Charlie Chaplin The Silent Superstar

1. Charlie Chaplin The Silent Superstar Nicole Durham Period 4B

2. Charlie Chaplin was born in 1889 in London. His father was a vocalist and his mother was an actress. • Charlie’s father abandoned him, his mother, and his brother when he was little and his mother also had mental illness which forced Charlie to take care of his family. He worked at age seven. • Charlie was born with natural talent because his parents were also so talented. He started his career at age 14 in the production of “Sherlock Holmes” and later left America to tour with the Karno Pantomime Troupe for six years. • With the Karno troupe, Charlie got his first taste of the United States and signed a contract for $150 per week with film producer Mack Sennett. • Charlie set himself apart from his father (and everybody else) by playing a single identifiable character. • Charlie joined the Essanay Company and was paid $1,250 a week, and at this time also hired his brother as his business manager. By the age of 26 he was a superstar. • Chaplin moved to the Mutual Company and was paid $670,000 a year, which was an incredible amount for the time. • Chaplin was a perfectionist in his work, and at times would demand new sets and new casts if he didn’t feel right about it. He liked to experiment, and took his time with his works to make sure they were the way he envisioned them. • Some of his major works include Make a Living (1914), which was his film debut; Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914), Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1915), The Tramp (1915), The Gold Rush (1925), The Kid (1921), and A Woman in Paris (1923). • Charlie’s life outside of his fame was equally as dramatic. He had numerous affairs, and in 1918 he married a sixteen-year-old. When that didn’t work out he married another sixteen-year-old in 1924 because of an unplanned pregnancy. Two children came out of that relationship, and they later split. Charlie was married two more times, the second being his final marriage with Oona O’Neil and his happiest marriage. They had eight children. • Charlie died on December 25, 1977. His body was stolen shortly after he was buried, and the two men demanded $400,000 for its return. The men were arrested and the body was returned eleven weeks later. • "I (was) newsvendor, printer, toymaker, doctor's boy, etc., but during these occupational digressions, I never lost sight of my ultimate aim to become an actor, so, between jobs I would polish my shoes, brush my clothes, put on a clean collar and make periodic calls at a theatrical agency.” –Charlie Chaplin