The silent-film comedian known for his “glasses character” and hanging from a clock was Harold Lloyd. His bespectacled everyman was an ambitious, resourceful young man who faced ordinary problems that escalated into spectacular physical comedy.
The clock sequence comes from Safety Last!, Lloyd's 1923 silent romantic comedy. In its famous climax, his character appears to climb the outside of a skyscraper and dangle from a large clock high above the street. The illusion was created with rooftop sets, carefully chosen camera angles, and stunt doubles for some long shots, although Lloyd performed many dangerous stunts himself.
Lloyd developed the glasses character after moving away from his earlier Lonesome Luke persona, a comic figure modeled more closely on other screen clowns of the period. The glasses were lensless, but they made the character instantly recognizable. A common mix-up is to associate Lloyd's clock stunt with Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin; both made famous physical comedies, but the clock image belongs to Safety Last!.