The first great screen comedian, Charlie Chaplin

1:50 AM - 1 comment
 


The first great screen comedian, Charles Chaplin was also one of the most gifted directors in history. Charlie Chaplin was a superstar of silent comedies and one of the great icons of 20th-century film. he was one of the greatest and widely loved silent movie stars. He lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era Often associated with his popular "Little Tramp" character; the man with the toothbrush mustache, bowler hat, bamboo cane, and a funny walk & highly descriptive facial expressions.

From Easy Street (1917) to Modern Times (1936), he made many of the funniest and most popular films of his time.Charlie Chaplin was born Charles Spencer Chaplin in London, England on 16 April 1889. His parents, Charles Chaplin, Sr and Hannah Hill were music hall entertainers but separated shortly after Charlie was born, leaving Hannah to provide for her children.

For Chaplin, the best way to locate the humor or pathos of a situation was to create an environment and walk around it until something natural happened. The concern of early theater and film was to simply keep the audience’s attention through overdramatic acting that exaggerated emotions, but Chaplin saw in film an opportunity to control the environment enough to allow subtlety to come through. Chaplin said about his on screen character 'I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the make-up made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked on to the stage he was fully born.'

The public first saw the tramp when Chaplin, at age 24, appeared in his second film to be released (7 February 1914), Kid Auto Races at Venice.The Tramp debuted during the silent film era in the Keystone comedy Kid Auto Races at Venice (released on 7 February 1914). The 1931 production City Lights featured no dialogue. Chaplin officially retired the character in the film Modern Times (released 5 February 1936).Chaplin, with his Little Tramp character, quickly became the most popular star.Two films Chaplin made in 1915, The Tramp and The Bank, created the characteristics of his screen persona. Chaplin's first talking picture, The Great Dictator (1940). At 77 Chaplin made one last film. A pleasant romantic comedy, A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) might have been more successful

He was 47 years old when he wed Paulette Goddard; Paulette was 25, Chaplin was 29 years old when he wed Mildred Harris; she was 16,He was 35 years old when he wed Lita Grey; Lita was 16,He was 54 years old when he wed Oona O'Neill (Oona Chaplin); Oona was 17 .

More About Him
  • Received an Honorary Oscar the The 44th Annual Academy Awards (1972) (TV).
  • Golden Camera Awards 2005 in Berlin
  • His bowler and cane was sold for $150,000 in 1987.
  • He was the first actor to appear on the cover of "Time" magazine, (July 6, 1925).
  • Named the - 10 Greatest Actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends list by the American Film Institute.
  • His performance as The Tramp in City Lights (1931) is ranked - 44 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
  • Also ranked - 44 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time for City Lights (2006).
  • He was also the first actor to have a comic strip about him; Ed Carey's 1916 strip, "Pa's Imported Son-in-Law", detailed the adventures of Chaplin.
  • Cinematic genius that he was, Chaplin never won an Academy Award in an acting category, his only Oscar victory being in the capacity of composer.
  • Composed about 500 melodies
  • He was awarded the Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 1975 Queen's Honours List for his services to entertainment.
  • On 3 March 1978 his dead body was stolen from the Corsier-Sur-Vevey cemetery. It took until 18 May when the police found it.
  • After his body was recovered from grave robbers, Chaplin was reburied in a vault surrounded by cement.
Charlie died on December 25, 1977 at his home in Switzerland. His films show, Though Chaplin is of the silent movie era, we see his achievements carried through in the films of today,through the Little Tramp's positive outlook on life in a world full of chaos, that the human spirit has and always will remain the same.His figure is recognized and his comedy instantly understood by hundreds of millions of people of every race.