PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Chaplin toured with a vaudeville outfit named Casey's Court Circus and in 1908 teamed up with the Fred Karno pantomime troupe
With the Karno troupe, Chaplin got his first taste of America, where he caught the eye of film producer Mack Sennett, who signed him to a $150/week contract
In 1914 Chaplin made his film debut.
To stand out from the clad of other
actors in Sennett films,
Chaplin decided to play a character,
and "The Little Tramp" was born
Over the next year,
Chaplin appeared in 35 movies
In 1915 Chaplin left Sennett
to join the Essanay Company.
He was paid $1,250 a week.
By the age of 26, just three years
removed from his vaudeville days,
Chaplin was a superstar.
Working with the Mutual Company,
he earned $670,000 a year.
In 1919, Chaplin co-founded
a film distribution company,
United Artists,
which gave him complete control over his films.
Chaplin also became famous
for his life off-screen.
He had numerous affairs with actresses who acted in his movies.
In 1918 he married
16-year-old Mildred Harris.
1924 he wed another 16-year-old, actress Lita Grey,
whom he'd cast in The Gold Rush
In 1931, City Lights, a critical and commercial success that included music Chaplin scored himself
Modern Times, 1936, was Chaplin's biting commentary about the state of the world's economic and political infrastructures.
That same year, Chaplin married his co-star of Modern Times, a chorus girl who went by the film name of
Paulette Goddard.
The Great Dictator (1940), which pointedly ridiculed the governments of Hitler and Mussolini.
In 1943,
Chaplin married 18-year-old
Oona O'Neill
By this time,
Charlie had 11 children
His romantic liaisons led to many women's groups outrage, which in turn led to being barred from entering some U.S. states.
As the Cold War settled in, Chaplin saw injustices taking place in the fight of Communism in the U.S.
In 1952, the Attorney General of the United States announced that Chaplin, would not be permitted to return to the United States.
Chaplin said goodbye to the
United States and took up
residence in Switzerland.