Sir Charles Chaplin

Charles Spencer Chaplin
1889 - 1977
British born London

Nickname Charlie, Charlot, The Little Tramp . Height 5' 5" (1.65 m) . Charles Chaplin's parents, Charles and Hannah Chaplin, were music hall entertainers. His first stage appearance, at age five, was singing a song in place of his mother who had become ill. At eight he toured in a musical, "The Eight Lancaster Lads". Nearly 11, he appeared in "Giddy Ostende" at London's Hippodrome. From age 17 to 24 he was with Fred Karno's English vaudeville troupe, which brought him to New York in 1910, aged 21. In November of 1913 he signed a contract with Mack Sennett at Keystone and left for Hollywood the next month. His first movie, Making a Living (1914), premiered in February of 1914. He made 35 films that year, moved to Essanay in 1915 and did 14 more, then jumped over to Mutual for 12 two-reelers in 1916 and 1917. In 1918 he joined First National (later absorbed by Warner Bros.) and in 1919 formed United Artists along with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith. His first full-length film was The Kid (1921); his first for UA, which he produced and directed himself, was A Woman of Paris (1923). In 1929, at the first Oscar awards,he won a special award "for versatility and genius in writing, acting, directing and producing" The Circus (1928). In 1943 he was accused of fathering a child; the papers made much of the scandal, but it was proved in a court trial that he was not the father. The same year he entered his fourth marriage, to Oona Chaplin, daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill. They had eight children. Tired of political and moralistic controversies and plagued with tax problems, he left the United States for Switzerland in 1952. He published his memoirs in 1964. In 1972 he returned to Hollywood to claim a special Oscar honoring his lifetime contributions to movies. He was named Knight Commander of the British Empire in 1975. He died in his sleep from old age. Spouse Oona Chaplin (16 June 1943 - 25 December 1977) (his death) 8 children, Paulette Goddard (June 1936 - June 1942) (divorced), Lita Grey (26 November 1924 - 25 August 1928) (divorced) 2 children, Mildred Harris
(23 October 1918 - 1920) (divorced) 1 child.

A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) , A King in New York (1957) , Limelight (1952) , Monsieur Verdoux (1947) , The Great Dictator (1940) , Modern Times (1936), City Lights (1931), The Circus (1928) , The Gold Rush (1925) , A Woman of Paris (1923) , The Pilgrim (1923) , Pay Day (1922/I) , Nice and Friendly (1922) , The Idle Class (1921) , The Nut (1921) , The Kid (1921) , A Day's Pleasure (1919) , Sunnyside (1919) , The Professor (1919) , Shoulder Arms (1918) , The Bond (1918) , Triple Trouble (1918) , A Dog's Life (1918) , The Adventurer (1917/I) , The Immigrant (1917) , The Cure (1917) , Easy Street (1917) , The Rink (1916) , Behind the Screen (1916) , The Pawnshop (1916) , The Count (1916) , One A.M. (1916) , The Vagabond (1916) , The Fireman (1916), The Floorwalker (1916) , Burlesque on Carmen (1916) , Police (1916) , Burlesque on Carmen (1915) , A Night in the Show (1915) , Shanghaied (1915) , The Bank (1915) , A Woman (1915) , Work (1915) , His Regeneration (1915) , By the Sea (1915), The Tramp (1915) , A Jitney Elopement (1915) , In the Park (1915), The Champion (1915) ,A Night Out (1915/I) , His New Job (1915) , His Prehistoric Past (1914) , Getting Acquainted (1914) , Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914) , His Trysting Place (1914) , His Musical Career (1914) , Gentlemen of Nerve (1914) , Dough and Dynamite (1914) , Those Love Pangs (1914) , The New Janitor (1914) , The Rounders (1914), His New Profession (1914) , The Masquerader (1914/I) , Recreation (1914) , The Face on the Bar Room Floor (1914) , The Property Man (1914) , Laughing Gas (1914) , Mabel's Married Life (1914) , Mabel's Busy Day (1914) , The Knockout (1914) , Her Friend the Bandit (1914) , The Fatal Mallet (1914) , A Busy Day (1914) , Caught in the Rain (1914), Caught in a Cabaret (1914) , Twenty Minutes of Love (1914) , Mabel at the Wheel (1914) , The Star Boarder (1914/II) , Cruel, Cruel Love (1914) , His Favorite Pastime (1914) , , Tango Tangles (1914) , A Film Johnnie (1914) , Between Showers (1914), Mabel's Strange Predicament (1914) , Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914), Making a Living (1914)