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| Mack Sennett formed Keystone in 1912. He was able to take Mabel with him. Together they worked on building the whole genre of slapstick as only Keystone defined it. The California studio was built in Edendale, near downtown Los Angeles. Fred Mace, Ford Sterling and Mabel formed the original core of the first Keystone Comedies. Mabel is sometimes credited with throwing the first pie as a gag on screen. |
| In 1914, things were good, but they just got better because Charlie Chaplin came to Keystone. Mack was on his way to becoming the King of Comedy and Mabel was his queen. And the Joker? The Joker was Chaplin. Mabel took Charlie under her wing. Much of Mabel's influence can be seen in Chaplin's early comedies. |
| The 1914 film Tillie's Punctured Romance was the first feature length comedy film made. It starred Marie Dressler with Mabel and Charlie Chaplin. Keystone was making millions but little went to the players. The players began to move on to more lucrative contracts from other studios. |
| In 1913, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle joined Keystone. The truly inspired pairing of Roscoe and Mabel's talents in 1915 was golden. It was the "Fatty & Mabel" series that built Mack Sennett's reputation as a movie mogul. |
Mack and Mabel were engaged, but the wedding date kept being postponed as the building of the studio and other things got in the way. Mabel didn't become Mrs. Sennett but as compensation Mack gave Mabel her own production company with its own studio. She had helped him build his production company and now it was her turn. Mack opened his wallet and Mabel took with both hands. |
