10 facts from the life of a comedian who praised the "little man"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

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. 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 threw coins and bills at him. The young actor won 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 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 earn money by acting.

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

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.

Receiving fabulous royalties, Chaplin kept checks in a suitcase

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.

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

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."

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.

Chaplin's last child was born when he was 72

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.

Charlie Chaplin's first wife in 1918 was 16-year-old Mildred Harris. The marriage lasted only 2 years. In his autobiography, Chaplin wrote: "".

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.

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'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.

Chaplin's coffin was kidnapped

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 caretaker reported this to the police, and in the evening unknown people 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 were 38-year-old Gancho Ganev and 24-year-old Roman Vardas.

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

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

At the Oscar ceremony, the audience applauded Chaplin standing 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 photo today is included in collections of the most iconic photographs eminent photographers.

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.

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