Charlie Chaplin
April 16th 1889 – December 25th 1977. English comic actor and director, who became famous for his roles in silent films.
Early life
Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London as the son of the actor Charles Spencer Chaplin and the actress and singer Hannah Harriet Chaplin (better known as Lily Harley, her stage name). Because of the early death of his father in 1901 and the illness of his mother, he was thrown on his own resources when he still was a child. As both of his parents were artists, it seemed natural to begin a career on the stage as well.
Starting a career
At the age of 14, he had his first important role in a stage show (Sherlock Holmes). A little later, he continued his career as vaudeville comedian and became a member of the Fred Karno Repertoire Company. They traveled all over Britain and twice to America to show their repertoire. He was so popular in the United States that the Keystone Film Company offered him to act in films. So, he emigrated to America and after some problems at the beginning, the audiences were enthusiastic about Chaplin and he became very successful and even the most popular comedian worldwide.
Becoming independent
Until 1917, Chaplin had been under contract with three different film companies. He then decided to become independent by building up his own studios and becoming a producer on his own. He was at least as successful as a producer as he was as an actor; the most famous movies are:
The Kid (1921)
The Circus (1928)
City Lights (1931)
Modern Times (1936)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Limelight (1952)
Although Chaplin was living in the United States, he traveled all over Europe several times and put the impressions he collected there into new films. Modern Times, for example, deals with the European economic and social problems of the 30s [but the problems also existed in the US?? What is especially "European" about them?]. Watch “Modern Times”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-UQ7hBGPZ0
[Please also write a bit about the middle-years and why Chaplin left the US]
Death
In the late sixties Chaplin’s health began to fail, until he died in Switzerland in 1977. By that time, he had nine children from two different marriages.
Sources:
Chaplin, Charlie. Hallo Europa! Ed. Charlotte Pol and Heinz Pol. Leipzig: Paul List Verlag, 1928.
McCaffrey, Donald W., ed. Focus on Chaplin. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1971.