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Things You May Not Know About Charlie Chaplin

by William Linden
Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin, one of the most iconic actors and filmmakers of the 20th century, had a fascinating life story that began on the stage. As a child, Chaplin’s parents were both involved in the music hall scene in London, where they performed as entertainers. It was here that Chaplin made his stage debut at a very young age, when he was just a tot. At the age of five, Chaplin’s mother suffered from laryngitis and was unable to perform in front of a rowdy crowd of soldiers. The stage manager, or possibly one of his mother’s lovers, then ushered Chaplin onstage as a replacement. To the surprise of everyone, Chaplin first sang a popular song called “Jack Jones,” which prompted the audience to shower him with coins. He then drew big laughs by announcing that he would pick up the money before continuing, which made the audience laugh even more. A few years later, Chaplin made his professional debut as a member of a juvenile clog-dance troupe, followed by a couple of theater roles, touring with vaudeville acts, and one disastrous night of stand-up comedy where he was booed off stage.

Chaplin’s childhood was not without its challenges, as his mother’s health deteriorated and the family’s finances suffered as a result. In 1896, Chaplin and his older half-brother were sent to a public boarding school for “orphans and destitute children,” as their mother was no longer able to care for them. He spent about 18 months there, which was the longest period of continuous schooling he would ever receive. While at the school, Chaplin learned to read and write, but he also experienced quite a few indignities, including a severe caning and the shaving of his head during a bout with ringworm. Shortly after his time at the school, his mother was committed to a mental institution, and his father played very little role in his upbringing, dying of alcoholism at the young age of 37.

Despite his early success on stage, Chaplin initially struggled in the film industry. He was hired by Keystone Studios in 1913 for $150 a week, making his first film appearance early the following year playing an out-of-work swindler in “Making a Living.” Wearing a handlebar mustache, top hat, and monocle, he got in a few funny gags, particularly while fighting the story’s hero, a journalist who at one point interviews a man trapped under a car instead of helping him. However, Chaplin was appalled by his performance and accused the director of cutting his best material out of jealousy. “I was stiff,” he later said. “I took all the surprise out of the scenes by anticipating the next motion.” Despite his disappointment with his debut film, Chaplin would go on to become one of the most celebrated actors and filmmakers in history, known for his iconic character “The Tramp” and for revolutionizing the film industry with his innovative techniques and storytelling.

Charlie Chaplin

Throughout his career, Chaplin played the same character in all but a few movies. Prior to his second film, Chaplin dressed up one day in baggy pants, a tight coat, big shoes, a small bowler hat, and a bamboo cane. He added a small fake mustache and strutted around while his co-actors were playing pinochle. The head of Keystone witnessed the scene and allegedly “giggled until his body began to shake.” He suggested that Chaplin do exactly what he was doing in his next picture while wearing the same get-up. This character, known as the Little Tramp, immediately took off in popularity and would become Chaplin’s onscreen persona for the next two-and-a-half decades. In 1914 alone, he appeared in dozens of short films as the Little Tramp, most of which he directed himself.

Chaplin quickly became a millionaire thanks to his immense success in the film industry. For $1,250 a week plus a $10,000 bonus, Chaplin moved in December 1914 to Essanay Studios, which touted him as “the greatest comedian in the world.” He then signed with the Mutual Film Corporation for $670,000 a year, after which he agreed to make eight comedies for First National for over $1 million. Finally, in 1919, he founded his own studio with fellow Hollywood icons Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and D.W. Griffith. “I went into the business for money, and the art grew out of it,” Chaplin once said. “If people are disillusioned by that remark, I can’t help it. It’s the truth.”

However, despite his success, Chaplin resisted the arrival of “talkies.” Starting with “The Jazz Singer” in 1927, films with sound rapidly replaced their silent counterparts. Yet Chaplin hesitated to adopt the new technology, fearing it would ruin the Little Tramp. In his two 1930s movies, “City Lights” and “Modern Times,” Chaplin included music but not dialogue, except for one scene in which he sings in nonsensical fake Italian. Finally, in 1940, he released a full sound film, “The Great Dictator,” an anti-Hitler satire featuring him as a character other than the Little Tramp for the first time in almost 20 years.

Chaplin’s career spanned over five decades, during which he directed and starred in many critically acclaimed films. His work had a profound impact on the film industry and continues to be celebrated to this day. Chaplin died on December 25, 1977, at the age of 88, leaving behind a legacy that remains an integral part of the history of cinema.

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin, the iconic actor and filmmaker, had a tumultuous personal life that was marked by multiple marriages and scandals. He married three times, each time to a teenager.

In 1918, at the age of 29, Chaplin hastily married 17-year-old actress Mildred Harris. However, the union was short-lived and they divorced soon after. Chaplin later regretted the marriage, describing it as a mistake and claiming that they were “irreconcilably mismated.”

Chaplin’s second marriage was to 16-year-old actress Lita Grey, whom he had cast in his film “The Gold Rush.” They had a rocky relationship and eventually divorced, with Grey later accusing Chaplin of multiple instances of abuse and infidelity.

In 1943, Chaplin, then 54, married 18-year-old Oona O’Neill, daughter of famed playwright Eugene O’Neill. The match caused controversy, and Eugene O’Neill reportedly disinherited his daughter over it. Despite this, Chaplin and O’Neill remained married until Chaplin’s death 35 years later. They had eight children together.

Chaplin, despite spending nearly four decades in the United States, never became an American citizen. He was known for his left-leaning political views and was accused of being a communist sympathizer. During the McCarthy era, he was placed under surveillance by the FBI and faced calls for deportation. In 1952, his re-entry permit was revoked while he was traveling to England on vacation. Rather than returning to face immigration officials, Chaplin decided to move his family to Switzerland. He only returned to the United States once, in 1972, to accept an honorary Academy Award.

Chaplin’s death in 1977 was not without controversy. Just months after his burial in a Swiss cemetery, two robbers stole his coffin and demanded a ransom of $600,000 from his widow, Oona. When she refused to pay, they reportedly threatened her children. The thieves were caught and the coffin was recovered, but in response to the theft, Chaplin’s remains were reburied in a theft-proof concrete vault.

 

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