Occupation

Director, Actor,Screenwriter, Producer & Composer.

Born

Charles Spencer Chaplin on the 16th April 1889 Walworth, London, England

Married

Mildred Harris (23rd October 1918 - 1920) Divorced 1 Child

Lita Grey (26th November 1924 - 1926) Divorced 2 Children

Paulette Goddard (June 1936 - June 1942) Divorced

Oona O’Neil ( 16th June 1943 - 1977) His Death 8 Children

Active

1914 - 1977

Died

Of Natural Causes on the 25th December 1977 in Vevey, Switzerland.

The first great screen comedian, Charles Chaplin was also one of the most gifted directors in history, and a formidable talent as a writer and composer as well.

The son of music hall performers from England, he began working on the stage at age five.

He was a popular child dancer and got  work on the London stage, eventually moving up to acting roles.

It was while touring America in 1912 that Chaplin was spotted by Mack Sennett, the head of Keystone studios, and he was signed to the studio a year later.

After a disappointing, relatively  non-descript debut, Chaplin began evolving the screen persona that would emerge as his most famous screen portrayal, The Little Tramp, and it was after his  first 11 movies that Chaplin manifested the desire to direct films.

By his 13th movie, he had shifted into the director's chair, and also emerged as a writer. Chaplin's 35 films at  Keystone Studios established him as a major screen comedian, and afforded him the chance to adapt his stage routines to the screen.

He next moved on to Essanay Studios, where he had virtually complete creative freedom, and The Little Tramp became an  established big-screen star.

In 1916, Chaplin went to Mutual, earning  an astronomical $10,000 per week under a contract that gave him absolute control  of his films -- the Mutual title, most notably The Immigrant and Easy Street, are still counted among the greatest comedies ever made.

These modestly proportioned two-reelers  were followed by Chaplin's move to First National Studios, where he made  lengthier, more ambitious, but fewer films including the comedy The Kid, which  was the second highest grossing silent film after D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a  Nation , and made an overnight sensation of his co-star, Jackie Coogan.

By this time, Chaplin was an international celebrity of a status that modern audiences can only wonder at because he achieved his status through comedy.

With three other screen giants, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and D.W. Griffith, he founded United Artists, the first modern production and distribution company, and achieved further  renown as a director with A Woman of Paris two years later.

In 1925, he made what is generally  considered his magnum opus, The Gold Rush.

Chaplin's success continued into the sound era, although he resisted using sound until Modern Times in 1936.

He had his first failure with the  anti-Hitler political satire The Great Dictator, in 1940, at around the same time that Chaplin's personal life -- he had been involved in several awkward  problems with various women, including a paternity suit filed against him by aspiring actress Joan Barry began to catch up with him.

Chaplin's career during the immediate  post-World War II period was marred by continuing problems, as his pacifism and alleged anti-American views led to investigations.

He also made the black comedy Monsieur Verdoux, which failed at the box office. It was followed, however, by the best of his sound comedies, Limelight, which -- because of his legal difficulties -- didn't open in Los Angeles until two decades later -- at which time its score,  written by Chaplin, received an Oscar.

A King in New  York,in 1957, and The Countess from Hong Kong, made nine years later, closed out his career on a  lackluster note.

After D.W. Griffith, Chaplin was the most  important filmmaker of the silent film era.

Through his clear understanding of film  and its capabilities, and his constant experimentation -- he frequently ran though hundreds of takes to get just the right shot and effect he wanted -- he  set most of the rules for screen comedy that are still being followed more than 80 years  later, and his on-screen image remains one of the most familiar.

 On the 4th March 1975 becomes Sir Charles Chaplin a “Knight Commader of the British The Empire”