Sutherland was directed by
Charlie Chaplin in
A Woman of Paris (1923), two years before Sutherland began his directing career with the help of Chaplin. Frequently billed as "Eddie Sutherland," he is best known as a director; he directed more than 50 movies between 1925 and 1956. His breakout film was
Behind the Front (1926), which made stars of leads
Wallace Beery and
Raymond Hatton and established Sutherland as a comedic director. He had an especially hard time working with
Stan Laurel, whom he disliked ("I'd rather eat a tarantula than work with Laurel again"). On the other hand, he became close friends with the more famously acerbic
W.C. Fields, with whom he established a lifelong friendship, though by at least one account they got off to a rocky start. In 1940, he directed
One Night in the Tropics, which was the film debut of
Abbott and Costello. Other notable films include
Palmy Days,
International House,
Too Much Harmony,
The Flying Deuces,
The Navy Comes Through,
Dixie, and
Follow the Boys. Sutherland's last directing assignment was working on the
Mack & Myer for Hire TV comedies with Joey Faye and Mickey Deems for
Sandy Howard TV Productions and
Trans-Lux Television in 1965. ==Personal life==