Charles "Chic" Sale was a renowned stage comedian, with a career spanning over three decades. Although he occasionally appeared on Broadway from 1902 to 1930, and made a few silent film appearances, vaudeville was his true calling. He adopted the persona of "Lem Putt," a carpenter from Urbana, Illinois, specializing in the construction of outhouses.
As his stage act gained immense popularity by the age of 49, he felt compelled to compile his monologues into a 3000-word collection. With the assistance of two newspaper writers, he published "The Specialist" in 1931. The book became a huge hit, translated into nine languages, and remains in print to this day. The success of the book led to a sequel, "I'll Tell You Why," and a six-month hiatus from touring to respond to the overwhelming fan mail.
During the 1930s and 1940s, outhouses bearing "Chic Sale" signs popped up worldwide, cementing his name as synonymous with toilet. This didn't sit well with him, and he became the subject of jokes by fellow comedian Groucho Marx.
After a Broadway show flopped in 1930, Sale transitioned to Hollywood, where he leveraged his makeup skills and mastery of his lanky physique to become a character actor. Despite being in his mid-to-late 40s, he convincingly portrayed octogenarians on screen. His transformation out of makeup was so convincing that it came as a shock to see him without his old-man persona.
Tragically, Charles "Chic" Sale passed away from pneumonia in 1936 at the age of 51, leaving behind his wife Marie.
