sheriff - *A Movie Star* (1916), as Handsome Jack - *Saved by Wireless* (1915), as The Spy - *When Ambrose Dared Walrus* (1915), as Ambrose - *Mabel Lost and Won* (1915), as Mabel's Rival's Husband - *Ambrose's Nasty Temper* (1915), as Ambrose - *Ambrose's Lofty Perch* (1915), as Ambrose - *Ambrose's Fury* (1915), as Ambrose - *Ambrose's Little Hatchet* (1915), as Ambrose - *That Little Band Of Gold* (1915), as Audience Member (uncredited) - *Ambrose's Sour Grapes* (1915), as Ambrose - *Willful Ambrose* (1915), as Pa Ambrose - *Ye Olden Grafter* (1915), as The Grafter - *Hogan's Romance Upset* (1915), as Fight Spectator - *Caught in a Park* (1915), as The Bartender - *Fatty's New Role* (1915), as Ambrose Schnitz - *The Home Breakers* (1915), as Ambrose - *Love, Speed and Thrills* (1915), as Ambrose - *Gussle, the Golfer* (1914), as Ambrose - *Tillie's Punctured Romance* (1914), as Tillie's Father - *Ambrose's First Falsehood* (1914), as Ambrose - *His Prehistoric Past* (1914), as King Lowbrow - *Other People's Business* (1914), Actor - *Getting Acquainted* (1914), as Ambrose - *Leading Lizzie Astray* (1914), as Cafe Patron - In from the Mines - *The Sea Nymphs* (1914), as Ambrose - *Fatty's Wine Party* (1914), as Restaurant Proprietor - *His Trysting Places* (1914), as Ambrose - *His Musical Career* (1914), as Mike, Charlie's Partner - *Gentlemen of Nerve* (1914), as Mr. Walrus - *Hello, Mabel* (1914), as The Married Flirt - *Laughing Gas* (1914), as Patient - *A Rowboat Romance* (1914), as (unconfirmed) - *Mabel's Married Life* (1914), as Wellington, a Ladykiller - *A Missing Bride* (1914), Actor - *A Gambling Rube* (1914), as (unconfirmed) - *The Knockout* (1914), as Gambler (uncredited) - *The Fatal Mallet* (1914), as Rival Suitor (uncredited) - *Mabel’s Nerve* (1914), Actor - *A Busy Day* (1914), as Husband - *Caught in the Rain* (1914), as Husband (uncredited) - *Caught in a Cabaret* (1914), as Tough Patron / Party Guest / Boy's Father (uncredited) - *Mabel at the Wheel* (1914), as Race Spectator (uncredited) - *Love and Gasoline* (1914), Actor - *A Thief Catcher* (1914), as Crook (uncredited) - *A Robust Romeo* (1914), Actor - *Double Crossed* (1914), as The Belle's Boyfriend - *The Under-Sheriff* (1914), as Villager - *The Gusher* (1913), as Villager / Cop - *Fatty Joins the Force* (1913), as Cop at Station House - *A Muddy Romance* (1913), as Desk Sergeant / Park Attendant ## Gallery - ![Charlie and Mack Swain from "The Gold Rush". (1925)](https://film.one/media/person/3849995/gallery-e53e4394517c.jpg) Charlie and Mack Swain from "The Gold Rush". (1925) — Charlie Chaplin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Charlie_and_Mack_Swain_%2806%29_-_The_Gold_Rush_1925_-_PDVD_028.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Charlie and Mack Swain from "The Gold Rush". (1925)](https://film.one/media/person/3849995/gallery-86accdfb61bb.jpg) Charlie and Mack Swain from "The Gold Rush". (1925) — Charlie Chaplin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Charlie_and_Mack_Swain_%2803%29_-_The_Gold_Rush_1925_-_PDVD_022.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Charlie Chaplin, Kid McCoy, and Mack Swain, on page 32 of the February 16, 1924 Exhibitors Trade Review. There are several stills of Chaplin and Swain sparring ](https://film.one/media/person/3849995/gallery-898f319363c3.jpg) Charlie Chaplin, Kid McCoy, and Mack Swain, on page 32 of the February 16, 1924 Exhibitors Trade Review. There are several stills of Chaplin and Swain sparring — United Artist, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Charlie_Chaplin%2C_Kid_McCoy%2C_Mack_Swain_-_Feb_1924_ETR.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Mack Swain](https://film.one/media/person/3849995/gallery-3c34ed609113.jpg) Mack Swain — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/mack-swain