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😉 Hello everyone! Thank you for choosing this site! In the article “Charlie Chaplin: Brief Biography, Personal Life” about the main stages of the life of the famous comedian.
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin is a versatile master of cinematography. He created one of the most famous images – the Tramp. The actor skillfully combined the techniques of pantomime and buffoonery.
Since 1914, Chaplin has been a director and screenwriter of films, where he played some role. Since 1916, he becomes a producer, two years later he begins to write music. In 1919, together with famous actors, he created the United Artists film studio.
He is an Academy Award winner and has won two Oscars out of competition. Chaplin began his career in the era of Queen Victoria. He devoted 75 years of his life to cinema.
Charles was born on April 16, 1889 in London, into an artistic family:
- my father had a pleasant baritone, he composed many songs himself. He often went on tour. On these trips, he sometimes abused alcohol. Passed away at 37;
- his paternal grandmother was a gypsy, which Charles was proud of, although he considered it “a skeleton in the family closet”;
- mother – Hannah, an artist of the music hall, sang and danced.
First performance
Charlie, five, took the stage to replace his sick mother at a concert. The kid was greeted with loud applause, some threw coins.
The “artist” was not at a loss, but concentratedly began to collect coins, interrupting his performance for a few minutes. Having collected everything, he calmly returned to the middle of the stage and finished the last verse.
Hannah soon completely lost her voice. In 1896, Hannah developed mental problems and was admitted to a clinic. For a while, Charlie and his half-brother Sidney lived with their mother in a workhouse. When the children grew up a little, they were placed in a school for the poor.
Work in the theater
At the age of 9, Charlie performed in the 8 Lancashire Boys dance group for children. He rarely went to school, raising money for a meager life. At the age of 14, the teenager got a job in the theater and a tiny role. He read poorly, and Sydney helped to memorize the words of the role.
In 1910, Chaplin and the theater toured the United States for almost two years. On his next trip overseas, he decided not to return home.
Cinema
In the fall of 1913, Mac Sennett, the owner of Keystone Studios, signed a contract with Chaplin, setting a weekly salary of $ 150. After the first film, Sennett already believed that he had made a mistake by hiring an inexperienced actor, but he gave him another chance. A little time passed, and films with Chaplin’s participation began to pay dividends.
He became a famous film actor, constantly shaping and finely honing the film image. This is how the Tramp appeared in the comedy “Children’s Auto Racing”, which was released in 1914.
Creating an image that conquered the world
Beginning the filming of a new movie, Mac Sennett asked Chaplin to make up for the role of a reporter. Charlie wandered into the dressing room in confusion. Here he put on wide trousers, hefty boots and a bowler hat. I glued on a little antennae to look older.
Looking around, he saw a cane. This was the last highlight of the image.
The inconsistency of the suit was shocking. Baggy trousers, a narrow waistcoat, an oversized bowler hat and huge heavy shoes, which he swapped. The costume combined with the make-up gave birth to the image that conquered the whole world.
The image corresponded to the status, had refined manners of a gentleman. Many elements of the costume were previously used by the actors, but only Chaplin, combining them together, created a unique image. Charlie Chaplin’s height – 1,65 m; zodiac sign – Aries.
Charlie Chaplin’s wives
Chaplin was married four times and had 12 children.
Photo from left to right:
- the first – Mildred Harris, was 13 years younger than the actor. The marriage lasted about two years.
- the second – then Chaplin married Lita Gray, who was not yet 16 years old. Therefore, the marriage was officially formalized in Mexico.
- third – Paulette Goddard lived with Chaplin for eight years. She later moved to Switzerland and married the writer Erich Remarque.
- the fourth – the last wife of the actor in 1943 was Una O’Neill, who was 36 years younger. The family had eight children.
In 1975, Queen Elizabeth II knighted Charles Chaplin. The great comedian left this world on December 25, 1977.
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