Plump (reportedly "230 pounds of gaiety") American silent screen comedian Walter Hiers began his career as an extra with the old Biograph Company under the guidance of D. W. Griffith. According to Hiers, he played a bellhop in his first film, Saved from Himself (1911), with Mabel Normand. A self-described opponent of slapstick, Hiers became a star in what can...
