Actor / Director Profile

Edna Purviance began working as a stenographer in San Francisco. Charlie Chaplin invited her to join him at Essanay Studio in 1915, the year of her film debut in Chaplin's "His Night Out". Over the next seven years she appeared as his leading lady in over 20 Chaplin films made by Essanay, Mutual, and First National, including such classics as "The Tramp", "The Immigrant", "Easy Street", "The Kid", and "The Idle Class". As a repayment for years of work with him, Chaplin intended real stardom for her with "A Woman of Paris" (1923). The movie was a commercial failure though it advanced the career of Adolph Menjou. She remained on Chaplin's payroll until her death, her last two appearances being non-speaking extra parts in his "Monsieur Verdoux" and "Limelight".