Edna Purviance began working as a stenographer in San Francisco. Charles Chaplin invited her to join him at Essanay Studio in 1915, the year of her film debut in Chaplin's His Night Out. Over the next seven years she appeared as his leading lady in over 20 Chaplin films made by Essanay, Mutual, and First National, including the classics The Tramp (1914), L'émigrant (1917), Charlot policeman (1917), Le Kid (1921), and Charlot et le masque de fer (1921). As a repayment for years of work with him, Chaplin intended real stardom for her with L'opinion publique (1923). The movie was a commercial failure though it advanced the career of Adolphe Menjou. She remained on Chaplin's payroll until her death, her last two appearances being non-speaking extra parts in his Monsieur Verdoux (1947) and Les feux de la rampe (1952).
