I remember my first Charlie performance. Charlie Chaplin: ten facts from the life of the great comedian

Charlie Chaplin. (photo from 1915).

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. The young actor captivated the audience even more when he began, with childish spontaneity, 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.


Charlie Chaplin took violin lessons.

Chaplin's childhood was spent in hopeless poverty. The father left the family, and Charlie and his brother were forced to go to an orphan school. Charlie Chaplin worked as a newspaper salesman, as an errand boy in a printing house, as a doctor's assistant, and never lost hope that he could someday make money as an actor.

Charlie Chaplin received his first role in the theater at the age of 14 - the role of the messenger Billy in the play Sherlock Holmes. Chaplin was illiterate at the time and was very afraid that he would be asked to read a few paragraphs out loud. He learned the role with the help of his brother Sidney.


Charlie Chaplin in the film Baby Car Race (1914)

On September 23, 1913, Chaplin signed a contract with the Keystone film company. His salary then was $150. In 1914, he made his first film, “Caught in the Rain,” where he acted as a director, actor and screenwriter. His earnings are growing exponentially. Already in 1915 he received $1250, and in 1916 Mutual Film paid the comedian $10 thousand a week. In 1917, Chaplin signed a $1 million contract with the First National Pictures studio and became, at that time, the most expensive actor in history.


It is known that even after Charlie Chaplin managed to earn his first million, he continued to live in a more than modest hotel room, and kept the checks he received in the studio in an old suitcase all his life. In 1922, Charlie Chaplin built his own house in Beverly Hills. The house had 40 rooms, an organ and a cinema hall.


At the end of 1940, Chaplin finished filming his film “The Great Dictator,” which, in fact, was a political satire on Nazism in general and Hitler in particular. It was last film, where Chaplin used the image of tramp Charlie. The film was refused to be shown in cinemas in England and the USA because they were afraid of disturbing the fragile peace with Germany, and Chaplin was accused of inciting hysteria. A commission was even appointed to investigate the actor's anti-American actions. After Hitler watched the film, the actor was called a “scoundrel.”

During World War II, Chaplin spoke at one of the rallies and called for opening a second front as quickly as possible. The first word in his speech was “comrades,” after which Western propaganda began to call the actor a “communist.”


Still from the film Footlights. Chaplin as Calvero.

In 1952, Chaplin completed work on his painting “Lightlights,” which tells the story of creativity and the fate of a creative person. On September 17 of the same year, he went to the world premiere of his film in London, and was unable to return back to the USA. The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover, managed to get immigration authorities to ban Chaplin from entering the country. By the way, Charlie Chaplin lived in the USA for more than 40 years, but never received American citizenship. Official reason refusal to enter the country was the presence of the comedian's name on Orwell's list. After this, Chaplin settled in the city of Vevey in Switzerland.


Charlie Chaplin and his wives.

Charlie Chaplin was a success with women. He had 11 children, and in 1943 a certain Joan Berry tried to impose a twelfth on him through the court, but an examination proved that her child had nothing to do with Chaplin.

Charlie Chaplin's first wife in 1918 was 16-year-old Mildred Harris. The marriage lasted only 2 years. In his autobiography, Chaplin wrote: " Mildred wasn't evil, but she was hopelessly zoological. I could never get to her soul - it was filled with some kind of pink rag and all sorts of nonsense».


Charlie Chaplin with his wife Oona.

In 1924, Charlie Chaplin married 16-year-old Lita Gray. The marriage took place in Mexico, which avoided problems with American legislation, which did not allow marriage at 16 years of age. After the divorce in 1928, Chaplin paid Lita a record amount for that time - $825 thousand, which led to an investigation by the tax authorities. According to Joyce Milton, Chaplin's biographer, this relationship was the basis for Nabokov's novel Lolita.

Chaplin's third wife was actress Paulette Goddard, who starred in his films Modern Times and The Great Dictator. They separated in 1940, and Goddard’s second husband was the writer Erich Maria Remarque.


Charlie Chaplin with his wife and children.

Chaplin's fourth wife, Oona O'Neill, was 36 years younger than him. When Una got married in 1943, her father stopped communicating with her. In 1952, leaving for London, Chaplin gave his wife a power of attorney for his bank account, which allowed Una to take Chaplin’s property out of the USA. She later renounced her American citizenship.

Chaplin and O'Neill had three sons and five daughters. Last child was born when the comedian was 72 years old.


The grave of Charlie Chaplin and his wife.

Charlie Chaplin died on December 25, 1977 at the age of 88. 2 months after the funeral of the great actor, sensational news spread around the world - the coffin with the comedian’s body was stolen from the cemetery at the Anglican Church in Vevey. On the morning of March 2, 1978, the cemetery caretaker reported this to the police, and in the evening unknown people called Chaplin’s widow and stated that the sarcophagus with the body of her husband was in a “safe place.”

Negotiations with the robbers, who demanded 600 thousand Swiss francs, lasted almost a month. The police detected the criminals on the 27th call. The attackers turned out to be 38-year-old Gancho Ganev and 24-year-old Roman Vardas.


Chaplin's bowler hat at auction in Los Angeles

In 2012, Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and cane were sold for $62.5 thousand at the Bonhams auction house in Los Angeles. The auction organizers said that these were the accessories that the great comedian used on the set of the films “Modern Times” and “Lights.” big city" True, it is not known for certain how many canes and bowler hats that were filmed with Chaplin have survived to this day.


Charlie Chaplin's first Oscar came from The Great Dictator. In 1941, the actor received a statuette for “Best Actor”. In 1948, Chaplin was once again awarded an Oscar. This time - for best scenario(“Monsieur Verdoux”). In 1962, Charlie Chaplin became a doctor at Oxford University, and in 1975, Elizabeth II awarded him the Order of the Knight Commander British Empire. In 1970, Charlie Chaplin's star was laid on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And his photos today are included in the collections of the most iconic photographs of famous photographers.


Charlie Chaplin receiving an Academy Award in 1972.

In 1972, 82-year-old Charlie Chaplin was awarded an honorary Oscar “for his invaluable contribution to the art of cinema in this century.” The audience gave the great comedian a standing ovation for 12 minutes.

Over the course of his film career, Chaplin starred in 82 films. Chaplin earned about $10.5 million from his films.

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. Neither world fame nor two Oscars could protect this great director and actor-comedian, who was active off the screen, from disgrace by the authorities. political personality and sought to achieve the notorious “world peace.”

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. The young actor captivated the audience even more when he began, with childish spontaneity, 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.

Charlie Chaplin got his first role before he could read
Chaplin's childhood was spent in hopeless poverty. The father left the family, and Charlie and his brother were forced to go to an orphan school. Charlie Chaplin worked as a newspaper salesman, as an errand boy in a printing house, as a doctor's assistant, and never lost hope that he could someday make money as an actor.

Charlie Chaplin received his first role in the theater at the age of 14 - the role of the messenger Billy in the play Sherlock Holmes. Chaplin was illiterate at the time and was very afraid that he would be asked to read a few paragraphs out loud. He learned the role with the help of his brother Sidney.

Charlie Chaplin became the youngest and most expensive actor of his time
On September 23, 1913, Chaplin signed a contract with the Keystone film company. His salary then was $150. In 1914, he made his first film, “Caught in the Rain,” where he acted as a director, actor and screenwriter. His earnings are growing exponentially. Already in 1915 he received $1250, and in 1916 Mutual Film paid the comedian $10 thousand a week. In 1917, Chaplin signed a $1 million contract with the First National Pictures studio and became, at that time, the most expensive actor in history.

Receiving fabulous fees, Chaplin kept the checks in his suitcase
It is known that even after Charlie Chaplin managed to earn his first million, he continued to live in a more than modest hotel room, and kept the checks he received in the studio in an old suitcase all his life. In 1922, Charlie Chaplin built his own house in Beverly Hills. The house had 40 rooms, an organ and a cinema hall.

After the film “The Great Dictator,” Chaplin began to be called a communist. At the end of 1940, Chaplin finished filming his film “The Great Dictator,” which, in fact, was a political satire on Nazism in general and Hitler in particular. This was the last film where Chaplin used the tramp Charlie character. The film was refused to be shown in cinemas in England and the USA because they were afraid of disturbing the fragile peace with Germany, and Chaplin was accused of inciting hysteria. A commission was even appointed to investigate the actor's anti-American actions. After Hitler watched the film, the actor was called a “scoundrel.”

During World War II, Chaplin spoke at one of the rallies and called for opening a second front as quickly as possible. The first word in his speech was “comrades,” after which Western propaganda began to call the actor a “communist.”

In the USA, Chaplin was persona non grata
In 1952, Chaplin completed work on his painting “Lightlights,” which tells the story of creativity and the fate of a creative person. On September 17 of the same year, he went to the world premiere of his film in London, and was unable to return back to the USA. The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover, managed to get immigration authorities to ban Chaplin from entering the country. By the way, Charlie Chaplin lived in the USA for more than 40 years, but never received American citizenship. The official reason for refusal to enter the country was the presence of the comedian's name on Orwell's list. After this, Chaplin settled in the city of Vevey in Switzerland.

Chaplin's last child was born when he was 72. Charlie Chaplin was a hit with women. He had 11 children, and in 1943 a certain Joan Berry tried to impose a twelfth on him through the court, but an examination proved that her child had nothing to do with Chaplin.

Charlie Chaplin's first wife in 1918 was 16-year-old Mildred Harris. The marriage lasted only 2 years. In his autobiography, Chaplin wrote: " Mildred wasn't evil, but she was hopelessly zoological. I could never get to her soul - it was filled with some kind of pink rag and all sorts of nonsense».

In 1924, Charlie Chaplin married 16-year-old Lita Gray. The marriage took place in Mexico, which avoided problems with American legislation, which did not allow marriage at 16 years of age. After the divorce in 1928, Chaplin paid Lita a record amount for that time - $825 thousand, which led to an investigation by the tax authorities. According to Joyce Milton, Chaplin's biographer, this relationship was the basis for Nabokov's novel Lolita.

Chaplin's third wife was actress Paulette Goddard, who starred in his films Modern Times and The Great Dictator. They separated in 1940, and Goddard’s second husband was the writer Erich Maria Remarque.

Chaplin's fourth wife, Oona O'Neill, was 36 years younger than him. When Una got married in 1943, her father stopped communicating with her. In 1952, leaving for London, Chaplin gave his wife a power of attorney for his bank account, which allowed Una to take Chaplin’s property out of the USA. She later renounced her American citizenship.

Chaplin and O'Neill had three sons and five daughters. The last child was born when the comedian was 72 years old.

Chaplin's coffin was stolen. Charlie Chaplin died on December 25, 1977 at the age of 88. 2 months after the funeral of the great actor, sensational news spread around the world - the coffin with the comedian’s body was stolen from the cemetery at the Anglican Church in Vevey. On the morning of March 2, 1978, the cemetery caretaker reported this to the police, and in the evening unknown people called Chaplin’s widow and stated that the sarcophagus with the body of her husband was in a “safe place.”

Negotiations with the robbers, who demanded 600 thousand Swiss francs, lasted almost a month. The police detected the criminals on the 27th call. The attackers turned out to be 38-year-old Gancho Ganev and 24-year-old Roman Vardas.

Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and cane sold for more than $60,000


In 2012, Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and cane were sold for $62.5 thousand at an auction at the Bonhams auction house in Los Angeles. The auction organizers said that these were the accessories that the great comedian used on the set of the films “Modern Times” and “City Lights.” True, it is not known for certain how many canes and bowler hats that were filmed with Chaplin have survived to this day.

At the Oscars, the audience gave Chaplin a standing ovation for 12 minutes. The film “The Great Dictator” brought Charlie Chaplin his first Oscar. In 1941, the actor received a statuette for “Best Actor”. In 1948, Chaplin was once again awarded an Oscar. This time - for the best script (“Monsieur Verdoux”). In 1962, Charlie Chaplin became a doctor at Oxford University, and in 1975, Elizabeth II awarded him the Order of the British Empire. In 1970, Charlie Chaplin's star was laid on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And his photos today are included in collections of the most iconic photographs famous photographers.

In 1972, 82-year-old Charlie Chaplin was awarded an honorary Oscar “for his invaluable contribution to the art of cinema in this century.” The audience gave the great comedian a standing ovation for 12 minutes.

Over the course of his film career, Chaplin starred in 82 films. Chaplin earned about $10.5 million from his films.

Charlie Chaplin is a film actor, screenwriter, composer, film director, producer and editor. The creator of one of the most famous images of world cinema and one of the most influential people in the silent film era.
Twice winner of a non-competitive honorary Oscar “for his invaluable contribution to the transformation of cinema into art.”

Charles Spencer (Charlie) Chaplin was born in London into a family of stage actors. The parents separated, the boy spent his early years with my mother and older brother. Mom performed in the evenings and often took her son with her so as not to leave him at home alone. Little Charlie loved his mother very much and she had a huge influence on him. According to the actor, she gave him faith in herself, in the “kingdom of her dreams,” in love, mercy and humanity.

Charles also owes his first performance on stage at the age of 5 to his mother. Somehow her voice broke, she had to leave the stage and the director allowed little Charlie to come out, who immediately received a standing ovation. The audience began throwing coins onto the stage, and the boy began to collect them, which further touched and amused the audience. Charles felt at home on stage, chatting with the audience, dancing and singing. When his mother followed him onto the stage, the audience greeted her with thunderous applause. This was Charlie's first performance and his mother's last.

She was never able to return to the stage and a long difficult period began in their lives. The family was literally begging, constantly changing housing. The children wandered, tried to earn money, at one time lived in a shelter for the poor, for some period in new family father. The mother was ill and periodically lay in psychiatric clinics and the children at this time were left to their own devices.

If the older brother managed to get some elementary education, then Charlie was completely illiterate by the age of 12. In an orphanage, he learned to write his name and was very proud of it. At the school for the poor, where Charlie briefly went, he also learned almost nothing. But he achieved “incredible success” by reading funny poems and the fame of his talent spread throughout the school.

This is what Charles himself recalled about his school period: “The facts and information did not arouse any particular interest in me, they were confusing. If only one of the teachers could show the “product face”, making an enticing preface to his subject, could stir my imagination and ignite my fantasy instead of hammering facts into my head, would reveal to me the secrets of numbers and romance geographical maps, would have helped me to feel the idea in history and music in poetry - who knows, maybe I would have become a scientist.” Living in a poor area, my mother always monitored the speech of Charlie and his brother and corrected mistakes so that the children did not adopt the “clumsy speech of the slums” that the neighbors used. She read to the children, talked about the theater, acted out skits and historical jokes.

At the age of 9, Charlie joined the children's dance group "Eight Lancashire Boys" and traveled around the English province for two years. This provided a small income, but Charlie wanted to perform alone and make people laugh. As a result, he left the team.

Charlie sold newspapers, glued toys, worked in a printing house, a glassblowing workshop, in a doctor's office, was a servant, a dance teacher, but whatever he did, he, like his brother, remembered that all this was temporary and in the end he would become actor.

After each dismissal, Charlie polished his boots and suit and went to the theatrical agency.
This went on for quite some time, but one day 12-year-old Charlie was unexpectedly invited to play in the troupe and go on tour. Charlie lied that he was 14, they handed him the text and he was afraid that he would be asked to read it right away, because he practically could not read. Fortunately, he was sent home and Charlie learned the lyrics with the help of his brother.

The role was big, but three days later Charlie spoke it without hesitation.
After the first rehearsal, the director asked if he had ever acted before? “I had no idea that there was a rhythm of action, the ability to pause, the ability to easily enter into the mise-en-scène proposed by the director. All this came to me naturally.” It must be said that Charlie accepted praise as if it were due to him from birth.

But success was still far away. Charlie faced years of loneliness, disappointment and unsuccessful, disgraceful performances. In moments of despair, he wanted to give up everything, but Charles understood that his lack of education would only allow him to be a lackey, and he continued his work.

When Charles was 23 years old, he came on tour to America, which immediately captivated him. The performance was a failure, but the actor felt that there were other opportunities here and it was not necessary to be chained to the theater. He even thought about becoming a farmer and raising pigs.
Charles bought textbooks and decided to educate himself, but that time he never opened the books.
But he practiced playing the violin and cello for several hours a day, took lessons once a week and dreamed of becoming a concert performer. But over time, I realized that I would not achieve perfection in this and abandoned classes.

Charles still continued to visit second-hand bookstores and was fascinated by idealist philosophers, and then he became acquainted with fiction - Twain, Poe and Irving. “My desire for knowledge was not so disinterested. I was not led pure love to knowledge, but only the desire to protect oneself from the contempt that the ignorant cause.” At one of his performances in America, a young man, a future influential producer, approached him and said that when he gets rich, he will definitely invite him to the cinema. And so it happened. In 1913, the actor signed a contract with the Keystone studio with a salary of $150 per week.

The actor did not immediately adapt to cinema, but over time the public fell in love with Chaplin. Charles himself created a unique image of the Tramp, which soon became recognizable throughout the world.

Soon Chaplin began to work independently, simultaneously performing the role of actor, director and screenwriter. A little later he began producing films and writing music.

After 4 years, he received a contract for $1 million, which was an unthinkable amount at that time.
Six years later, Charlie Chaplin founded his own film company, United Artists. The pinnacle of the director’s creativity was his film “City Lights” (1931) and “The Great Dictator” (1940), where Chaplin played two roles simultaneously: a fascist dictator and a humble Jewish hairdresser. For this role, Chaplin was awarded the Best Actor Award in New York.

In 1952, Chaplin and his family sailed on tour to England and, already on the way, learned that they had lost their rights to return to the United States. He was accused of anti-American sentiments, connections with communists and reluctance to obtain citizenship.

The actor settled in Switzerland and lived there for the rest of his life in happiness and prosperity.

In 1957, the comedy “A King in New York” was released, which was banned from showing in the United States.
Charlie Chaplin's last film was the comedy A Countess from Hong Kong, starring Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando.

Chaplin is also the author of four autobiographical books, a successful composer, honorary doctor of the Universities of Oxford and Durham and a Knight of the Legion of Honour. Winner of the Cannes Film Festival, Golden Lion Film Festival and twice Oscar.

In 1975 he was knighted in Great Britain.

George Bernard Shaw called Chaplin "the only genius who came out of the film industry."

Charlie Chaplin(Charles Spencer"Charlie" Chaplin)

« It fell to my lot to be the favorite of the whole world, I was both loved and hated... Whatever the vicissitudes of my fate, I believe that both happiness and misfortune are brought by a random wind, like clouds in the sky, and knowing this, I do not despair, when trouble comes, but I rejoice in happiness as a pleasant surprise»

( My biography. Charlie Chaplin. Translation. Ginzburg)

Charlie Chaplin owes his first performance on stage at the age of 5 to his mother’s sick voice.

That evening she sang in a cheap theater for soldiers. Halfway through the performance, the voice broke and began to wheeze. The audience began to laugh, some began to sing in falsetto, others meowed. The woman ran backstage in panic. To avoid failure, the theater director grabbed a 5-year-old boy by thehand andbrought tostage. Charlie had to sing a then popular song« Jack Jones», and... before he had even sung half the song, Charlie saw the« coins are raining down». Five-year-old Chaplin immediately stopped singing and told the audience that he would only finish when he collected the money. The director decided to help the boy, and the audience laughed even more, seeing how the boy was very afraid that the director would keep all the money collected for himself. Only when the singer was convinced that the fee had been transferred to his mother did he continue his performance. This is how Charlie Chaplin's career began.

But trouble does not come alone. Soon after this, the mother was taken tomental asylum, ACharlie withbrother were sent toorphanage.

« I find nothing attractive or instructive in poverty. She taught me nothing and only distorted my understanding of the values ​​of life.». Chaplin.

Charlie rarely attended school, worked as a laborer, but did not stay anywhere for a long time due to his young age. At the age of 14 I received permanent job in the theatre. But at this time Chaplin was completely illiterate. When he received the text of the role, he was very afraid that he would be asked to read several paragraphs out loud. His brother Sidney helped him learn the role.

IN 16 years Charlie worked in a circus, where he was paid three pounds perweek. Aat the age of 24, intour timeAmerica, he agreed to participate in the film. A year later, his tramp herocane in hand andin a bowler hat became a favorite of the public, andChaplin himself began to try himself as a screenwriter, director, composer andproducer. A little later, Charlie insured his feet for $150 000, Aafter 15years old got my first« Oscar» ( in 1973 - second).

IN 1916 Chaplin's popularity began to gain momentum. The light boards displayed a running line:« Charlie Chaplin signs another contract for 670 one thousand dollars». Next year, Chaplin enters into a deal with First studioHYPERLINK "http://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=First_National_Pictures&action=edit&redlink=1"NationalHYPERLINK "http://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=First_National_Pictures&action=edit&redlink=1"HYPERLINK "http://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=First_National_Pictures&action=edit&redlink=1"Picturescontract for 1million dollars, and becomes the most expensive actor in history.

« To make a comedy, I just need a park, a policeman and a beautiful girl» Chaplin.

Manufacturers of canes, pots andboots were inundated with advertising offers. In 1922Mr. Chaplin built his house in Beverly Hills. In addition to 40 rooms, the house had a cinema hall and an organ. Butthe actor himself was lonely. Hevery tired ofsudden fame andwealth - fromendless short films, fromneed to hide fromcurious eyes of fans.

« Life - it's a tragedy when you see it close-up, and comedy when you look at it from a distance» Chaplin.

Jokes about Chaplin

Fee in Russian

In 1964, Charlie Chaplin published his autobiography. The great comedian sold the rights to its English and American editions for half a million dollars. A Soviet newspaper« News», by printing an excerpt in 1000words, due to the non-convertibility of the ruble, she sent Chaplin to Switzerland her fee - four kilograms (« nine pounds» – writes Chaplin biographer D.Robinson) black caviar. That's how they paid in typical Russian fashion. Well, at least not with hemp and wax.
(

MUSIC FROM THE MOVIE "STAMP LIGHTS"

On April 16, 1889, at eight o'clock in the evening, in London, on East Lane, in the Walworth area, a boy was born - Charles Spencer Chaplin. His parents - Lily Harley and Charles Chaplin - were actors and met when they played together in the same melodrama. They were in love, but during the tour Lily met an elderly lord and ran away with him to Africa. Sidney, Charlie's older brother, was born there. Lily soon returned to England, her romance with Charles resumed, and they soon married. And three years later, Charlie was born to them.

As he recalled later, in early childhood he did not suspect the existence of his father and did not remember the time when he lived with his family. The fact is that Charles drank a lot, which is why, according to Lily, they separated a year after the birth of their son.
Charlie's mother acted as soubrette in a variety theater and earned good money. She and her two sons lived in a three-room flat in West Square, Lambeth. Charlie said that his mother loved to dress him and his brother up on Sundays and take him for walks. “We strolled sedately along Kennington Road, bursting with pride and self-satisfaction,” he recalled.
But when Charlie was five years old, trouble happened - Lily lost her voice.

More and more often he broke down while singing and turned to a whisper. She received engagements less and less often, and then they stopped inviting her completely. It so happened that Lily's last performance was also her first performance little Charlie on the stage. That day, his mother lost her voice, the audience started booing her, and she had to go backstage.

The director said that he could try putting her son on stage (he once saw the boy presenting something to his friends). Finding himself in front of the audience, Charlie was not at a loss and sang the then popular song “Jack Jones”, but before he could finish, coins flew onto the stage. The boy announced that he would first collect them and only then continue to sing. This amused the audience even more. "I felt at home on stage, chatted freely with the audience, danced, imitated famous singers, including my mother, performing her favorite Irish march,” said Charlie. Repeating the chorus, he depicted how his mother’s voice was breaking - this caused a storm of delight among the audience, and they again began throwing money on stage, and when Lily came out to take Charlie away, the audience greeted her with applause.

....When Sydney left Exmouth and Charlie left the orphanage, he and his mother moved often, and as a result they ended up back in the workhouse, from where the boys were sent to Norwood Asylum, which, according to Charlie, was even darker than Hanwell . While they were there, sad news came: Lily lost her mind and was sent to a mental hospital. Sydney was crying, and Charlie was overcome by despair: “Why did she do this? Mom, so cheerful and carefree, how could she go crazy? I had a vague feeling that she lost her mind on purpose so as not to think about us. My heart sank from despair and it seemed to me that I saw her in front of me! She looked at me pitifully, and was carried away by the wind somewhere into the void,” he later recalled about the feelings experienced that day.

After some time, it became known that Lily had recovered and left the hospital. She rented a cheap room and took the boys in with her. During this time, she began to awaken Charlie's interest in theater and convinced him that he had the ability. However, he was not accepted to play in the school production of Cinderella. Charlie was jealous of those who were chosen, and the performance itself seemed very dull to him then, and he was saved only by the beauty of the girl who played Cinderella, with whom Charlie was secretly in love.

But two months later success came to him. One day Lily saw a funny poem in a bookstore window, rewrote it and brought it home. Charlie learned it and read it to a friend during a break at school. He was overheard by a teacher who then asked Charlie to speak to the class. The guys were rolling around laughing. The next day, Charlie was taken from class to class, after which the fame of his talent spread throughout the school. Teachers and students became interested in him. As Charlie said, he only now tasted fame, although he had to perform before. Since then, he became interested in school, he even began to study better. But his education was soon interrupted because Charlie left school to join the Eight Lancashire Lads clogdance group.

...................After some time, Charlie persuaded his mother to allow him to leave school so that he could go to work. He tried many jobs: he served as a delivery boy in a small shop, worked in a waiting room for two doctors, was a servant in a rich house, worked in a writing supplies store, worked as a glass blower for one day, then in a printing house... But as Charlie admitted later, he understood that that all this is temporary and in the end he will become an actor. While working at the printing plant, Charlie fell ill with the flu and Lily insisted that he return to school.

One fine day a telegram arrived in which Sydney said that he was arriving the next day. From that moment on, life changed for the better. My brother brought home good earnings and things started to improve. And one fine day, Charlie was invited to a theater agency and learned that he had been hired for the role of the messenger Billy in the play “Sherlock Holmes,” and before rehearsals began, he was offered to play the boy Sammy in the play “Jim, a Ragamuffin Novel.” As Charlie rode home in the omnibus, he began to realize what had happened: “Finally, I have escaped the shackles of poverty and entered the long-awaited kingdom of my dreams - the kingdom that my mother spoke about so often and so selflessly. I will become an actor!”

..Charlie hardly knew how to read, but Sydney helped him with this. He read aloud, and within three days Charlie had memorized all thirty-five pages of his considerable role as the boy Sammy.
At the rehearsals of "Jim" he performed very well, and Mr. Saintsberry, the author of the play, had to correct only one flaw: Charlie jerked his head and grimaced too much when speaking.
"Jim" was not a success; reviewers tore it to smithereens. However, the role of Charlie was a success. Here is what a reviewer from the London Tropical Times wrote after reviewing the play: “The only thing that saves the play is the role of Sammy - the newsboy, a kind of smart London boy, who made the audience laugh. Quite banal and hackneyed, she was, however, very funny performed by young Charles Chaplin, capable and temperamental young actor. I have yet to hear about this boy, but I hope to hear a lot about him in the very near future."

.After a two-week tour of "Jim", rehearsals for "Sherlock Holmes" began. A big tour followed. The play was a success. When the troupe returned to London after ten months of touring, Charlie asked the director to give Sydney a small role in the play, and they went on the second tour together. Shortly before returning to London, they received news that their mother had recovered. Lily came to see her sons, but after a while she went home to arrange housing. Charlie and Sydney visited her at the end of the second tour, but soon went on tour again. One day they learned that Lily was sick again. Clarity of mind never returned to her.

Text from a biography about Charles Chaplin.

THE FURTHER SUCCESSES OF CHARLES SPENCER CHAPLIN ARE KNOWN.

HE BECAME A GREAT ACTOR AND COMEDIAN.

A PERSON WHO WON THE LOVE AND APPLAUSE OF THE WHOLE WORLD.

LEGENDARY PERSON..

MAN IS THE ERA.

ACTOR, MUSICIAN, COMPOSER, DIRECTOR, SCREENWRITER -

GENIUS!!!

AND HE OFTEN WRITTEN THAT IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE LOVE, ATTENTION FOR THE CHILDREN OF HIS POOR MOTHER

LILY HE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME WE KNOW HIM...

AT THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY,

WHEN MONEY WAS NO LONGER A PROBLEM FOR HIM.

HE BOUGHT LILY FOR MOM, WHO NEVER CAME OUT OF MADNESS,

HOUSE, SET HER THERE,

WHERE SHE SPENT THE LAST YEARS...