Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin, a sweet little man with a hat and moustache, was born in England in 1889. His father was a vocalist and actor and his mother was an actress and singer. It seems that he inherited his talent from his parents.

His parents separated right after his birth and he was under his Mother’s custody. She was an unstable woman and couldn’t find a job so she had to leave Charlie and his brother Sydney to an orphanage where children in need were taken care of.

He first appeared on stage at the age of five, in 1894. While his mother was singing on stage, all of a sudden she lost her voice. The production manager, who had heard Charlie singing before, pushed him onto the stage to replace her. When he was 11 years old, he got the role of a comic cat in the pantomime Cinderella. When he was 12, he got his first regular job in acting in a production of ‘Sherlock Holmes’ which opened the doors of America to him. With the Fred Karno Repertoire Company, he went to America where he became a popular actor. 

He was so successful that Mack Sennett, who was a film producer, signed a contract with Chaplin and offered him 150 dollars per week. When his contract was over with Mack Sennett, Chaplin signed a contract with Essanay Company which paid him more money. Then he signed a contract with Mutual Film Corporation which paid him 670,000 dollars per year. When his contract was over, he decided to produce his own movies. 

Some of his most unforgettable movies are The Kid, The Pilgrim, A Woman in Paris, The Gold Rush and The Circus.

Adapted from www.charliechaplin.com