Keystone Cops

As early as 1914, Sennett shifted the Keystone Cops from starring roles to background ensemble in support of comedians such as Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle.

[5] The original Keystone Cops were George Jeske, Bobby Dunn, Mack Riley, Charles Avery, Slim Summerville, Edgar Kennedy, and Hank Mann.

It was filmed in 1914 and stars Ford Sterling, Mack Swain, Edgar Kennedy, and Al St. John and includes a previously unknown appearance of Charlie Chaplin as a Keystone Cop.

In 1935, director Ralph Staub staged a revival of the Sennett gang for his Warner Brothers short subject Keystone Hotel, featuring a re-creation of the Kops clutching at their hats, leaping in the air in surprise, running energetically in any direction, and taking extreme pratfalls.

Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955) included a lengthy chase scene, showcasing a group of stuntmen dressed as Sennett's squad.

[8][9] In Sydney, Australia, in the 1960s, Rod Hull, Desmond Tester and Penny Spence featured in a local homage series of TV comedy shorts, Caper Cops.

The Keystone Cops in a typical pose from In the Clutches of the Gang (1914). The chief (using the telephone) is Ford Sterling . The policeman directly behind Sterling (extreme background, left) is Edgar Kennedy . The young cop to Kennedy's left is a then-unknown William Frawley . The hefty policeman at extreme right is Fatty Arbuckle . The young constable with bulging eyes (fourth from right) is Arbuckle's nephew Al St. John . The casting of the Keystone police force changed from one film to the next; many of the members were per diem actors who remain unidentifiable.
The Thief Catcher (1914) with Charlie Chaplin (left) as a Keystone Cop