Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin.

A picture of Charlie Chaplin when he was a player in Fred Karno's vaudeville troupe, 1914.
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, better known as Charlie Chaplin, was an Academy Award-winning English Comedic Actor. Chaplin became one of the most famous actors as well as a notable director, composer and musician in the early to mid Hollywood Cinema era. He is considered to have been one of the finest mimes and clowns ever caught on film and has greatly influenced performers in this field.

Chaplin was born on 16th April 1889, in East Street, Walworth, London. His parents were both entertainers in the Music Hall tradition; they separated before Charlie was three. He learned singing from his parents.

Chaplin first toured America with the Fred Karno troupe from 1910 to 1912. Then, after five months back in England, he returned for a second tour and arrived in the United States with the Karno Troupe on October 2, 1912.

Charlie Chaplin debut!!!

Chaplin as a press reporter in Making a living-1914

The Tramp.

Chaplin's Expression about his costume "I had no idea what makeup to put on. I did not like my get-up as the press reporter [in Making a Living]. However on the way to the wardrobe I thought I would dress in baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hat. I wanted everything to be a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large. I was undecided whether to look old or young, but remembering Sennett had expected me to be a much older man, I added a small moustache, which I reasoned, would add age without hiding my expression.

I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the makeup made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked on stage he was fully born."

Kid Auto Races in Venice (1914) - Chaplin's second film and the début of his "tramp" costume.

Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, sink in a boat in Echo Park

Charlie Chaplin as Adenoid Hynkel in his film The Great Dictator.The Great Dictator is much darker than most however. It certainly could not be described as a comedy but a film with a serious message that does contain some darker comic moments. The Great Dictator explores the rising Nazi threat of the late 1930's and early 1940's and the persecution of the Jewish community, Charlie Chaplin plays two roles; the dictator, Adenoid Hynkel the ruler of Tomania (a character based on Hitler) and the oppressed barber who gets mistaken for Hynkel which allows him to exploit the situation with some amusing moments, but the film also conveys its darker and more serious message which can be quite disturbing perhaps even rather frightening at times.

Modern Times is a glorious film that is probably as relevant today as it was in 1936. Although, as is usual, the Little Tramp did has no dialogue, but the film makes incredibly clever use of sound with its rather sophisticated sound effects. Modern Times explores the the dehumanization of labour starting with a very amusing scene inside the factory in which our hero is trying to tighten bolts on components as they pass him at some speed on the conveyor belt.

Charles Chaplin made The Gold Rush out of the most unlikely sources for comedy. The first idea came to him when he was viewing some stereoscope pictures of the 1896 Klondike gold rush, and was particularly struck by the image of an endless line of prospectors snaking up the Chilkoot Pass, the gateway to the gold fields.

Is he trying to imitate the dog's expression...
Charlie Chaplin in The Champion (1915)

Chaplin together with the American socialist Max Eastman in Hollywood 1919.

Chaplin never spoke more than cursorily about his filmmaking methods, claiming such a thing would be tantamount to a magician spoiling his own illusion. In fact, until he began making spoken dialogue films with The Great Dictator, Chaplin never shot from a completed script.

Gandhi meets with Charlie Chaplin at the home of Dr. Kaitial in Canning Town, London, September 22, 1931.

Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid.

The Legend's tool.

Chaplin's final two films were made in London. A King in New York(1957) in which he starred, wrote, directed and produced; and A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), starring Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando, in which Chaplin had made his final on-screen appearance in a brief cameo role as a seasick steward, and in which he directed, produced, and written.
When the first Oscars were awarded on May 16, 1929, the voting audit procedures that now exist had not yet been put into place, and the categories were still very fluid. Chaplin had originally been nominated for both Best Actor and Best Comedy Directing for his movie The Circus, but his name was withdrawn and the Academy decided to give him a special award "for versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus" instead. The other film to receive a special award that year was The Jazz Singer.

Chaplin's second honorary award came forty-four years later in 1972, and was for "the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century". He came out of his exile to accept his award, and received the longest Standing Ovation in Academy Award history, lasting a full five minutes.
Chaplin's robust health began to slowly fail in the late 1960s, after the completion of his final film A Countess from Hong Kong. After receiving his Academy Award in 1972, Chaplin's health began to decline more rapidly. By 1977 he could no longer communicate and was confined to a wheelchair. He died in his sleep of natural causes, on Christmas Day, 1977, in Vevey, Switzerland, aged 88.