Charlie Chaplin

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin KBE was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. Charlie Chaplin became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, “The Tramp”, and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and controversy. Wikipedia

Charlie Chaplin Quotes

A day without laughter is a day wasted.

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.

We think too much and feel too little.

Nothing is permanent in this wicked world – not even our troubles.

You’ll never find a rainbow if you’re looking down

Words are cheap. The biggest thing you can say is ‘elephant’.

What do you want a meaning for? Life is a desire, not a meaning.

I always like walking in the rain, so no one can see me crying.

Imagination means nothing without doing.

In the end, everything is a gag.

Childhood

Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London, England, on April 16th, 1889. His father was a versatile vocalist and actor; and his mother, known under the stage name of Lily Harley, was an attractive actress and singer, who gained a reputation for her work in the light opera field.

Charlie was thrown on his own resources before he reached the age of ten as the early death of his father and the subsequent illness of his mother made it necessary for Charlie and his brother, Sydney, to fend for themselves.

Wives

Mildred Harris

Charlie Chaplin’s first wife was Mildred Harris (1901-1944). They married in 1918 after Mildred believed she was pregnant – it was a false alarm, though she did later give birth to Charlie’s first child, who sadly only lived for three days. Their divorce, in 1920, was acrimonious.

Lita Grey

His second wife was Lita Grey (1908-1995). She played the flirtatious angel in The Kid and one of Edna’s maids in The Idle Class, and started out as the leading lady for The Gold Rush before falling for Charlie and then falling pregnant. She had two children with Chaplin, Charles Jr. and Sydney Earl. This marriage (1924-1927) also came to a bitter end in court.

Paulette Goddard

Charlie Chaplin’s third marriage lasted from 1936 to 1942 and was to Paulette Goddard (1911-1990), the actress who appeared in Modern Times and The Great Dictator. Though Charlie and Paulette divorced, it was by all accounts, on amicable terms.

Oona O’Neill

When Charlie Chaplin married Oona O’Neill in June 1943, he at last found true happiness, and it seems they had both found their soul mates, despite the fact that Oona was only 18, and Charlie was 53.

It is paradoxical that tragedy stimulates the spirit of ridicule … ridicule, I suppose, is an attitude of defiance; we must laugh in the face of our helplessness against the forces of nature – or go insane.

— Chaplin explaining why his comedies often make fun of tragic circumstances