Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin Biography
Born: April 16, 1889

London, England
Died: December 25, 1977
Vevey, Switzerland
English actor, director, and writer
The film actor, director, and writer Charlie Chaplin was
one of the most original creators in the history of
movies. His performances as "the tramp"—a
sympathetic comic character with ill-fitting clothes and a
mustache—won admiration from audiences across the
world.
Rough childhood
Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in a poor district of
London, England, on April 16, 1889. His mother, Hannah Hill Chaplin, a talented singer,
actress, and piano player, spent most of her life in and out of mental hospitals; his father,
Charles Spencer Chaplin Sr. was a fairly successful singer until he began drinking. After
his parents separated, Charlie and his half-brother, Sidney, spent most of their childhood
in orphanages, where they often went hungry and were beaten if they misbehaved. Barely
able to read and write, Chaplin left school to tour with a group of comic entertainers. Later
he starred in a comedy act. By the age of nineteen he had become one of the most
popular music-hall performers in England.
Arrives in the United States

In 1910 Chaplin went to the United States to tour in A Night in an English Music Hall. He
was chosen by filmmaker Mack Sennett (1884–1960) to appear in the silent Keystone
comedy series. In these early movies ( Making a Living, Tillie's Punctured Romance ),
Chaplin changed his style. He stopped overacting and became more delicate and precise
in his movements. He created the role of "the tramp."
Appearing in over thirty short films, Chaplin realized that the speed and craziness of
Sennett's productions was holding back his personal talents. He left to work at the
Essanay Studios. Some of his films during this period were His New Job, The
Tramp, and The Champion, notable for their comic and sympathetic moments. His 1917
films for the Mutual Company, including One A.M. , The Pilgrim, The Cure, Easy
Street, and The Immigrant, displayed sharper humor. In 1918 Chaplin built his own studio
and signed a million-dollar contract with National Films, producing silent-
screen classics such as A Dog's Life, comparing the life of a dog with that of a
tramp; Shoulder Arms, which poked fun at World War I (1914–18); and The Kid, a touching
story of slum life.
Established star
In 1923 Chaplin, D. W. Griffith (1875–1948), Douglas Fairbanks (1883–1937), and Mary
Pickford (1893–1979) formed United Artists (UA) to produce high-quality feature-length
movies. A Woman of Paris (1923), a drama, was followed by two of Chaplin's funniest
films, The Gold Rush (1925) and The Circus (1928). Chaplin directed City Lights (1931), a
beautiful tale about the tramp's friendship with a drunken millionaire and a blind flower girl.
Many critics consider it his finest work. Although movies had made the change over to
sound, City Lights was silent except for one scene in which the tramp hic-cups with a tin
whistle in his throat while trying to listen politely to a concert.
Modern Times (1936), a farce (broad comedy with an unbelievable plot) about the cruelty
and greed of modern industry, contains some of the funniest gags and comic sequences in
film history, the most famous being the tramp's battle with an eating machine gone crazy.
Chaplin's character of Hynkel in The Great Dictator (1940) is a powerful satire (the use of
humor to criticize a person or institution) of German military leader Adolf Hitler (1889–
1945). It was the last film using the tramp, and ends with Chaplin pleading for love and
freedom.
It was with these more involved productions of the 1930s and 1940s that Chaplin achieved
true greatness as a film director. Monsieur Verdoux, directed by Chaplin in 1947 (and
condemned by the American Legion of Decency), is one of the strongest moral statements
ever put on the screen. Long before European filmmakers taught audiences to appreciate
the role of the writer and director, Chaplin revealed his many talents by handling both roles
in his productions.
Political views stir trouble

The love showered upon Chaplin in the early years of his career was more than equaled
by the anger directed toward him during the 1940s and early 1950s. The American public
was outraged by the outspoken quality of his political views, the problems in his personal
life, and the often bitter elements expressed in his art. A socialist (one who believes all
people should have equal ownership in the production of goods and services) and an
atheist (one who denies the existence of God), Chaplin expressed a hatred
for dictatorship (government in which power is held by one person or a single small group).
This made people suspicious of him. This feeling increased when he released Monsieur
Verdoux, in which he showed that mass murder and the abuse of workers in an attempt to
increase business profits were similar. Critics praised the film, but it was more popular with
European audiences than those in America.
During the next five years Chaplin devoted himself to Limelight (1952), a gentle and
sometimes sad work based in part on his own life. It was much different from Monsieur
Verdoux. "I was … still not convinced," Chaplin wrote, "that I had completely lost the
affection of the American people, that they could be so politically conscious or so
humorless as to boycott [refuse to pay attention to] anyone that could amuse them."
Further hurting Chaplin's image was a much-publicized lawsuit brought against him by a
woman who claimed he was the father of her child. Although Chaplin proved he was not
the child's father, reaction to the charges turned many people against him.
While on vacation in Europe in 1952, Chaplin was notified by the U.S. attorney general
that his reentry into the United States would be challenged. He was charged with
committing immoral acts and being politically suspicious. Chaplin, who had never become
a United States citizen, sold all of his American possessions and settled in Geneva,
Switzerland, with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill, daughter of the American playwright
Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953), and their children. In 1957 Chaplin visited England to
direct The King in New York, which was never shown in the United States. My
Autobiography (the story of his own life) was published in 1964. Most critics considered
Chaplin's 1967 film, A Countess from Hong Kong, a disaster.
Return to the United States

By the 1970s times had changed, and Chaplin was again recognized for his rich
contribution to film. He returned to the United States in 1972, where he was honored by
major tributes in New York City and Hollywood, California, including receiving a special
Academy Award. In 1975 he became Sir Charles Chaplin after Queen Elizabeth II (1926–)
of England knighted him. Two years later, on December 25, 1977, Chaplin died in his
sleep in Switzerland.
All of Chaplin's works display the physical grace, ability to express feeling, and intellectual
vision possessed by the finest actors. A film about Chaplin's life, titled Chaplin, was
released in 1992.
Read more: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ch-Co/Chaplin-

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Charlie Chaplin

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Charlie Chaplin Biography

Born: April 16, 1889

Arrives in the United States

Political views stir trouble

Return to the United States

Read more: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ch-Co/Chaplin-

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