Max Davidson
born: 23 May 1875
Berlin,
Germany
died: 04 September 1950
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California,
United States of America
(age 75)

Diminutive bearded Jewish comic actor who had his own series of films after signing with Hal Roach in 1926.  His roles were subjected to critical reviews for his portrayal of Jewish steroetypes and his series fizzled out in 1929.

The following biography notes were made by Robert Winslow for the website:
In 1920, the census has Max and his wife, Minnie, living at 1266 North Commonwealth Ave., Los Angeles. Max is 44 and Minnie 53. Max immigrated in 1880 from Germany, and Minnie in 1885 from Canada. Max’s occupation is “actor – motion pictures.”
The 1930 census has Max Davidson and his wife Aline living at 1538 Beverly Drive, Los Angeles. This is a substantial 2-story home of Spanish Colonial style in an exclusive area of Los Angeles, only about a mile away from Harold Lloyd’s mansion “Greenacres” in Benedict Canyon. The Davidson home was valued at $18,000 in 1930, a significant amount. They also owned a radio (an odd inclusion peculiar to the 1930 census). Max’s occupation is “actor – motion pictures.” The Davidsons had been married since approximately 1909: the information shows that Max was 34 at the time of his marriage, and Aline as 11 years younger.
In the 1940 census, Max is living at 1762 North Las Palmas Ave. in Los Angeles, a rambling stucco-and-tile home, where he boarded in the home of Martha Fletcher along with 3 other people. One of the other boarders had been born, like Max, in Germany. He’d been living at the same address in 1935. Max indicated he’d completed 4 years of high school (or its German equivalent), was married (although not living with his wife), was an “actor – motion pictures” but had not worked in the preceding 13 weeks (or since around the beginning of the year), and had an income of $400 in 1939. This was not a lot of money even for the living expenses at Martha Fletcher’s, a home that rented for $50 a month divided (one would assume equally) between its 5 residents, or coming out to $10 a month for each. Max’s fellow boarder Ernest Jasper, a 44 year old divorced free lance writer, had recently emigrated from Berlin, and since Max had been born there, no doubt they discussed the current situation in Germany. On the whole, a rather sad comedown from the beautiful home on Beverly Drive.

Height: 5'4"
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography.

33


1926
Don Key (Son Of Burro)
Mr. Browning

1926
Long Fliv The King
Warfield

1926
Get 'Em Young
Isaac Goldberg, the lawyer

1926
Raggedy Rose
Moe Ginsberg

1927
Anything Once!
Granville

1927
Why Girls Say No
Papa Whisselberg

1927
Jewish Prudence
Papa Gimplewart

1927
Don't Tell Everything
Papa Ginsberg

1927
What Every Iceman Knows
[?]

1927
Call Of The Cuckoo
Papa Gimplewart

1927
Should Second Husbands Come First?
Mr. Ethan Wattles

1927
Love 'Em And Feed 'Em
Cherokee Cohen

1927
Fighting Fathers
[?]

1927
Flaming Fathers
Papa Gimplewart

1928
Pass The Gravy
Father

1928
Dumb Daddies
Father

1928
Came The Dawn
Papa Gimplewart

1928
Blow By Blow
Papa Gimplewart
 

1928
Tell It To The Judge
[?]

1928
Should Women Drive?n
Papa Gimplewart
 

1928
That Night
Papa Gimplewart

1928
Do Gentlemen Snore?
Papa Gimplewart

1928
All Parts
[?]

1928
The Boy Friend
Papa Davidson

1928
Feed 'Em And Weep
Max, restaurant manager

1929
Going Ga-Ga
Detective Davidson

1929
Hurdy Gurdy
Papa Ginsberg

1929
Moan & Groan, Inc.
Lunatic

1929
Great Gobs!
Saloon keeper

1930
The Shrimp
Professor Shoenheimer

1934
Apples To You!
Opera patron

1935
Southern Exposure
Man who salutes Charley in restaurant

1936
Kelly The Second
Singing fight spectator

Acknowledgements & sources:
Robert Winslow (extensive biography notes and research)

This page was last updated on: 14 October 2022