- Turpin had a reputation as being somewhat argumentative with directors. One day while he was making a film at Sennett Studios, he was giving one director quite a bit of trouble. Exasperated, the director said, "One more word from you, Ben, and I'll uncross your eyes!" (it was commonly believed at the time that a sharp blow to the head could cause crossed eyes to uncross). Terrified of losing his claim to fame, Turpin was compliant for the rest of the day. Mack Sennett himself heard the exchange, and from then on whenever Turpin started acting up on the set, Sennett would make the same threat, and Turpin would immediately behave himself.
- He invented a Hollywood tradition by being the first actor to receive a pie in his face.
- He was not only a popular comedian, but his shrewd major investments in real estate made him one of the richest men in Hollywood.
- Turpin was very guarded and insecure, and he had few friends. He kept his furniture covered with white sheets which were taken off on those rare occasions when he had guests.
- The 300 mourners at Turpin's 1940 funeral read like a "Who's Who" of silent comedy. Included were Buster Keaton, Hank Mann, Billy Bevan, Del Lord, Andy Clyde, James Finlayson, Al St. John, Charles Murray, Dot Farley, etc. Former mentor Charles Chaplin sent a seven foot spray of red roses.
- Born in New Orleans, Turpin had a slight French accent his whole life.
- Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Great Mausoleum, Begonia Corridor, right side, at the very end.
- As a gag, Ben Turpin had his eyes insured by Lloyd's Of London for a million dollars in case they might come uncrossed.
- Appeared in early Vogue and Keystone comedies, having joined Keystone in 1917, and later in Mack Sennett films and Pathe shorts.
- He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1651 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.
- His last feature film was Laurel and Hardy's Saps at Sea in 1940, in which his cross-eyed face served as a joke punchline. He was paid his $1000 for one quick shot of his face and just 16 words of dialogue.
- In the film The Comic (1969), Mickey Rooney plays a fictional silent-film comedian named "Cockeye Van Buren", who is genuinely cross-eyed. Although this character does not otherwise resemble Turpin, the handicap given to Rooney's role is clearly inspired by Turpin.
- Turpin had been close friends with Andy Clyde and James Finlayson, with Clyde having been the witness at Turpin's second wedding, and Turpin having been one of the witnesses signing Finlayson's petition for naturalization.
- He was a devout Catholic, and his workmates occasionally goaded him by threatening to pray that his eyes would uncross, thus depriving him of his livelihood.
- He commanded a flat fee of $1000 per appearance, regardless of whether it was a speaking role or a fleeting cameo. Among the most memorable of these cameos was in Paramount's Million Dollar Legs (1932) starring W. C. Fields, Jack Oakie, and Susan Fleming (the future wife of Harpo Marx of The Marx Brothers fames). He starred in only one more film, the short subject Keystone Hotel (Warner Bros., 1935), a reunion of silent-era comedians.
- He was convinced that the crossed eyes were essential to his comic career; his co-workers recalled that after he received any blow to the head he made a point of looking himself in the mirror to assure himself that they had not become uncrossed.
- Turpin and Max Sennett both appeared as themselves (in Technicolor) in Hollywood Cavalcade (1939), a partly fictionalized movie about the silent-film era. This movie contains a sequence in which Turpin reports for work and prepares to go onto the set in character. In the dressing room he picks up a hand mirror and checks his reflection as he deliberately crosses his eyes as extremely as possible. In this sequence, it can be seen that Turpin's left eye was actually normal when he was not performing and that he intentionally crossed it (to match his misaligned right eye) as part of his screen character.
- Turpin's famous eyes, he said, only crossed as a young adult after he suffered an accident.
- Death prevented his scheduled appearance in Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator.
- 1929 saw many silent-film stars uncertain about their future employment, with the new talking pictures requiring new skills and techniques. Ben Turpin chose to retire. He had invested his earnings in real estate, and, being highly successful at this, had no financial need for more work.
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