Where and how to meet your digital twin. Charlie Chaplin short biography Receiving fabulous fees, Chaplin kept checks in a suitcase

THE GREAT MAGIC OF COMEDY CHARLIE CHAPLIN

"Tin horror on the face,
Soot walks, wax flutters,
The head can't hold up at all.
And Chaplin says quietly..."

Osip Mandelstam

Huge boots. Bowler hat and cane. Mustache in the shape of a shoe brush. Not a single actor, unless he is a genius, will be able to create an immortal image with the help of such insignificant things. The unsurpassed mime proved to the whole world what can be achieved maximum effect without a single gesture. And it is unlikely that any other person will ever be able to bring more joy, pleasure and relief at a time when most people need them so much. Federico Fellini considered him “Adam, from whom we all trace our ancestry...” But even just being a genius is not enough. Must be .

Legendary person

In the age of computers and unimaginable special effects, his black-and-white silent films, which long ago became classics of cinema, impress in a way that the most sophisticated Hollywood blockbuster will never impress. They still force the viewer laugh and cry, allow you to look at life’s small troubles with new eyes and, like Chaplin’s hero, the Tramp, not give up and not be discouraged.

Charles Spencer Chaplin born 1889 in London. His parents were music hall performers. This fact sealed Charlie's fate. Also in early childhood While watching his mother Hannah perform in the music halls of his native London, Charles learned to sing and dance. Father Chaplin was an alcoholic and left the family shortly after the birth of the child. His mother was often treated in psychiatric hospitals. Chaplin spent most of his childhood on the street and in various orphanages. When he grew up, he began to earn a living, first at a hairdresser, and then as a watchman at a music hall. What he experienced during these years subsequently formed the basis of his future brilliant comedies.

He left home at sixteen and got a job at an unnamed theater. Soon he was invited to join the famous pantomime troupe Carnot. It was here that he perfectly mastered the art of pantomime, plasticity and expressiveness of movements. The gift of improvisation and apt everyday sketches ensured Chaplin's success in England and during the American tour of 1910–1912.

From dirt to Kings

In 1913, during the troupe's tour in America, young artist producer Mac Sennett noticed and offered him contract with the Keystone film company. The first film Chaplin became the comic strip “Making a Living”, and in the film “Children’s Auto Racing in Venice” he first appeared in his soon-to-be-traditional appearance. Having appeared in 12 films directed by Sennett, in 1914 Chaplin independently filmed the comedy Caught in the Rain.

In 1916, Charles Chaplin signed a contract with Mutual, providing himself with creative control and the right to make no more than 12 films a year. In each new job the dramatic conflict between good and evil, poverty and wealth, justice and “social order” intensifies.

Chaplin always strived for complete independence and in 1923 founded the Charles S. Chaplin Film Corporation. The need for this step was confirmed by problems with the distribution of the drama “A Woman of Paris,” directed against the hypocrisy and immorality of a conservative society.

A ray of light in a dark kingdom

In the 1930s, the realization of the futility of the efforts of the “lone seeker” in the films “Lights” big city" and "New Times" became the culmination of the theme little man, prologue to the evolution of the hero who grew out of the Charlie mask. This evolution is reflected in the brilliant anti-fascist farce The Great Dictator, which made him persona non grata in Germany. Here Chaplin appeared in two images - the Jewish barber and the dictator Hynkel. The picture called for humanity and the fight against violence. This film deeply touched Hitler for what was alive in it. Since then, the Nazis have clearly seen in Charlie's face Jewish features. “I am not a Jew, there is not a drop in me Jewish blood. But if I were one, I would not think of hiding this fact. I would be proud of that,” Chaplin said in response.

In Europe they have arrived troubled times. Nazi Germany attacked the USSR, Roosevelt delayed opening a second front, and Chaplin supported Russia. Perhaps it was after this that his troubles began. Hollywood began to treat the actor with great suspicion. Chaplin was listed as a champion of communism. Arriving in Europe, he settled in Switzerland, in the city of Vev, where he lived until the end of his life.

Charlie's Long Walk to Happiness

Chaplin preferred to deal with young girls. Result: four marriages (three of them to women aged 18 or younger), 11 children and a harem of mistresses. His first wife was Mildred Harris. About a year after their wedding, Mildred gave birth to a son, who lived only three days. With the death of the child, the family also died. Chaplin and Mildred separated in 1920. Four years later he married Lita Gray, who bore him two children, but this did not save their marriage. The wedding with the third chosen one - actress Paulette Goddard - took place in 1936. This event was shrouded in secrecy. But one way or another, family life Chaplin's flight did not last long. In 1943, Charlie met 17-year-old Una O'Neill, daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill. She became his fourth and last wife.

with Una O'Neill

After Chaplin wrote: “If I had met Una or another girl like her earlier, I would never have had any problems with women. I’ve been waiting for her all my life, although I didn’t realize it.” Una had 8 children from Chaplin. Father last child he began when he was already over 70. Living in Switzerland, he did not miss New York, which had changed too much since the days of his youth and work in Hollywood. In Switzerland, the Chaplin family had many friends, among them the Queen of Spain, the Comte d'Entragues, film stars and writers. In the spring, the British and Americans came to visit, and the Chaplins themselves constantly traveled to London, Paris, Venice and Rome. Una was for Chaplin not only a wife, the mother of his children, a friend in misfortune - she became his deity. In Switzerland, Chaplin wrote music for his silent films.

Knight Charlie

A native of England, winner of two Oscars, Sir died quietly on Christmas Day 1977 in Switzerland. In 1975, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him. But what does the viewer care about this? Chaplin is not loved for his success. And for the fact that even after his life he evokes tears of laughter and delight.

DATA

Various celebrities often visited the house. Arthur Rubinstein, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninov visited him and once came with his wife Wanda (Toscanini’s daughter). Chaplin could not get enough of Horowitz, he asked to play again and again. When Horowitz left, Chaplin said admiringly: “When he plays, it seems as if there is an orchestra in the room. His performance just blows my mind!”

Chaplin is four days older than the Hitler he parodied in The Great Dictator.

Chaplin called himself the "Eighth Wonder of the World" and was very proud of his Hollywood reputation as a conqueror of women's hearts.

Once at a reception he performed a very complex opera aria for the assembled guests. When he finished, one of the guests exclaimed:

- Amazing! I had no idea that you sing so wonderfully.

“Not at all,” Chaplin smiled, “I never knew how to sing.” I was just imitating the famous tenor I heard at the opera.

Chaplin's favorite sport was boxing, and his favorite dance was tango. In the film "Big Lights" city" he "combined" fighting in the ring with tango.

Chaplin once participated incognito in a competition to look like the Tramp. According to one version, he took second place in the competition, according to another version, third.

The hat and cane that belonged to him were sold at auction in 2006. The bowler hat and bamboo cane, familiar to everyone from numerous films of the great comedian, were purchased for $139,250.

Updated: April 13, 2019 by: Elena

Everyone knows about Charlie Chaplin! This great actor contributed to the fact that cinema became a real art. The image he created of a funny little man in a bowler hat became one of the symbols of world cinema.

He was not only a great actor, but also showed his abilities as a director and screenwriter of short films in which he himself starred. He also produced many of his films and wrote music.

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Charlie Chaplin is one of the most beloved and famous images over the entire period of the film industry.

Biography

The great artist was born in 1889 on April 16 in London. His parents, Charles and Hannah, were pop artists and successfully developed their creative potential. They took part in musical performances, danced and acted in various theater productions. They were in great demand in their field, they were invited to large music halls in the English capital. Charles Sr. toured extensively in Europe.

The family was not constrained financially, but did not invest in money of great importance. Parents encouraged little Charlie and his maternal brother to engage in creativity. This was also a determining factor in both brothers becoming successful in acting career.

The future master of world cinema first appeared on stage at the age of 5. He often replaced his mother in some productions, as she began to have problems with her voice. The boy immediately won the hearts of the audience. They threw coins and bills at the stage, which a little boy he collected it himself after the performance, which caused even greater affection for the audience. From then on, Charlie Chaplin began to perform often.

Soon significant changes occurred in life acting family. My mother was diagnosed with serious problems with her voice, so she stopped performing. His father became addicted to alcohol and died when he was only 37 years old. The wife could not bear such a tragedy and was assigned to treatment in psychiatric clinic. Their sons ended up in social institution. There the boys had to find their own means of livelihood.

From the age of nine, Charlie began taking part in dance performances as part of the “8 Lancashire Boys”. It was then that the artist first tried himself in the comic genre and achieved great success. In order to earn money, in addition to performances, the boy sold newspapers, worked in a printing house and helped in a doctor's office.

At the age of 14, Charlie Chaplin received his first role in the production of Sherlock Holmes. Subsequently he worked with Fred Karno's team. With them he won the hearts of many English and American viewers.

The American company Keystone expressed a desire to cooperate with the actor. From that moment on, his life changed dramatically.

His film career did not immediately become successful, but Chaplin quickly fell in love with American audiences. Later, he had problems with the company's leaders and ended his cooperation.

Since the 1910s, Charlie began to write scripts and direct films with his own participation. In search of his image, he began as a womanizer, but soon the famous “little tramp” appeared. It was this role that brought the actor worldwide fame and made him an idol of millions of people. His films brought fabulous fees and a huge number of various awards and prizes. The silent film legend is the winner of two Oscars, and the Queen of England knighted him.

Personal life

Chaplin had many romantic relationships with the most different women. Among them are dancers and actresses such as Hetty Kelly, Edna Purviance.

He had 4 official wives. His first wife was Mildred Harris. The actor was 29 years old at the time, his wife was 13 years younger than him. After 2 years, a divorce took place, accompanied by mutual reproaches. The couple had a son who died immediately after birth.

Chaplin's second marriage was to Lita Gray. She starred in some of her husband's films. From this union, the actors had two sons - Charles and Sidney Earle, who became a sought-after theater actor. After the divorce, Charlie Chaplin paid ex-wife about $830 thousand

Flight Goddard became the artist's third wife. She starred with her husband in the films “The Great Dictator” and “Modern Times”. They lived together for 8 years. After the divorce, Polet lived in Switzerland, her new husband was Erich Maria Remarque.

Chaplin's fourth official girlfriend was Una O'Neill, who was 36 years younger than him. After marriage, the woman devoted herself entirely to her family, giving up her career. Her father, the famous American playwright Eugene O'Neill, was against this union and no longer communicated with his daughter.

The couple had eight children - three sons and five daughters. IN last time the actor became a father at 72 years old. His daughter Geraldine achieved enormous success in her acting career and continued the work of her famous father.

During his life, Chaplin was repeatedly subjected to various criticisms. He was even considered a communist collaborator. After the film about Hitler, representatives fascist movement the artist was threatened more than once.

In recent years, the cinema legend has lived in Switzerland. There he died in his sleep on December 25, 1977.

On December 25, 1977, Charlie Chaplin, a truly legendary personality, died. Silent cinema has become history today, but even children recognize the images created by this brilliant actor.

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On December 25, 1977, Charlie Chaplin, a truly legendary personality, died. Neither world fame nor two Oscars could protect this great director and actor-comedian from the disgrace of the authorities, who was an active political personality off the screen and strove to achieve the notorious “peace in the world.”

Chaplin's career lasted 75 years

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in Walworth (UK) into a family of music hall performers.

He first appeared on stage at the age of 5, when it was necessary to replace his mother in the program, who had problems with her larynx. Little Charlie managed to get a standing ovation from the audience, who pelted him with coins and bills.

Conquered even more young actor audience when, with childish spontaneity, he began to collect this money from the stage right during the performance.

From that moment, Chaplin's career began, which, stretching for 75 years, continued until the death of the great comedian.

129 years ago, on April 16, 1889, Charles Spencer Chaplin was born - director, actor, screenwriter and composer, who became one of the symbols of not only contemporary silent cinema, but also cinema in general. But if Chaplin’s talent as a director, not to mention his acting talent, has long been recognized by everyone, then the details of his biography as a musician often remain in the shadows. The site offers readers facts from the biography of Charlie Chaplin, a composer and musician.

Without musical education

Chaplin had no formal musical education, but from his father, who performed in music halls, he inherited an ear for music and an amazing sense of rhythm. “If Charles remains a film actor, music world will lose a genius. I saw him sit for hours at the piano, composing as he went. Most of all, I think he loved the cello. It was a joy to watch how his facial expression changed when he touched the strings with a trembling hand,” his aunt Kate recalled in 1915.

Violin and cello

At the age of 16, Chaplin acquired his own violin and cello, and took the instruments with him on any trip. At the same time, he had to pull the strings in reverse order, to make it more convenient to play with his left hand (he was left-handed).

"His Musical Career"

Chaplin reflected his passion for music in the short film “His music career", filmed at Keystone Studios in 1914.

The first songs are about love

In the theaters in which he had to play, Chaplin took lessons from conductors, and, apparently, the experience was not in vain - on February 20, 1916, Chaplin performed at a benefit performance in the New York Hippodrome Hall, where he conducted the Sousa Orchestra and played the composition own composition “Peace Patrol”. That same year, Chaplin published the sheet music for two of his songs: “Oh, That Cello!” and “There’s always someone you can’t forget,” written during the period of first love.

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Charlie Chaplin's first records

Having created the United Artists company in the early 20s, Chaplin took charge of composing music for films, starting with the film “A Woman of Paris.” At the same time, records were released with his songs “With You, Darling, in Bombay” and “Sing a Song,” which were later included in the audio version of “Gold Rush.” In the 1940s, Chaplin’s song “Shooting Star,” written to the tune from the film “The Great Dictator,” was published, as well as three more compositions that were heard in the film “Monsieur Verdoux”: “Paris Boulevard,” “The Bitterness of Tango,” and “Rumba.” .

Special musical accompaniment of films under the patronage of Chaplin

Before musical accompaniment began to be recorded on film, special collections of musical works suitable for illustrating a particular scene in the film were published for scoring films. As a result, stable cliches emerged that migrated from painting to painting. Chaplin demanded that the music be performed in every theater exactly as he intended, and he personally compiled lists of musical numbers that were sent free of charge to all theaters that bought his films. Such lists existed for Chaplin's films from 1921 to 1931 (starting with The Kid and ending with City Lights).

Soundtrack to the film "City Lights"

City Lights, released in 1931, was the first film to credit Chaplin as a composer. Chaplin entrusted the orchestration to Arthur Johnston and Alfred Newman, but most of the tunes were written by him. In addition, the film features an excerpt from the ballet “Scheherazade” by Rimsky-Korsakov, music by Debussy and Liszt, and the theme of the blind flower girl was written by composer José Padilla. In total, “City Lights” contains 95 compositions, not counting fragments in which the background music is synchronized with the actions of the characters.

Chaplin the Composer's Statement

The public finally accepted Chaplin the composer after the release of the second version of The Gold Rush, for which he wrote all the music. Spectators and critics started talking about the “Chaplin” sound, although other people were still involved in the orchestration of the compositions. The music in all of Chaplin’s subsequent films was also original – right up to the 1967 film “The Countess from Hong Kong.”

“Song Without Words” and Arkady Raikin

“Song without words” in one of last scenes The film "Modern Times" became evidence of another of Chaplin's talents - Chaplin masterfully performed songs in a "no" language back in early years. The melody itself turned out to be so memorable that it was later used in the television screensaver of the “Mask Show” program and in one of Arkady Raikin’s numbers - dressed in a Chaplin costume, the maestro sang a song with the following words:

“He lives in Leningrad,

His name is Arkady,

Or simply Arkasha,

Il Raikin, finally.”

"Smile", Nat King Cole and Michael Jackson

In the film "Modern Times" there is another instrumental theme, composed by Chaplin and later becoming a song. The source of inspiration for it was one of the melodies of Puccini’s opera “Tosca”, and in 1954 the poets John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons added words to this melody. This version of the song, called "Smile", became a hit for Nat King Cole, reaching number 10 on the Billboard charts and number two in the UK national charts. Michael Jackson, also a big Chaplin fan, recorded his version of this song for the album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I.