Mabel was famous for being a slapstick comedian and starring in over a hundred fifty short films, and then being one of the first silent film actors to transition into a director, with most of her work at Keystone Film Company. Some of her most significant films were Mabel's Dramatic Career, where she solidified her career as a Keystone actress, Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life, in which she portrayed the iconic women tied to the tracks, and Tillie's Punctured Romance, a slapstick comedy where she starred alongside Charlie Chaplin. Her downfall occurred when her come-back film got spoiled by Fatty Arbuckle's rape trials, and other scandals emerged including the murder of her close friend, William Desmond Taylor. Mabel was also known to suffer from alcoholism and drug use, and she had some interesting romances that are still being speculated about today. I'm surprised that she had no previous background in theatre, and yet became a leading performer and studio owner, especially considering her background was in modeling.
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