Pete Huley (1893 - 1973)
Pete Huley came to Canada from Austria in 1912.1) Huley farmed in eastern Canada and on the prairies, and then rode the rails and eventually came to the Klondike.2) In the early 1900s, Pete Huley and his brother John Huley lived at Grand Forks.3)
After people pointed out his resemblance to Charlie Chaplin, Huley gave up his search for gold to go to Hollywood. He had a contract at Columbia Studios and appeared in small parts in Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, and Ben Turpin films.4) He received a threatening call from Chaplin’s manager who thought he was mimicking Chaplin’s copyrighted image. The suit was dropped when it was proved that Huley had had a genuine foot shuffle for longer than Chaplin was famous.5)
The arrival of the talkies in the 1920s put an end to Huley's career because of his strong Austrian accent. He returned to the Yukon and got a job as a gardener. His idea for a combination rake-hoe received a Canadian patent and he spent all his savings to have about 2000 manufactured. He managed to sell them to a Richmond hardware merchant but failed to sell his patent to a big manufacturer.6) A garden rake/hoe patented by Pete Huley exists at the Western Development Museum. The latest production date is given as 1958.7)
Huley later got a job with WP&YR and worked there for twelve years before retiring to Vancouver. Otto Nordling remembered him as the living personification of honesty, sincerity, kindness, and generosity.8)