Biography
The British-American entertainer, writer, director and producer was perhaps best known for his
creation of the memorable character, the Tramp, also known as the Little Fellow or simply Charlie.
As the younger son of music hall entertainers and a gifted mime, he first went on stage at age
five. From 1895 until her death on August 28, 1928, his mother was in and out of institutions with
physical and emotional problems. With an alcoholic father who could not care for them, Charlie and his
older half-brother Sydney were placed in children's homes and workhouses. At age ten, Charles took to
the stage with Sydney as the boys tried to fend for themselves. Charlie made his professional debut as
a member of a juvenile group called "The Lancashire Lads." He soon became the group's top tap
dancer. At age 14, he got his first acting gig in a legitimate stage show, "Sherlock Holmes," when he
appeared as Billy the page boy. When the play closed, he began his career as a Vaudeville comedian and
first came to the United States in 1910 with the Fred Karno Repertoire Company. American audiences were
enamored with him. In 1912, on a repeat tour in the U.S., Chaplin was offered a motion picture contract
and agreed to do movies as soon as his Vaudeville contract ended in 1913. He joined Mack Sennett and
the Keystone Film Company in December of that year. With Keystone, he turned out as many as 35 films
per year. His first film, "Making a Living," was released in February 1914 and later that month,
Chaplin assembled the costume of his trademark character, the Tramp, a persona that would serve him
well in his life. His success caught the attention of other producers and in 1915 he joined the Essanay
Company on the prospect of earning a great deal more money. That year, he released his
movie, "The Tramp." By 1916, more in demand than ever, he signed with the Mutual Film Corporation for a
still larger salary, turning out such hits as "The Floorwalker," "the Fireman, "The Vagabond," and
others.
After his contract with Mutual ended in 1917, he decided to become an independent producer. He built
his own studios in Hollywood and in 1918 entered into an agreement with First National Exhibitors
Circuit to promote his pictures. He continued to make hilarious movies that appealed to post-World
War I audiences. In April 1919, he joined with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith to
found United Artists Corporation. In 1921, he produced his six-reel masterpiece, "The Kid," introducing
child-star Jackie Coogan to audiences everywhere. In 1921, he sailed for a well-deserved European
vacation and was received warmly on his home continent.
Under his arrangements with United Artists, Chaplin made eight feature movies, including "Gold Rush" (1925),
"City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), and "The Great Dictator (1940) in which he played a dual role and
talked on screen for the first time. In 1957, he wrote, acted in, directed and composed the music for "A King
in New York." In 1966, he produced his last picture "A Countess form Hong Kong" for Universal Pictures.
Despite his lack of formal education and a poverty-stricken deprived childhood, Chaplin was a
self-made artistic genius. In addition to his achievements on the stage and in the movie industry, he
wrote his own scripts, authored four books and composed several songs and soundtracks for his film. He
had taught himself to play a variety of instruments and cultivated a life-long interest in music.
With a predilection for young beauties, he married four times, first to actress Mildred Harris, only
16 at the time of their marriage on October 23, 1918. They had a child who was born deformed in July
1919 and died three days later. He and Mildred divorced two years later in November 1920. In 1924, he
married Lita Gray, age 16 and pregnant at the time. They had two sons, Charles Spencer, Jr., born May 5, 1925,
and Sydney Earle, born on March 30, 1926. He secretly married his third wife, well-known actress, Paulette
Goddard in 1935 when she was 19 and he was 44. News of their union wasn't released until the following year,
and they divorced in 1942. His fourth marriage to Oona O'Neill, daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neil, was
reputed to be a true partnership and lasted the rest of his life. They married on June 16, 1943 when he was
54 and she was 18. Their marriage produced eight children, including actress Geraldine Chaplin, who starred
in Dr.Zhivago.
Chaplin had never become a U.S. citizen and his left-of-center politics raised suspicion that he was
a Communist. His legal and political troubles began in 1943, when actress Joan Barry filed an ugly
paternity suit against him. In the course of investigations, Chaplin was charged with two federal
crimes: violations of the Mann Act which forbade taking people across state lines for illicit sexual
purposes and several counts of violations of Joan Barry's civil rights. By 1945, the federal charges
were dropped but his reputation had been somewhat tarnished. Blood tests proved he was not the father
but were inadmissible under California state law, and he was ordered to pay for child-support until the
child reached age 18. With the onset of the Cold War, suspicion about his Communist leanings proliferated.
Thus, in September 1952, two days after he and his family set sail for a London premiere of his movie
"Limelight," the US Attorney General revoked his re-entry permit, claiming that Chaplin would have to prove
himself morally and politically fit to return to the US. Chaplin chose instead to remain in exile, living
out the rest of his life in an elegant manor near Vevey, Switzerland.
He was knighted by the Queen in 1975. On December 25, 1977 at 4:00 AM in Corsier-sur-Vevey, he died
peacefully in his sleep at the age of 88. His wife Oona lived until the age of 66, dying September 27,
1991.
Top
Quotes:
- "A day without laughter is a day wasted."
- "The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury."
- "Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot"
- "I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher
plane than any politician."
- "All my pictures are built around the idea of getting in trouble and so giving me the chance to
be desperately serious in my attempt to appear as a normal little gentleman."
- "If people don't sit at Chaplin's feet, he goes out and stands where they are sitting." Herman J. Mankiewicz
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What Do You Think?
The role of the little tramp with refined taste and bearing came naturally to Charlie Chaplin.
Chaplin had an Oliver Twist childhood - including time in an orphanage and work house. He was also
the first actor to strike a million dollar deal. In the movies and in life, he played the innocent
who is shocked to find himself in big trouble. He married four times to teenagers and ended up with
more than one record- breaking divorce. He worked for peace and was told not come back to America
while on a world tour. He liked to say, "I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a
clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician."
- When an actor seems type-cast for a role, that role is usually detectable in the natal chart.
Can you find the little tramp in Chaplin's chart?
- Chaplin married four times. Every woman was under 20, including his last wife who was 18 when he
was 54. His first three marriages were short, the divorces were acrimonious and there were plenty of
accusations of philandering. Where is the destructive infatuation with young women and why did it
stop at 54?
- How do you interpret his unaspected Aries sun in the sixth house?
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Answers
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