In the 1920s, lion trainer Charles Gay exhibited more than 200 lions at the tourist attraction Gay's Lion Farm in Los Angeles. His lions were featured in a number of films. Gay's biggest movie stars were Slats and Numa. Slats, pictured below, was the serious thespian assigned to jungle adventures.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_x-UNcbbcSoZK3HMCt903zWADuQF4K-p4ZoS9cPYllYkeaReGlFI0_Ty29GgKkm37ZTFXras2jidmU4TSvoFBz0i8nFdtzhCJkuC1OllC3QQbenWpYq9jz2B588kgZPIRlJciT6cn11O/s320/Gay's+Lion+Farm+1.jpg)
Numa, a friendly lion able to perform funny tricks, was used in comedy films for Sennett and others. Here is a picture of Numa looking as if he is ready to take a pie in the face.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8yR-hlmUQMO3E76G5UsLXTrVeYu0UqZyY7wEMRxdq2c30bdfMxS6zuE74acTRkMixXzDphu2P8znCfQWXnF1n8adTP4AuipX3Qru0unMxoM9xr8rlSBiLyM4Vs9dXf_hTMT1aWiJv0Tz/s320/Gay's+Lion+Farm+2.jpg)
Numa was such a big deal that he got to co-star opposite Chaplin. I found these pictures while researching my new book, which will include a passage on Numa.
I am looking at a wide range of material for this book. One early film that attracted my interest was
How It Feels to Be Run Over (1900), which is first film to use a car crash for comedic effect.
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