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Charlie Chaplin I remember my first performance. Chaplin's World: “Charles and Charlie are two different stories. Receiving fabulous fees, Chaplin kept checks in a suitcase

The name of this great man is familiar to all movie lovers.

Charlie Chaplin is a celebrity who opened the wonderful world of cinema to everyone, who created a company of dreams. Silent cinema has become history today, but the images created by this brilliant actor are recognizable at all times. The king of comedy, the genius of directing - whatever they called him!

From the biography of Charlie Chaplin:

The biography of Charlie Chaplin (04.16.1889 - 25.12.1977) is studied in directing courses around the world. After all, his whole life is an example of a combination of talent and a business approach to the production process.

And the life of Charles Spencer Chaplin began in very difficult conditions. Most of the people of his then environment and thought could not arise that he would be able to achieve such success.

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in Walworth, UK, into a very poor music hall family. Although the parents of the future king of comedy were also artists, they did not gain worldwide fame. Father first tried his hand at pantomime, later retrained as "genre singers".

Charlie Chaplin's mother, Hannah Hill, played in the music hall, and her career was also not brilliant. The life of the actors was well-arranged, moving and touring were exhausting, besides, family troubles began.

Chaplin's childhood was spent in hopeless poverty. The father left the family. Sydney and Charlie, stepbrothers, remained with their mother after their parents divorced, their father (he was also called Charles) did not help his ex-wife raise children, most likely because he simply could not.

Charlie and his brother were forced to go to an orphan school. Charlie Chaplin worked as a newspaper salesman, errand boy and typography assistant, doctor's assistant and never lost hope that he could someday be able to make money by acting.

Charlie first appeared on stage at the age of 5, when it was necessary to replace a mother in the program, who had problems with mouth problems. Little Charlie managed to get a standing ovation from the audience, who showered him with coins and bills. The young actor conquered the audience even more when he began to collect this money from the stage with childlike spontaneity right during the performance.

Hannah left the acting profession, took on any job, but even despite enormous efforts, she could not overcome the need. In order for one of the brothers to go to a charity to get free food, he had to wear the only shoes that belonged to his mother. The rest of the family waited patiently for his arrival. They ate once a day. Then Hannah got sick, was in a clinic for the mentally ill, and the children, after a period of vagrancy, ended up in an orphanage. When the mother was discharged from the hospital (in 1898), their little family was reunited.

Charlie Chaplin in his youth without makeup

Charlie Chaplin's career began at the age of nine. The example of his parents did not inspire Charlie with aversion to the acting profession, although in his life he had a chance to try many things. All this experience was later reflected in numerous script and director's works. And as a nine-year-old boy, Chaplin danced in the Eight Lancashire Boys ensemble, and this lasted for two years.

Then Charlie set off at his own peril and risk on a solo voyage through the cruel world of show business: he performed with his own program, performing parodies and singing songs. It brought little money, they had to sell newspapers, teach someone to dance, cut wood, work as a servant, as a printer, and even as a glassblower.

Chaplin's first place of work as an actor was theater. He got a job there when he was not even 14 years old. Charlie Chaplin got his first role before he could read. He learned to read late - already in his youth. Charlie Chaplin got his first theater role at the age of 14 - the role of Billy the messenger in the play "Sherlock Holmes". Then Chaplin was still illiterate and was very afraid that he would be asked to read several paragraphs aloud. He learned the role with the help of his brother Sidney.

From that moment, Chaplin's career began, which, stretching for 75 years, continued until the death of the great comedian. Charlie Chaplin became the youngest and most expensive actor of his time.

4 wives of Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin enjoyed success with women. He had 11 children, and a certain Joan Berry in 1943 tried to impose on him the twelfth through the court, but the examination proved that her child had nothing to do with Chaplin.

He chose girls of tender age as his life companions. With his first wife he had a difference of 12 years, with the second - 19, with the third - 25. Chaplin decided on his fourth marriage at the age of 54. 18-year-old Una O'Neill became his bride. Of Chaplin's 11 children, Una gave birth to eight. He lived with her until the end of his days.

Mildred Harris.

Charlie Chaplin's first wife in 1918 was 16-year-old Mildred Harris. The marriage lasted only 2 years. In his autobiography, Chaplin wrote: “Mildred was not evil, but she was hopelessly zoological. I could never get to her soul - she was stuffed with some pink rags and all kinds of nonsense. "

With Cast Gray

In 1924, Charlie Chaplin married 16-year-old Lita Gray. The marriage was contracted in Mexico, which avoided problems with American law, which did not allow marriage at the age of 16. After the divorce in 1928, Chaplin paid Lita a record amount for that time - $ 825 thousand, which became the reason for an investigation by the tax authorities. According to Joyce Milton, Chaplin's biographer, this relationship was based on the novel "Lolita" by Nabokov.

Paulette Goddard

Chaplin's third wife was actress Paulette Goddard, who starred in his films "New Times" and "The Great Dictator." They parted in 1940, and the writer Erich Maria Remarque became the second spouse of Goddard.

Chaplin with Una O'Neill

Chaplin's fourth wife, Oona O'Neill, was 36 years younger than him. When Una got married in 1943, her father stopped communicating with her. In 1952, leaving for London, Chaplin gave his wife a power of attorney to his bank account, which allowed Una to take out Chaplin's property from the United States. She later renounced her American citizenship. Chaplin and O'Neill had three sons and five daughters. The last child was born when the comedian was 72 years old.

Charlie Chaplin passed away on December 25, 1977 at the age of 88. Chaplin's youngest son was then 16 years old. Two months after the funeral of the great actor, sensational news spread around the world - the coffin with the body of a comedian was stolen from the cemetery at the Anglican Church in Vevey. On the morning of March 2, 1978, the cemetery warden reported this to the police, and in the evening, unknown persons called Chaplin's widow and said that the sarcophagus with her husband's body was in a "safe place." Negotiations with the robbers, who demanded 600 thousand Swiss francs, lasted for almost a month. The police detected the criminals on the 27th call. The malefactors turned out to be 38-year-old Gancho Ganev and 24-year-old Roman Vardas.

Monument to Charlie Chaplin in London

4 years after Chaplin's death, on the comedian's birthday on April 16, a monument was erected near Shakespeare in

It is believed that nature rests on the children of geniuses. Chaplin had numerous offspring. Not all of his children became famous, but none of them can be called losers - they justify, as best they can, the glorious surname.

Geraldine, the eldest daughter of Charlie Chaplin, is the only actress to become famous. The undoubted portrait resemblance to her father in some mysterious way influenced her artistry. She managed to create some unforgettable cinematic images, and the first time she "lit up" in "Ramp Lights" with her brother Charlie Jr.

From time to time, other children acted in different films. The most beautiful daughter of Charlie Chaplin, Josephine, also starred in this film, but did not want to be an actress, deciding to devote herself to the family.

Eugene became director of the Geneva Opera. The famous surname did not affect this appointment in any way - he studied hard and gained experience, for a long time he worked as an ordinary stage sound technician.

As for Charlie Chaplin's famous granddaughter Oona, she is considered a Spanish actress. She was named after the grandmother, who gave family happiness to the famous grandfather. Una Jr. was born in 1986, her mother is Geraldine Chaplin. The girl starred in the TV series Game of Thrones, and before that she tried herself in episodes. She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Biography of Charlie Chaplin:

Charlie Chaplin's life was most seriously influenced by his participation in the Carnot troupe. Thanks to this work, in 1912 he found himself in a country of great opportunities - the United States of America. The eighteen-year-old guy was noticed by the managers of the Keystone film company. On September 23, 1913, Chaplin signed a contract with Keystone Film Company. Then his salary was $ 150. He was offered to move to Los Angeles. Of course, the young man worked in full force, filming in studio tapes as an actor, but he also wrote scripts. Charlie Chaplin was the author of the idea of the thirty-five Keystone paintings in twenty-four. Films with his participation were a success with the audience.

In 1914, he directed his first film, Caught by the Rain, where he acted as a director, actor and screenwriter. The Tramp's iconic character was born during the filming of the 1914 film Mabel's Uncommonly Precarious. Charlie could not even imagine how to make up himself. This is how a little man was “born” in trousers-wide trousers, with a cane, a hat and a mustache. As a result, it was this image that became the symbol of silent cinema.

Charlie Chaplin's earnings are growing exponentially. Already in 1915 he received $ 1250, and in 1916 "Mutual Film" pays the comedian $ 10 thousand a week. A dozen more short films were shot by him in 1915 for the Essen studio (Chicago, Illinois). The best of them were "Tramp", "Champion" and "Woman".

A kind of imperturbable demeanor of the main character was also formed (it could be a policeman, a painter, a mechanic, or a farm laborer - or anyone), who maintains his dignity and calmness in the most hopeless circumstances. Evidently, Charlie Chaplin himself was such in his early youth. The image of a tramp, funny and touching, he painted from himself.

The creative successes of the young screenwriter and actor, oozing ideas in unlimited quantities, attracted the attention of the directors of the Hollywood studio "Mutchuel". They considered it a completely reasonable decision to lure him away by offering a contract for $ 670 thousand, which was a fabulous sum at that time. And the film company was right, it got a talented author who releases a film a month. The audience success fully paid off the costs, besides, the plots became much more meaningful, tragedy and drama appeared in them, interspersed with comedy, which differed from other representatives of the entertainment genre Charlie Chaplin.

In 1917, Charlie signed his first major contract with the First National for $ 1 million. This brought him not only fabulous money, but also put him in first place in the niche of the richest people. Moreover, Chaplin thus became the youngest and most talented actor in the United States in the 20th century.

In 1922, Charlie Chaplin built his own home in Beverly Hills. The house had 40 rooms, an organ and a cinema. + The film "Gold Rush", filmed in 1925, is still considered an unsurpassed masterpiece today. Anyone who has read Jack London's stories about Alaska prospectors knows the historical background of the picture, reproduced with filigree precision. Dramaticism constantly coexists with comic (which are only scenes of dancing with buns and eating a boiled shoe). The author's ingenuity is off scale, while the main qualities of the protagonist - all the same little Charlie - are, as always, kindness, an open heart and the ability to empathize with other people.

Charlie Chaplin's creative collection in 1931 was replenished with a wonderful new work - the film "City Lights", on which he worked for more than three years. The tramp Charlie loves a blind flower saleswoman, and he also manages to make friends with a drunkard who turns out to be a millionaire. Wonderful music sounds ... This wonderful fairy tale with an optimistic ending captivates even the most skeptical viewer. Equally impressive are the melodies written for other paintings ("New Times", "Ramp Lights").

At the end of 1940, Chaplin finished shooting his film The Great Dictator, which, in fact, was a political satire on Nazism in general and Hitler in particular. This was the last film where Chaplin used the image of Charlie the tramp. The film was refused to be shown in cinemas in England and the United States, because they were afraid to break the fragile peace with Germany, and Chaplin was accused of inciting hysteria. A commission was even appointed to investigate the actor's anti-American actions. After the film was watched by Hitler, the actor was called a "scoundrel."

United Artists, still famous today, was founded by four partners, including famous actors David Griffith, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin. The growth of creative ambitions prompted, however, the latter to create his own film company Charles Chaplin Corporation, which did not prevent him from working with UA until the early fifties, when the actor had to leave the United States.

In 1952, Chaplin finished work on his painting "Ramp Lights", which tells about creativity and the fate of a creative person. Chaplin himself considered this cinema to be the pinnacle of his creativity. On September 17 of the same year, he went to the world premiere of his film in London, and could not return to the United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Edgar Hoover managed to get the immigration authorities to ban Chaplin from entering the country.

After the premiere of Ramp Lights, the actor and director left the United States with his family on a long journey. For five months he was looking for a new refuge, not wanting to return to the country of rampant McCarthyism. He settled on the Swiss Corsier-sur-Vevey, where he acquired a luxurious estate with a villa.

Money is only a means of achieving freedom, and, fortunately, Chaplin had enough of it. In 1957, he finished his penultimate film, The King in New York. It made fun of many aspects of the American way of life, and was initially banned in the United States.

In 1964, Chaplin's autobiographical book was published, which became a bestseller and was translated into many languages.

In 1967, the last picture of the king of cinema was released - "The Countess from Hong Kong", which was not entirely successful, despite the stellar cast (Marlon Brando, Sophia Loren and other top actors), in which Charlie himself appeared only in an episode. The name of the author alone ensured audience success, but Chaplin decided not to make films anymore.

In the end, recognition came in the actor's second homeland: he was finally appreciated in America, having been awarded an Oscar (1972).

30 interesting facts from the life of Charlie Chaplin:

1. Actor and director Charlie Chaplin is one of the world's most talented left-handers. With his left hand he did absolutely everything, even holding a violin bow in it. And he played Charlie's violin excellently.

2. Chaplin was also a good composer. He wrote the music for many of his films himself.

3. In 1928, Chaplin was awarded a special Oscar for the genius of the script, acting, directing and producing for the film "Circus".

4. The last film "The Countess from Hong Kong" Chaplin shot in 1967 - 10 years before his death. The main roles in the film were played by Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando. Chaplin himself appears in the film in the cameo role of the old steward.

5. "City Lights" - a film where Charlie did the incredible. As you know, he loved boxing and tango. There is a scene in the film where these two hobbies are combined in the ring. It turned out something like "tangbox".

6.In 1975, Chaplin was honored with the attention of Queen Elizabeth II herself. She knighted him and presented him with the Knight Commander of the British Empire.

7. Chaplin was a rather tight-fisted person. Even after becoming fabulously rich, he refused to trade a modest room in a cheap hotel for a luxurious apartment.

8. Chaplin's height was only 165 centimeters, and his weight was 60 kilograms.

9. During the Second World War, the "Committee for Assistance to Russia in the War" invited Chaplin to speak at the rally. Chaplin began his speech with the address "Comrades!" and called for the opening of a second front as soon as possible. After this speech (because of the spoken word "comrades"), Chaplin began to be considered a communist.

10.In 1928, the actor got rid of all his stock holdings, and just in time: the Great American Depression soon burst out.

11. Chaplin once took part incognito in a competition of his own doubles (the image of the Tramp). According to one version, he took second place in the competition, according to another version - third.

12. If Chaplin hadn't made a single film, but only wrote music, that would have been enough to call him a genius with full confidence. Soundtracks to different pictures are masterpieces in themselves, they are often performed now by orchestras and ensembles, and not everyone even knows who the author of these wonderful melodies is.

13. The years of the First World War were marked by Charlie Chaplin's pacifist comedy "On the Shoulder!" and other works that ridicule militarism.

14. Chaplin's favorite comedian in the last years of his life was Briton Benny Hill. When Hill visited the Chaplin family in 1991, he was shown a large collection of Benny Hill videos that Chaplin had put together.

15.Charlie Chaplin lived in the United States for over 40 years, but never received American citizenship. In the United States, attempts were made to boycott the movie "City Lights" on the grounds that its author was not eager to receive the coveted American passport.

16. Neither world fame nor two "Oscars" could protect this great director and comedian actor from the disgrace of the authorities, who off-screen was an active political personality and sought to achieve "world peace".

17. In 2012, Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and cane at the auction house Bonhams in Los Angeles were sold for $ 62.5 thousand. ".

18. The official reason for Chaplin's refusal to enter the United States was the presence of the comedian's name on Orwell's list. After that, he settled in the city of Vevey in Switzerland. Charlie Chaplin's life at the final stage is associated with this city; the happy last decades of his life passed here. He fathered four more children.

19. In Europe, he was in for a triumph, recognition, meetings with the most prominent people of the era (Prince of Wales, Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein and many others were happy to talk with him).

20. It is known that even after Charlie Chaplin managed to earn his first million, he kept the checks he received in the studio in an old suitcase all his life.

21. It is not known for certain how many canes and bowlers, shot together with Chaplin, have survived to this day.

22. By the age of 35, Chaplin's luxurious dark curly hair has completely turned gray.

23. Chaplin sympathized with the communists, the FBI opened a case against Chaplin back in the 30s - after the movie "New Times".

24. The first Oscar was brought to Charlie Chaplin by the film The Great Dictator. In 1941, the actor received a statuette for Best Actor.

25. In 1948, Chaplin was again awarded an Oscar. This time - for the best script ("Monsieur Verdou").

26 In 1962, Charlie Chaplin became a Doctor of the University of Oxford.

27. In 1970, Charlie Chaplin was laid down on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

28. In 1972, 82-year-old Charlie Chapliu was awarded an honorary Oscar "for his invaluable contribution to making cinema an art in this century." The audience gave a standing ovation to the great comedian for 12 minutes.

29. After becoming financially independent, Chaplin toured the world and visited India, Africa, Indonesia and Japan.

30. Living in Switzerland in recent years, Charlie Chaplin received distinguished guests. Many prominent persons came to visit the famous actor, the Spanish queen became a frequent guest, artists, writers, and movie stars came here, and the owner of the house greeted them with joy and hospitality.

Monument to Charlie Chaplin in Vevey in Switzerland

photo from the Internet

MUSIC FROM THE FILM "RAMP LIGHTS"

On April 16, 1889, at eight o'clock in the evening, in London, on East Lane Street, in the Waltworth area, a boy was born - Charles Spencer Chaplin. His parents - Lily Harley and Charles Chaplin - were actors and met when they played together in the same melodrama. They were in love, but during the tour, Lily met an elderly lord and fled with him to Africa. Sydney, Charlie's older brother, was born there. Soon Lily returned to England, the romance with Charles resumed, and they soon got married. And three years later, they had Charlie.

As he later recalled, in early childhood he did not suspect the existence of his father and did not remember the time when he lived with his family. The fact is that Charles drank a lot, which is why, according to Lily, they separated a year after the birth of their son.
Charlie's mother acted in the roles of sabrets in a variety theater and earned good money. She and her two sons lived in a three-room apartment in West Square, Lambeth. Charlie said that my mother liked to dress them up with her brother on Sundays and take them for walks. “We walked decorously along Kennington Road, and we were bursting with pride and complacency,” he recalled.
But when Charlie was five years old, trouble struck - Lily lost her voice.

Increasingly, he broke off while singing and turned into a whisper. Less and less often she received engagements, and then they completely stopped inviting her. It so happened that Lily's last performance was at the same time the first performance of little Charlie on stage. On that day, his mother lost her voice, the audience began to boo her, and she had to go backstage.

The director said that you can try to release her son on the stage (he once saw how the boy represented something in front of his acquaintances). Once in front of the audience, Charlie was not taken aback and sang the then popular song "Jack Jones", but before he could finish, coins flew onto the stage. The boy announced that he would first collect them and only after that he would continue to sing. This made the audience even more amused. “I felt at home on stage, chatted freely with the audience, danced, imitated famous singers, including my mother, performing her favorite Irish march,” said Charlie. Repeating the chorus, he depicted how his mother's voice breaks down - this caused a storm of delight among the audience, and they again began to throw money on the stage, and when Lily came out to take Charlie away, the audience greeted her with applause.

.... When Sydney left Exmouth, and Charlie left the orphanage, he and his mother often moved, and as a result, they again ended up in the workhouse, from where the boys were sent to the Norwood orphanage, which, according to Charlie, was even darker than Hanwell ... During their stay there came the sad news: Lily lost her mind and was sent to a psychiatric hospital. Sydney was crying, and Charlie was overcome with despair: "Why did she do that? Mom, so cheerful and carefree, how could she go crazy? I had a vague feeling as if she had lost her mind on purpose so as not to think about us. My heart sank with despair and it seemed to me that I saw her in front of me! She looked at me pitifully, and she was carried away by the wind somewhere into emptiness, "he later recalled about the feelings experienced that day.

After some time, it became known that Lily recovered and left the hospital. She rented a cheap room and took the boys to her place. During this time, she began to awaken Charlie's interest in the theater and inspired him that he had abilities. However, he was not taken to play in the school production of "Cinderella". Charlie was jealous of those who were chosen, and the performance itself seemed to him then very dull, and he was saved only by the beauty of the girl who played Cinderella, with whom Charlie was secretly in love.

But two months later, success came to him. One day Lily saw a funny rhyme in the window of a bookstore, rewrote it and brought it home. Charlie learned it and read it to a friend during a break at school. He was overheard by the teacher, who then asked Charlie to speak in front of the class. The guys rode with laughter. The next day, Charlie was taken from class to class, after which the fame of his talent spread throughout the school. Teachers and students became interested in him. As Charlie said, he only now tasted fame, although he had to perform before. Since then, he became interested in school, he even began to study better. But his education was soon interrupted, because Charlie left school to enter the clogdance ensemble "Eight Lancashire Boys".

................... After some time, Charlie persuaded his mother to let him leave school so that he could go to work. He tried many activities: he served as a messenger in a small shop, worked in the waiting room of two doctors, was a servant in a rich house, worked in a writing store, worked as a glassblower for one day, then in a printing house ... But as Charlie later admitted, he understood, that all this is temporary and in the end he will become an actor. While working in a print shop, Charlie fell ill with the flu and Lily insisted that he return to school.

One fine day a telegram came in which Sydney announced that he was coming the next day. From that moment on, life changed for the better. My brother brought a good salary, things went smoothly. And one day Charlie was invited to a theater agency and found out that he had been hired to play the role of Billy's messenger in the play "Sherlock Holmes", and before rehearsals began, he was offered to play the boy Sammy in the play "Jim, a ragamuffin novel." When Charlie was driving home in the omnibus, he began to realize what had happened: "Finally, I broke free from the shackles of poverty and entered the long-awaited kingdom of my dreams - the kingdom that my mother so often and so selflessly spoke about. I will become an actor!"

..Charlie hardly knew how to read, but in this he was helped by Sydney. He read aloud, and three days later, Charlie had learned all thirty-five pages of his rather big role as Sammy boy.
At the rehearsals of "Jim" he showed himself very well, and Mr. Sentsberry, the author of the play, had to correct only one shortcoming: when speaking, Charlie jerked his head and grimaced too much.
"Jim" was not a success, reviewers smashed it to smithereens. However, the role of Charlie was successful. Here is what a reviewer from the London Tropical Times wrote after analyzing the play: “The only thing that saves the play is the role of Sammy - a newspaper boy, a kind of London boy who drew laughter from the audience. performed by young Charles Chaplin, a talented and temperamental young actor. I have never heard of this boy, but I hope to hear a lot about him in the very near future. "

After a two-week tour of "Jim", rehearsals of "Sherlock Holmes" began. Then a big tour followed. The play was a success. When, after ten months of touring, the troupe returned to London, Charlie asked the director to give Sydney a small role in the play, and they had already gone on a second tour together. Shortly before returning to London, they received news that their mother had recovered. Lily came to her sons, but after a while she went home to equip housing. Charlie and Sydney stayed with her at the end of the second tour, but soon left on tour again. One day they learned that Lily was sick again. The clarity of reason never returned to her.

Text from a biography about Charles Chaplin.

FURTHER SUCCESSES OF CHARLES SPENCER CHAPLIN ARE KNOWN.

HE BECAME A GREAT ACTOR, COMIC.

A MAN WHO HAS BEEN LOVE AND APPLAUSE FROM THE WHOLE WORLD.

LEGENDARY PERSON..

MAN - ERA.

ACTOR, MUSICIAN, COMPOSER, DIRECTOR, SCENARIST-

GENIUS!!!

AND HE WRITTEN WRITTEN THAT IF IT WAS NOT LOVE, ATTENTION TO THE CHILDREN OF HIS MOTHER - POOR

LILI-ON WOULD NEVER BECOME AS WE KNOW HIM ..

AT THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY,

WHEN MONEY WAS NO LONGER A PROBLEM FOR HIM.

HE BOUGHT FOR MOTHER LILY, WHO WILL NOT GET OUT OF MADNESS,

HOUSE, LOCATE HER THERE,

WHERE SHE SPENDED THE LAST YEARS ...

Charlie Chaplin is a truly legendary person. Silent cinema is a thing of the past long ago, but even a child recognizes the image of the Tramp, played by Charlie Chaplin. World fame did not protect this great actor and director from the persecution of the authorities. And even two Oscars - the most prestigious awards in the United States - did not save him from disgrace.

Chaplin is four days older than Hitler.

Chaplin's height was only 165 cm, and his weight was 60 kilograms.

Chaplin had blue eyes and dark curly hair, but the actor quickly turned gray by the age of 35.

Few people know that Chaplin began his life in hopeless poverty. His father left the family when Charlie was very young (almost immediately after his birth). Chaplin's mother was a variety show singer, and when her voice disappeared at the height of her career, a woman and two small children (Charles and his brother Sid) ended up in a workhouse. The children had to go to the so-called "orphan school". It is noteworthy that Charlie Chaplin learned to read much later than he got his first role. He was very afraid that someone in the theater would convict him of illiteracy, so he tried to avoid moments when he could be forced to read parts of the role aloud. He taught everything at home, and his brother helped him in this.

Charlie needed jobs as an errand boy in a printing house, a newspaper salesman and even a doctor's assistant, because he needed money. However, he did not lose hope that someday he would be able to earn with his favorite thing - namely acting.

One of the most interesting and humorous stories associated with Charlie Chaplin is the story of his first performance on the music hall stage. It is already funny that at that time the future great comedian was only five (!) Years old, and he went on stage to replace the mother, who was booed by the audience, who served there. Chaplin was taken to the stage by the hand, and he sang the song "Jack Jones". As he sang it there, the story is silent, but the audience began to throw coins on the stage, and the boy, interrupting the song in mid-sentence, said that first he would collect all the coins, and only then he would finish the song to the end. The director of the music hall, crimson with shame, began to help the boy collect coins from the stage to the laughter of the audience, and then tried to go backstage, but that was not the case - Charlie decided that the director wanted to steal his earnings, and literally "stuck" to the director. Only when he saw that the unfortunate director had given the collected money to Chaplin's mother, Charlie continued his speech. As they would say now, Chaplin literally blew up the hall with his debut, which, most likely, predetermined his future fate and fame as the greatest comedian of all times and peoples.

And it happened. Charlie Chaplin was recognized as an actor, and his fees went off scale for a million dollars. And this is entirely his merit. Firstly, he was a very creative person and took part in the making of films from start to finish. Chaplin's creative freedom could not be limited. In the end, he himself began to direct his films, leaving the director who had sheltered him at first. And secondly, Charlie Chaplin acted as a kind of innovator when he decided to move away from the "slap comedy" and bring something lyrical to the image of the comic hero. This thought was prompted by the audience. In the film Loan Office, Chaplin's character tries to pity the clerk by gesturing that he has several small children who will have nothing to eat if their father does not get money. Initially, this moment was not conceived lyrical, but the audience in the cinema thought differently - many of them were clearly worried, sympathizing with the hero, and some even brushed away tears.

Having already become a millionaire, Chaplin continued to live for a long time in a third-rate hotel room. He also kept his studio receipts in an old suitcase for months.

Chaplin was left-handed, and even played the violin with his left hand.

Chaplin got a full-time job in theater at the age of 14 - before he could read.

Chaplin sympathized with the communists, the FBI opened a case against Chaplin back in the 30s - after the movie "New Times".

Chaplin lived in the United States for 40 years, but never received citizenship. Moreover, since 1952, entry into the United States was closed to him, and in order to obtain a visa, he had to answer to the Commission of the Department of Immigration to a number of charges of a political order, as well as to an accusation of moral licentiousness.

In 1917, Charlie Chaplin became the most expensive actor of the time, having signed a $ 1 million contract with First National.

Chaplin's favorite sport was boxing, and his favorite dance was tango. In the movie "City Lights" he "combined" fighting in the ring with tango.

Chaplin sold all of his shares in 1928 based on unemployment data - before the Great Depression.

During World War II, the "Committee for Assistance to Russia in the War" invited Chaplin to speak at the rally. Chaplin began his speech with the address "Comrades!" and called for the opening of a second front as soon as possible. After this speech (because of the spoken word "comrades"), Chaplin began to be considered a communist.

During the filming of The Great Dictator, Chaplin was warned that the film would be in trouble with the censorship. Chaplin was asked to abandon the production of the film, assuring that it will never be shown either in England or in the United States so as not to harm the neutral relations between the United States and Germany. After the German attack on the pressure "from above" stopped, but letters from the audience with threats began to arrive. In some of them, they threatened that they would throw suffocating gas bombs and shoot at the screen in cinemas, where the Dictator would be shown.

After the release of "The Dictator" on the screens, Nazi propaganda began to call Chaplin a Jew. The Commission of Inquiry on Anti-American Activities began an investigation into Chaplin's activities, one of the points of the investigation was his nationality.

According to the documentary "The Tramp and the Dictator" (2001), the film "The Great Dictator" was sent to Hitler, and Hitler watched this film (this fact is confirmed by witnesses).

During the filming of Chaplin's films, there was only one accident. Chaplin himself was injured on the set of Silent Street.

Chaplin had a soft spot for young teenage girls, for example:
He married Mildred Harris when she was 16, he was 28.
He was 35 when he married Lita Gray, she was 16. Chaplin's biographer Joyce Milton wrote that Chaplin's relationship with Lita Gray became the basis of Nabokov's novel Lolita.
He was 44 when he married Paulette Goddard, she was 19.
He was 54 years old when he married Una O "Neill, she was 18. In addition, he had 8 children from his marriage to Una. Una gave birth to her last child when the great comedian was 72 years old.

There were many women in Charlie Chaplin's life. Chaplin is the father of eleven children. They even tried to impose on him the twelfth through the court - however, the examination proved that this was not his child. The authorities did not like Chaplin for his adherence to communist ideas (it is now known that Chaplin's love for communism was most likely just a rumor). The United States accused him of anti-American activities and all the time came up with reasons for which it would be possible to create problems for the actor. From taxing his income (although Chaplin was not a US citizen) to a court order to force Chaplin to pay child support for a child who, according to a blood test, was not his son.

Chaplin was also a good composer. He wrote the music for many of his films himself.

Chaplin once, incognito, took part in a competition of doubles of himself (the image of the Tramp). According to one version, he took second place in the competition, according to another version - third.

Chaplin was married four times and had 11 children.

In 1928, Chaplin was awarded a special Oscar for the genius of the script, acting, directing and producing for the film "Circus".

In 1954, Chaplin was awarded the Soviet International Peace Prize.

In 1975, Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Chaplin's favorite comedian in the last years of his life was Briton Benny Hill. When Hill visited the Chaplin family in 1991, he was shown a large collection of Benny Hill videos that Chaplin had put together.

Chaplin was named # 79 among the "One Hundred Greatest Stars of All Time" by Empire Magazine (UK).

Chaplin made his last film, The Countess from Hong Kong, in 1967, 10 years before his death. The main roles in the film were played by Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando. Chaplin himself appears in the film in the cameo role of the old steward.

In 1978, Chaplin's coffin was dug up and stolen for ransom. Police arrested the criminals, and Chaplin was reburied on May 17, 1978.

On April 16, 1981, Chaplin's 92nd birthday, a monument was erected to him in London at Leicester Square. The statue is located near the Shakespeare monument.

On December 25, 1977, Charlie Chaplin died - a truly legendary personality. Silent cinema has become history today, but even children will recognize the images created by this brilliant actor.

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On December 25, 1977, Charlie Chaplin died - a truly legendary personality. Neither world fame nor two "Oscars" could protect this great director and comedian actor from the disgrace of the authorities, who off-screen was an active political personality and sought to achieve the notorious "world peace".

Chaplin's career lasted 75 years

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in Walworth (Great Britain) into a family of music hall artists.

He first appeared on stage at the age of 5, when it was necessary to replace the mother in the program, who had problems with the larynx. Little Charlie managed to get a standing ovation from the audience, who showered him with coins and bills.

The young actor conquered the audience even more when he began to collect this money from the stage with childlike spontaneity right during the performance.

From that moment, Chaplin's career began, which, stretching for 75 years, continued until the death of the great comedian.

Charlie Chaplin. (photo of 1915).

Charlie Chaplin got his first role before he could read

Chaplin's childhood was spent in hopeless poverty. The father left the family, and Charlie and his brother were forced to go to an orphan school.

Charlie Chaplin worked as a newspaper salesman, an errand boy in a printing house, a doctor's assistant and never lost hope that he could someday be able to make money by acting.

Charlie Chaplin took violin lessons.

Charlie Chaplin got his first theater role at the age of 14 - the role of Billy the messenger in the play "Sherlock Holmes". Then Chaplin was illiterate and was very afraid that he would be asked to read several paragraphs aloud. He learned the role with the help of his brother Sidney.

Charlie Chaplin became the youngest and most expensive actor of his time

His earnings are growing exponentially. Already in 1915 he received $ 1250, and in 1916 "Mutual Film" pays the comedian $ 10 thousand a week. In 1917, Chaplin signed a $ 1 million deal with First National Pictures and became the most expensive actor in history at the time.

Charlie Chaplin in Children's Car Racing (1914)

Receiving fabulous fees, Chaplin kept checks in a suitcase.

In 1922, Charlie Chaplin built his own home in Beverly Hills. The house had 40 rooms, an organ and a cinema.

After the film "The Great Dictator" Chaplin began to be called a communist.

The film was refused to be shown in cinemas in England and the United States, because they were afraid to break the fragile peace with Germany, and Chaplin was accused of inciting hysteria.

A commission was even appointed to investigate the actor's anti-American actions. After the film was watched by Hitler, the actor was called a "scoundrel."

During World War II, Chaplin spoke at one of the rallies and called for a second front to be opened as soon as possible. The first word in his speech was “comrades”, after which Western propaganda began to call the actor “communist”.

In the United States, Chaplin was persona non grata

In 1952, Chaplin finished work on his painting "Ramp Lights", which tells about creativity and the fate of a creative person.

On September 17 of the same year, he went to the world premiere of his film in London, and could not return to the United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Edgar Hoover managed to get the immigration authorities to ban Chaplin from entering the country.

By the way, Charlie Chaplin lived in the United States for over 40 years, but never received American citizenship. The official reason for the refusal to enter the country was the presence of the comedian's name on Orwell's list. After that, Chaplin settled in the city of Vevey in Switzerland.

Shot from the movie Ramp Lights. Chaplin as Calvero.

Chaplin's last child was born when he was 72 years old

Charlie Chaplin and his wives.

In 1924, Charlie Chaplin married 16-year-old Lita Gray. The marriage was contracted in Mexico, which avoided problems with American law, which did not allow marriage at the age of 16.

After the divorce in 1928, Chaplin paid Lita a record amount for that time - $ 825 thousand, which became the reason for an investigation by the tax authorities. According to Joyce Milton, Chaplin's biographer, this relationship was based on the novel "Lolita" by Nabokov.

Charlie Chaplin with his wife Una.

Chaplin's fourth wife, Oona O'Neill, was 36 years younger than him. When Una got married in 1943, her father stopped communicating with her.

In 1952, leaving for London, Chaplin gave his wife a power of attorney to his bank account, which allowed Una to take out Chaplin's property from the United States. She later renounced her American citizenship.

Charlie Chaplin with his wife and children.

Chaplin and O'Neill had three sons and five daughters. The last child was born when the comedian was 72 years old.

Chaplin's coffin was kidnapped

On the morning of March 2, 1978, the cemetery warden reported this to the police, and in the evening, unknown persons called Chaplin's widow and said that the sarcophagus with her husband's body was in a "safe place."

Grave of Charlie Chaplin and his wife.

Negotiations with the robbers, who demanded 600 thousand Swiss francs, lasted for almost a month. The police detected the criminals on the 27th call. The malefactors turned out to be 38-year-old Gancho Ganev and 24-year-old Roman Vardas.

Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and cane sold for over $ 60,000

Chaplin's bowler hat at auction in Los Angeles

In 2012, Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and cane were sold for $ 62.5 thousand at the Bonhams auction house in Los Angeles.

The organizers of the auction said that these were the accessories used by the great comedian on the set of the films "New Times" and "City Lights".

True, it is not known for certain how many canes and bowlers that were filmed with Chaplin have survived to this day.

At the Oscars, the audience gave a standing ovation to Chaplin for 12 minutes. The first Oscar was brought to Charlie Chaplin by the film The Great Dictator. In 1941, the actor received a statuette for Best Actor.

In 1948, Chaplin was again awarded an Oscar. This time - for the best script ("Monsieur Verdou"). In 1962, Charlie Chaplin became a doctor of the University of Oxford, and in 1975 - Elizabeth II presented him with the Knight Commander of the British Empire.

In 1970, Charlie Chaplin's star was laid on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And his photos are included in collections of the most iconic photographs eminent photographers.

Charlie Chaplin's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1972, 82-year-old Charlie Chaplin was awarded an honorary Oscar "for his invaluable contribution to making cinema an art in this century." The audience gave a standing ovation to the great comedian for 12 minutes.

Charlie Chaplin at the 1972 Academy Awards.

Throughout his film career, Chaplin has appeared in 82 films. Chaplin made about $ 10.5 million from his films.

Charlie Chaplin. (photo of 1915).

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in Walworth (Great Britain) into a family of music hall artists. He first appeared on stage at the age of 5, when it was necessary to replace the mother in the program, who had problems with the larynx. Little Charlie managed to get a standing ovation from the audience, who showered him with coins and bills. The young actor conquered the audience even more when he began to collect this money from the stage with childlike spontaneity right during the performance.

From that moment, Chaplin's career began, which, stretching for 75 years, continued until the death of the great comedian.

Charlie Chaplin took violin lessons.

Chaplin's childhood was spent in hopeless poverty. The father left the family, and Charlie and his brother were forced to go to an orphan school. Charlie Chaplin worked as a newspaper salesman, an errand boy in a printing house, a doctor's assistant and never lost hope that he could someday be able to make money by acting.

Charlie Chaplin in Children's Car Racing (1914)

On September 23, 1913, Chaplin signed a contract with Keystone Film Company. Then his salary was $ 150. In 1914, he directed his first film, Caught by the Rain, where he acted as a director, actor and screenwriter. His earnings are growing exponentially. Already in 1915 he received $ 1250, and in 1916 "Mutual Film" pays the comedian $ 10 thousand a week. In 1917, Chaplin signed a $ 1 million deal with First National Pictures and became the most expensive actor in history at the time.

It is known that even after Charlie Chaplin managed to earn his first million, he continued to live in a more than modest hotel room, and he kept the checks he received in the studio in an old suitcase all his life. In 1922, Charlie Chaplin built his own home in Beverly Hills. The house had 40 rooms, an organ and a cinema.

Shot from the movie Ramp Lights. Chaplin as Calvero.

In 1952, Chaplin finished work on his painting "Ramp Lights", which tells about creativity and the fate of a creative person. On September 17 of the same year, he went to the world premiere of his film in London, and could not return to the United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Edgar Hoover managed to get the immigration authorities to ban Chaplin from entering the country. By the way, Charlie Chaplin lived in the United States for over 40 years, but never received American citizenship. The official reason for the refusal to enter the country was the presence of the comedian's name on Orwell's list. After that, Chaplin settled in the city of Vevey in Switzerland.

Charlie Chaplin and his wives.

Charlie Chaplin's first wife in 1918 was 16-year-old Mildred Harris. The marriage lasted only 2 years. In his autobiography, Chaplin wrote: “ Mildred wasn't evil, but she was hopelessly zoological. I could never get to her soul - she was stuffed with some pink rags and all kinds of nonsense».

Charlie Chaplin with his wife Una.

Charlie Chaplin with his wife and children.

Chaplin and O'Neill had three sons and five daughters. The last child was born when the comedian was 72 years old.

Grave of Charlie Chaplin and his wife.

Charlie Chaplin passed away on December 25, 1977 at the age of 88. Two months after the funeral of the great actor, sensational news spread around the world - the coffin with the body of a comedian was stolen from the cemetery at the Anglican Church in Vevey. On the morning of March 2, 1978, the cemetery warden reported this to the police, and in the evening, unknown persons called Chaplin's widow and said that the sarcophagus with her husband's body was in a "safe place."

Chaplin's bowler hat at auction in Los Angeles

In 2012, Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and cane were sold for $ 62,500 at the Bonhams auction house in Los Angeles. True, it is not known for certain how many canes and bowlers that were filmed with Chaplin have survived to this day.

The first Oscar was brought to Charlie Chaplin by the film The Great Dictator. In 1941, the actor received a statuette for Best Actor. In 1948, Chaplin was again awarded an Oscar. This time - for the best script ("Monsieur Verdou"). In 1962, Charlie Chaplin became a doctor of the University of Oxford, and in 1975 - Elizabeth II presented him with the Knight Commander of the British Empire. In 1970, Charlie Chaplin's star was laid on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And his photos are now included in the collection of the most iconic photographs of eminent photographers.