Biography: Charlie Chaplin

Biography: Charlie Chaplin

(April 16, 1889 December

25, 1977)

Charlie Chaplin, who brought laughter to millions worldwide as the silent "Little

Tramp" clown, had the type of deprived childhood that one would expect to find

in a Dickens novel. Born in East Street, Walworth, London on 16 April, 1889,

Charles Spencer Chaplin was the son of a music hall singer and his wife. Charlie

Chaplin's parents divorced early in his life, with his father providing little to no

support, either financial or otherwise, leaving his mother to support them as best

she could. Chaplin's mother Hannah was the brightest spot in Charlie's

childhood; formerly an actor on stage, she had lost her ability to perform, and

managed to earn a subsistence living for herself, Charlie, and Charlie's older

halfbrother

Sidney by sewing. She was an integral part of Charlie's young life,

and he credited her with much of his success. Sadly, she slowly succumbed to

mental illness, and by the time that Charlie was 7 years old, she was confined

to an asylum; Charlie and Sidney were relegated to a workhouse (a government

facility for orphaned and abandoned children) not

for the last time. After 2

months, she was released, and the family was happily reunited, for a time. In

later years, she was readmitted for an 8month

stretch later, during which time

Charlie lived with his alcoholic father and stepmother, in a strained

environment.

Charlie Chaplin's first taste of show business

Sidney left home first, working first on a sailing

ship, and later on the stage, opening the door for

Charlie to follow in his footsteps later. Young Charlie

felt more alone than ever without the presence of

his brother, his closest friend and confidant.

However, there was a bright spot as well in

Chaplin's 9th year he

toured with a stage

company, the 8 Lancashire Lads, with a kindhearted

couple who led the troupe, and gave Chaplin his

first taste of stage life. He also met a young Stan

Laurel as part of the troupe.

At the age of 12, Charlie's father died quite young.

At the age of 14, Charlie's mother is readmitted to

the asylum, while Sidney is out of town on an

extended trip. Charlie provides for himself as best

he can, desperate to avoid returning to the

workhouse, until Sydney returns home. With Sidney's return, young Chaplin's

luck begins to turn for the better. He wins a part in the stage play "Jim, A

Romance of Cockney" to glowing reviews. Later in the same year, he earns the

part of Billy in a stage adaptation of "Sherlock Holmes," again to sterling reviews,

and tours with the company playing that part. The tour continues through the next

Charlie Chaplin

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year, and Hannah is again released, seemingly in her right mind. All seems to be

going well, until Hannah relapses, and is institutionalized for the next 7 years;

Charlie is 16 years old.

Charlie Chaplin tours with the Karno troupe, and enters

films

Charlie continues in his acting career, as his brother Sidney joins the Karno

troupe, again opening the way there for Charlie. Charlie joins the Karno troupe

the next year, again working alongside Stan Laurel. Two years later, Chaplin

(along with the rest of the Karno troupe) tours the United States' vaudeville

circuit. Two years later, in 1912, Charlie returns with the Karno troupe to the

USA, but this time decides to stay. The next year, Chaplin leaves the stage to

join Mack Sennet's Keystone Films Studio, marking a milestone both in his own

life and in the history of film.

Charlie Chaplin's famous Tramp character is born

The pace of film making in early Hollywood seems impossible by today's

standards. In just two months, Chaplin appeared in the following Keystone films:

Making a Living, Kid Auto Races, Mabel's Strange Predicament, Between

Showers, A Film Johnnie, Tango Tangles, His Favourite Pastime, Cruel, Cruel

Love. Although Chaplin started at the Keystone Company as a bit player, with the

introduction of his worldfamous

tramp character he quickly exploded into a

major star. By April, at the age of 25, Chaplin directs his first film, 'Twenty

Minutes of Love.'

By November of that year, Chaplin is leaving Keystone, having signed an

exclusive contract for the newly formed Essanay Film Company. Sidney follows

in Charlie's steps this time, and joins the Keystone Company shortly before

Charlie left it.

In February of 1915, Chaplin begins work for Essanay, with greater control over

his films than ever before but

not enough to avoid 'creative differences' with

his bosses at Essanay. However, another milestone occurs at the same time he

meets Edna Purviance, who was to be his leading lady for many of his films,

as well as an offagain,

onagain

romance. At Essanay, Chaplin created many of

the classic short films he's best remembered for, including His New Job, A Jitney

Elopement, The Tramp, A Night in the Show, and The Immigrant. In February of

1916, Chaplin again jumps to another film company, Mutual, where he continues

to create some of his finest shorts, including The Floorwalker, The Vagabond,

The Pawnshop, Behind the Screen, and The Rink. In both his personal and

professional life, his inner circle began to expand. He first hired Henry Bergman

(the 'heavy villain' in so many of Chaplin's films), as well as hiring Tom Harrington

as his personal secretary, a position which he kept for many decades, becoming

Chaplin's righthand

man in many respects.

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Desiring even more creative control, Chaplin began

building his own studio in the fall of 1917, and

signed with yet another studio, First National. For

the first time, Chaplin has complete control over

every step of his films. For First National, Chaplin

continues to create classic shorts: A Dog's Life,

Shoulder Arms, and The Bond. In 1918, he also

marries for the first (but not the last) time, to

Mildred Harris.

Charlie Chaplin's woman troubles

Charlie begins in his personal life a recurring,

destructive pattern he

chases (and frequently

marries) a young woman, loses interest in her

(being consumed by his creative energies), goes

through a messy breakup (or divorce), typically

impacting his professional life, and then repeats the

pattern. In November of that year, his first true love, Hetty Kelly, dies although

Chaplin doesn't find this out until he visits England in 1921.

Charlie Chaplin pathos

and comedy

1919 was a year of both great gains and losses for Charlie. One of his most

popular short films, Sunnyside, is released demonstrating

a degree of both

pathos and comedy mixed together to a high degree. Chaplin had been slowly

moving the Little Tramp towards this more balanced characterization for some

time and

now Charlie the tramp is maturing. Sadly, Charlie the human being

suffered a terrible loss, as his & Mildred's infant child is born, horribly deformed,

and dies after only 3 days. Charlie sought solace in his work, alienating his wife

even more. In that same year, he formed United Artists with his closest friend

Douglas Fairbanks and Fairbanks' wife, screen legend Mary Pickford in

a

successful effort to keep the major studios from monopolizing and controlling all

aspects of production. In December of that year, A Day's Pleasure was released,

dealing with a happy family trying to enjoy a quiet day at the beach somewhat

ironically, considering the state of Charlie Chaplin's personal life at that stage.

But something new was on the horizon Charlie

Chaplin had begun production

of The Kid.

Charlie Chaplin with Dog

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Charlie Chaplin The

Kid

The Kid was Charlie Chaplin's first fulllength

movie. It, more than anything else to

that date, made Chaplin a living legend. It

took over a year to produce, and was an

incredible success for Chaplin, both

financially and artistically.

Over the next year, Charlie Chaplin continues

working on The Kid, as his perfectionism

takes more and more time in creating his film

masterpieces. Sadly, he and Mildred Harris

divorce at this time, in one of the most bitter

Hollywood divorces seen up to this point. But

there is light at the end of the tunnel, as The

Kid is finally released to unanimous praise,

and record box office success, in 1921.

Charlie Chaplin had gone through a very

difficult time, and needed time to relax, and

renew himself. He took his first vacation,

returning to Europe to crowds that were

beyond his wildest dreams. In a bittersweet

moment, he learns of Hetty Kelly's death from her brother while in London. More

cheerfully, he begins several friendships in London that become lifelong,

including with the famous writer H. G. Welles. In addition, he and Sydney brought

their mother, Hannah, to the States, where she lived the rest of her life, under the

best medical care that Charlie's money could provide.

Returning to America, and to his work, Charlie quickly produces his next film, The

Idle Class. Charlie begins working on his next film, Payday, in his professional

life, and meets the European actress Pola Negri, with whom he has an offagain,

onagain

romantic relationship that goes on for nearly a year. Over the course of

that year, Charlie Chaplin releases his next film, The Pilgrim (about an escaped

convict who takes on the role of a preacher to avoid recapture), and prepares for

his first dramatic film, A Woman of Paris, designed to catapult Edna Purviance

into her own career. Audiences by now had associated the name Charlie Chaplin

with comedy, however, and were not expecting serious fare. Although a good

movie, it died at the box office and

gave Charlie Chaplin his first commercial

failure.

Charlie Chaplin with Kid ...

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Charlie Chaplin in

The Gold Rush and

in a family way

That was reversed by his

next film, one of the classics

of the silent era The

Gold

Rush. It is the story of the

Little Tramp going north to

the Alaskan gold rush, and

by more luck than skill both

getting the girl and becoming

rich. It is touching, poignant,

and hilarious, containing

some of Chaplin's most

famous routines. However,

early in the filming of the

movie, Chaplin's leading

lady, Lita Grey, had to be replaced by Georgia Hale since

Charlie Chaplin had

married Lita Grey, and she had become pregnant. She was only 16 at the time.

Chaplin worried incessantly about his young wife's pregnancy had

felt that the

death of his first son was, in some way, his fault. Thankfully, in 1925 this child

was born healthy Charles

Spencer Chaplin Jr. Charlie had qualms about

naming the child after himself, fearing that the boy would live in his father's

shadow, but he gave way to Lita. That same year, The Gold Rush (read review)

was released to critical acclaim and great financial success. Some believe it is

Chaplin's finest film. Ironically, there was a third birth that year that would

become integral to Chaplin years later Oona

O'Neil was born.

The next year, Charlie began work on his next film, The Circus (read review). As

John McCabe noted in his excellent biography of Charlie Chaplin, The Circus

was not the equal of The Gold Rush, but was a good film in its' own right and,

given the circumstances under which it was filmed, it was a miracle that it was

even palatable.

Charlie Chaplin in a messy divorce

Despite the birth of a second son, Sidney, in 1926, Charlie & Lita's marriage

broke apart bitterly,

and publicly. Charges went back and forth, with

newspapers gleefully displaying the details of the Chaplins' marital woes. Charlie

Chaplin always refused to discuss his marriage with Lita; Lita, however, wrote a

onesided

account, Wife of the Life of the Party. The divorce ended in 1927 with

a recordbreaking

divorce settlement of $825,000. The stress was enough to

permanently turn Charlie Chaplin's hair prematurely white. During all of this,

Charlie continued to film The Circus (read review), one of his lesserknown,

but

best, films.

Charlie Chaplin The

Gold Rush

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In 1928, Charlie Chaplin released The Circus to popular acclaim, and also

received a special Oscar for his work on the film as director, actor, producer.

Sadly, this positive year was also crushingly negative, as Charlie's beloved

mother died. Chaplin's life continued to be centered around his work, even in his

grief, as he began work on his next film towards the end of that year: City Lights

(read review).

Charlie Chaplin the

end of the Tramp

City Lights, released in 1931, was Charlie Chaplin's first nonsilent

film. But it still

was not a 'talking' picture. Chaplin included the musical soundtrack, and used

sound effects, but nobody spoke in the picture yet. This was a major gamble for

Chaplin, since sound pictures had now become the standard. But it was a

gamble that paid off handsomely. The movie was both a financial and critical

success, and many believe it to be one of Chaplin's finest films, if not his best.

After City Lights, Charlie Chaplin did

something totally out of character; he

took a vacation. Actually, Chaplin took

vacations quite frequently, both to

refresh himself and to find new ideas for

his films. But this was his first extended

vacation, away from creating a new

movie for nearly two years. He talks at

length about this time in his

autobiography (My Autobiography),

including globetrotting

and how he was

nearly assassinated in Japan; but

perhaps his most pivotal moment was in 1932, when he met Paulette Goddard,

who would costar in his next film Modern

Times which

would be the Tramp's

final film.

After the release of Modern Times, Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard were

married in secret, while on vacation in the Orient. Upon his return, Charlie began

his most audacious comedy yet The

Great Dictator, making fun of Adolph Hitler

himself. Hitler, in many ways, was a natural subject for Chaplin to satirize. Hitler,

it is said, adopted his mustache in imitation of Charlie. Both were smaller men, of

slight build. And Chaplin saw the ideas that Hitler was championing as horrible,

evil; and Charlie was determined to show the world what he saw.

Modern Times

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Charlie Chaplin attacks Hitler in The

Great Dictator

The Great Dictator was Charlie Chaplin's first truly

talking picture, and when it was finally released in

1940, it was a worldwide sensation. Many people

mistakenly think that the character of the Jewish

Barber in the film is the Tramp, but Charlie Chaplin

was adamant that they are different characters.

Although the barber uses many of the Tramp's

mannerisms, he is also clearly an individual in his

own right. And the barber is far more longwinded,

as the famous "Look Up, Hannah" speech at the end

of the movie reminds us.

Charlie Chaplin unAmerican?

In the same year that Charlie Chaplin began working

on The Great Dictator, the House UnAmerican

Committee begins investigating Charlie. At first glance, there seems to be no

reason for this until

the second glance. Earlier Chaplin had done his patriotic

part in raising money for the war effort, alongside his long time friends Douglas

Fairbanks and Mary Pickford raising

large amounts of money for the war.

Charlie was a lifelong pacifist, but he was also a realist who saw that the

aggression of the Axis powers had to be stopped. In many ways, Chaplin was

politically naive such

as speaking at fund raisers for the Communist USSR,

whom Chaplin simply saw as our allies in the fight. And by suggesting that

America immediately open a two front war to help our "friends" in the Soviet

Union. These were some of the reasons that the government began keeping tabs

on the immigrant film maker (although he worked for all of these years in

America, he maintained his British citizenship, and had no intention of

becoming an American citizen).

1942 was a very busy year for Charlie Chaplin, at least in his personal life.

Paulette Goddard, costar

of Modern Times and The Great Dictator, divorced

Chaplin, and went on to be a star in her own right. In that same year, Charlie met

another young lady, whom he falls deeply, and permanently, in love with Oona

O'Neil. Oona, although young, is mature beyond her years perhaps

from

having grown up in the household of her father, Eugene O'Neil, the famous

playwright. Eugene O'Neil was opposed to having his daughter date Charlie

Chaplin; given Chaplin's track record to date, one can hardly blame him. In

addition, Chaplin meets another young lady that year, whose relationship to

Chaplin would almost seem to confirm the playwright's suspicions Joan

Barry.

By all accounts, Joan Barry was a troubled young woman, who had some talent

for acting. She had met Charlie Chaplin, who had given her a screen test for a

role, but did not hire her for any of his movies. Although they dated on and off,

The Great Dictator

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nothing serious came of it. But in Joan Barry's mind, it was very serious serious

enough that she breaks into Chaplin's home later that year, armed with a gun.

Charlie eventually talked her out of any violence, got her to leave quietly, and

then called the police, resulting in a restraining order that should have served to

keep her out of Charlie Chaplin's life.

Charlie Chaplin in the paternity suit

However, two things happened that next year that prevented that from

happening. First was Joan Barry's pregnancy; she named Charlie Chaplin as

the father. Second, Charlie married Oona O'Neil and,

in a very real sense, they

lived happily ever after. The couple truly loved each other, were devoted to each

other, and grew closer as time went on.

In the more immediate term, Charlie Chaplin denied being the father of Joan

Barry's child, and a blood test proved his innocence. However, the blood test was

inadmissable in the California court at the time, and a jury of his peers ordered

Chaplin to pay child support. (This is recreated quite well in the 1992 'Chaplin'

movie starring Robert Downey, and is highly recommended viewing).

In 1946, the first of Oona and Charlie Chaplin's children, Michael, is born. Over

the years, he will have 7 more siblings (Josephine, Victoria, Eugene, Jane,

Annette and Christopher). Charlie also begins his next film, a very great

departure from anything Charlie has ever attempted the

dark comedy Monsieur

Verdoux .

Monsieur Verdoux is a very dark comedy, in which the title character, a fired

bank clerk, makes his living by marrying rich older women and then killing them

for their money. Charlie Chaplin used it to make a statement about the paradox

of killing millions in war is virtuous, for the winning side, but killing individuals is a

crime. Although it has moments both humorous and engaging, it was not the fare

that the public was expecting from Chaplin, and it did not do well domestically,

although it did well overseas, and Chaplin made a tidy profit from it. He also used

Edna Purviance on screen for the last time, essentially as an extra.

Charlie Chaplin's final films

In 1951, Charlie Chaplin made one of his finest films, and one of his least well

known Limelight.

Limelight is the story of a formerly great dance hall tramp

clown, Calvero (portrayed by Chaplin) on a downward spiral, contrasting with a

young dancer on her way to fame into

the spotlight. A funny, poignant film, it

also teamed two of the great clowns of the silent era, Buster Keaton and Charlie

Chaplin, for the first and only time.

Limelight did not do well at American movie houses, largely due to the false

rumors that Chaplin was a communist or communist sympathizer, as well as an

organized protest by various unions resulting in theaters refusing to show the

film. As a result, it was not seen widely in the United States of America for

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decades. Years later, when it finally played in Los Angeles, it was nominated for

the Best Music Academy Award and

won.

Charlie Chaplin in Exile

After Limelight, Charlie took another vacation to England, wanting to show his

new wife and children his native country. Upon leaving the territorial waters of the

United States of America, Charlie Chaplin received a cable, informing him that

the State Department had rescinded his reentry permit effectively

locking him

out of the country as an undesirable alien. There were many reasons for this Chaplin's

unorthodox political views, the false accusation that he was a

Communist, and not least of all, money. There would have been an attempt by

the federal government to seize Chaplin's assets, which were enormous.

However, his wife Oona returned to the United States, and promptly took all of

the liquid assets, as well as liquidating everything she could leaving

the

government without a penny for its' trouble.

Charlie Chaplin was not, however, a man without a country. He was still a citizen

of Great Britain, but he did not desire to live there. After the stress of the situation

had been dealt with, the Chaplins relocated to Vevey, Switzerland in 1953, where

they lived for the remainder of their lives together. After their death, it has been

turned into an international Charlie Chaplin museum.

In 1954, Oona renounced her U.S. citizenship, casting her lot with her husband.

And, ironically, Charlie Chaplin was awarded World Peace Council Prize in that

same year. In the next year, he resumes doing what he does best making

comedies.

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His next film, A King In New York, was a biting

indictment of modern society. In it, he played the

role of King Shadov, an European monarch in exile,

who comes to New York to promote the peaceful

uses of nuclear power. Along the way, he pokes fun

at the Red Scare, commercials, movies, celebrities,

movie magazines, and life in urban America. Filmed

in England, it was the last film in which he was on

screen as a major character.

In the same year that A King In New York

premiered, Charlie Chaplin's halfbrother

Wheeler

Dryden died. Wheeler had been introduced to

Charlie many years before by Edna Purviance Charlie

had been unaware of him. Wheeler was a

competent, though not gifted, actor, and idolized his

famous brother. He began to work for Charlie in

various roles and positions, and years later served

as Charlie's assistant director on The Great Dictator

and Monsieur Verdoux. Jerome Robinsons' photo

journal, Charlie and Me, contains some interesting anecdotes about Charlie's

lesserknown

sibling.

Chaplin's professional pace seemed to be slowing down, to an outside observer.

After all, he was now 69 years old. However, Charlie was not finished working.

He had been reediting some of his earlier movies, and composing new music for

some of them. Charlie was musical by nature as well as profession, and he wrote

some of the most enduring melodies of the century not

least among them the

song 'Smile'. However, before he could release his reedited movies, now

narrated by Charlie Chaplin himself, death claimed another old friend Edna

Purviance died in 1958. And, to add insult to injury, Chaplin's name was removed

from Los Angeles' Walk of Fame.

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In 1959, the Chaplin Revue was released, to

worldwide acclaim. Charlie Chaplin continued his

work in Switzerland, writing and composing, and

raising his growing brood of children. In 1964 he

published his autobiography, which he humbly titled

'My Autobiography.' It was an interested look into

the life of Charlie Chaplin, although incomplete he

mentioned his marriage to Lita Grey in only one

sentence.

In 1965, death again intruded on Charlie Chaplin's

family life, as his older brother Sidney died. This

was a strong blow to Chaplin, second only to the

loss of him mother in 1928. Sidney had been his

brother, friend, companion, confidant and business

manager all rolled into one. Charlie grieved deeply

for the loss of his beloved brother.

But Charlie Chaplin did not stop working. After

dealing with his grief as best he could, in 1966 Charlie began work on his next,

and final, movie, A Countess in Hong Kong. It was a number of firsts for Chaplin he

did not star in the film, and only had a small, Hitchcockesque

walkon

scene

as a porter. Instead, he directed two of Hollywood's largest stars of the day,

Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren. Although an interesting idea, it was not a hit at

the box office when released in 1967.

In 1968, Chaplin was now 79 years old. It is not

surprising that more and more of his friends and

coworkers died for

example, his longtime

cameraman and assistant Rollie Totheroh died the

previous year. However, Charlie Chaplin's oldest

son, Charles Chaplin Jr., died. Again, Charlie

worked through his grief, and threw himself into his

work. He was preparing a new film, 'The Freak',

about a young girl who sprouts wings, as a vehicle

for his daughter but

it never went past the

planning stages.

In 1972, Charlie Chaplin did something he never

thought he would do he

returned to the United

States of America. He was returning to accept a

lifetime achievement Academy Award. The

foolishness of 20 years previous had been

forgotten, and Chaplin was greeted by America with

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open arms. Correcting another old injustice, Chaplin's name was added again

to the 'Walk of Fame' in Los Angeles. Chaplin was also awarded the Golden Lion

at that year's Venice Film Festival .

In 1974, Charlie Chaplin published another book, 'My Life in Pictures.' The next

year, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, and became Sir Charles Spencer

Chaplin.

In 1977, Charlie Chaplin passed away, on Christmas Day. He left behind grieving

family and friends, and millions of fans worldwide.

Quotes by Charlie Chaplin:

· "To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it!"

· "I remain just one thing, and one thing only and

that is a clown. It places

me on a far higher plane than any politician."

· "Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain"

Check out reviews of some of Chaplin's finest films, including The Gold Rush,

The Immigrant, The Kid and Limelight (a personal favorite)

For more images of Chaplin, please check out the Charlie Chaplin Gallery.