Charles Spencer Chaplin is considered one of the most important stars of the early days in Hollywood. He was born on April 26, 1886 in Walworth, England. His parents were both music hall entertainers. One day his mom was supposed to sing, but unfortunately she became ill. This gave Charles a chance to make his first appearance and substitute his mother. This happened when he was only five years old. When he was eight, he toured in a musical "The Eight Lancaster Lads". From age seventeen to twenty-four he was with Fred Karno's English variety show company. This company brought Charles to New York in 1910 when he was 21. Three years later in November of 1913 he signed a contract with Mack Sennett (Keystone) and on December, he left for Hollywood.
His first film, which would launch his career to the top was Making a Living which premiered in February of 1914. Not only this, but later on that same year, he achieved 35 other films. Later the next year, he moved to Essanay and did another fourteen movies. In, 1918 he joined First National (later gripped by Warner Bros.) and in 1919 Charlie formed United Artists along with D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. His first full-length film, The Kid came out in 1921. His first fully produced and directed by himself film, A Woman of Paris, was released in 1923.
Chaplin was married four times and had a total of 11 children. In 1918 he
married Mildred Harris. They had a son together, Norman Spencer Chaplin, who
unfortunately only lived three days. They later got divorced in 1920. He wed
Lita Grey in 1924. They had two sons together, Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sydney
Chaplin. Their marriage only lasted about three years and got a divorce in
1927. In 1936,
Chaplin said "I do" to Paulette Goddard, but they had no
children together. His final and probably the biggest marriage was in 1943 to Oona O'Neill, who was the daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill. Oona gave birth
to eight children: Annette-Emilie, Christopher Chaplin, Eugene, Jane, Geraldine
Chaplin, Josephine Chaplin,
Michael and Chaplin, Victoria Chaplin.
A special award "for versatility and genius in writing, acting, directing and producing” was given to him at the first Oscar awards on1929. Charlie got tired of political and serious arguments; and not only this, but he was plagued by tax collectors. He decided to leave the United States and fly to Switzerland in 1952.
Luckily, he returned to Hollywood in 1972. Of course he came for a reason. He went to Hollywood to claim a special Oscar which was honoring his lifetime contributions to movies. Three years after picking his Oscar award in 1975 he was named, “Knight Commander of the British Empire”. Unfortunately, Chaplin died in his sleep of natural causes on Christmas Day, December 25, 1977 at his home in Switzerland.