Five Classy Clowns

Movie comics know that the trick to their craft is to expose themselves to public humiliation. Will Ferrell does so literally, by stripping down to his pudgy skin. Here are five other comedians, masters in the art of taking a metaphorical--or otherwise--pie in the face

Charlie Chaplin

He played a character, the Tramp, constantly beset by social affront. But his natural wit and class allowed him to rise above the indignity. In The Gold Rush, hunger forces him to eat his own shoe, which he consumes as if he were the most fastidious gourmet.

Cary Grant

Yes, that Cary Grant. The star was always game for having his poise and good looks punctured by slapstick. In Bringing Up Baby he exits a posh party in a formal suit split down the back. And doesn't he look sweet wearing WAC drag in I Was a Male War Bride?

Jerry Lewis

Recklessly infantile in his '50s comedies with Dean Martin, he then had a decade of goofiness all on his own. He spoke in a whine, often dressed as a girl and endured countless embarrassments, the most lasting of which was the warm esteem of French critics.

Steve Martin

The man who began his movie career as The Jerk, needing to be taught the difference between shoe polish and poo, has been stepping in it ever since--from a half-woman in All of Me to the inept Inspector Clouseau in last year's The Pink Panther.

Ben Stiller

His humiliations can last for an entire movie--indeed, for much of his film career. Just to consider There's Something About Mary, Meet the Parents, Zoolander, Dodgeball and Night at the Museum is to smile and, simultaneously, wince.