Calling Charlie Chaplin an epitome of comedy won't be wrong. The man who made the world laugh with his gestures and brought a smile on everyone's face was himself not so happy in his life. But Charlie never let this show on his face.
Chaplin's childhood was defined by poverty and hardship. He was sent to a workhouse twice before the age of nine; his father was absent, and his mother was committed to a mental asylum. Chaplin began performing from a young age, touring music halls and later working as a stage actor and comedian. At 19 he was signed to the prestigious Fred Karno Company, which took him to America. Chaplin was scouted by the film industry, and made his first appearances in 1914 with Keystone Studios.
His most famous on screen character was that of The Tramp. He composed music for his own movies and he was also a co-founder of United Artists in 1919. He was most influenced by the work of the French silent film comedian, Max Linder. He was ranked as the tenth greatest male screen legend of all time by the American Film Institute in 1999. According to the famous Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, Chaplin was "the only genius to come out of the movie industry".
Charlie's movies are still a favourite among his fans.
Here are some interesting facts about the great comedian:
1) Charlie Chaplin was born just four days before Adolf Hitler, in 1889. His exact date of birth is April 16, 1889 in Walworth, London, United Kingdom.
2) In 1925, he became the first actor to have appeared on the cover of the Time magazine.
3) Once he participated in the look-a-like contest of himself and lost it despite being at the height of his own popularity.
4) He composed around 500 melodies for his own films and the last film that he ever saw was Rocky in 1976.
5) Due to suspicions of him being a communist, his imprints were removed from the Hollywood walk of fame and have been lost subsequently.
6) Even though Adolf Hitler loathed Charlie Chaplin, but he was conscious of his popularity because of which he grew the moustache like Chaplin to make himself more appealing to the people.
7) Charlie Chaplin never became a U.S. Citizen and was exiled from the U.S. In 1953 because he refused to have the American citizenship. He lived in Switzerland during his exiled years and died during sleep there in Vevey, Vaud on December 25, 1977 at the age of 88.
8) His dead body was stolen for more than two months in 1978 by a small group of Swiss mechanics to blackmail his family for money. But there attempt failed and it was recovered and reburied in a vault encased in cement to prevent future attempts.
9) There is an asteroid named after him in his honour by a Ukrainian astronomer, which is called 3623 Chaplin and resides in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
10) His own daughter, the actress Geraldine Chaplin, portrayed his on screen mother in the movie, Chaplin, a 1992 biopic as Hannah Chaplin.
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