Charlie Chaplin as “The Little Tramp”

Charlie Chaplin was an English comedic actor who wrote, filmed, and composed many of his silent era films. Chaplin was best known for his onscreen persona “The Tramp”, and is considered to be an ageless icon in the film industry. With a career spanning more than 75 years, Chaplin has made his mark as one of the most influential and skilled actors, producer, and director of all time. While Chaplin can now be unequivocally seen as a staple in the film industry, it was not always the case, and nor was his early life anywhere near as glamorous as the latter. 

Growing up on the streets of London, Chaplin learned to deal with an absent father figure and copious amounts of financial instability. His single mother could often barely take care of him and by the time he was nine, Chaplin had been sent to a workhouse to provide him with labor and food so that he may survive. Chaplin had to learn very early on that the world does not care if you live or die, but simply if you learn to fight against the inevitable struggle you can come out successful. He was subjected to child labor as the only alternative to death, and on top of that, by the time he was fourteen, his mother had been committed to an insane asylum. Unfortunately this was the late 1800’s early 1900’s and mental health was akin to insanity and they could not help her. Eventually her health deteriorated further into a dementia-like state and she died when Charlie was only 21. 

Despite his financial situation and the health of his mother, Chaplin spent the better part of his childhood and teen years pursuing his dream in the performing arts. He would do tours of music halls and work as a stage actor and comedian. As a nineteen-year-old, Chaplin’s efforts had paid off and he was signed to the prestigious Fred Karno company, which gave him free passage to the United States where his success would go far beyond that of many peoples’ dreams. By the time he was 25, Chaplin began to appear in well established studios, and by the time he was 29, Charlie Chaplin was the most recognizable name in the industry. 

Chaplin as a teenager in the play ‘Sherlock Holmes’

Chaplin would go on to produce many more hit films, and occasionally he would get into trouble with the politics of the time. During the 1940s, Chaplin was labeled a communist and a man of unsightly character, and due to federal investigations and lawsuits Chaplin eventually had to move to Switzerland as his popularity sharply declined. Despite his unpopularity, Chaplin continued to write, produce, and star in several very successful films until a year before his death in 1977. 

Chaplin was dealt a very unforgiving hand at birth, but he took the opportunities available to him and refused to let an entire country cancel him. Chaplin did not care who he impressed or insulted, he simply did his craft to the best of his ability and tried to make the most out of it.