Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin KBE (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was a British actor, comedian, movie maker, screenwriter, editor, musician, anarchist, and author. He was very famous in silent movies (where there was no talking or sound). He acted, directed, scripted, and produced most of them.

Charlie Chaplin was a performer for almost 70 years. He started working when he was 5, and worked until he was 80. The character that Charlie Chaplin played most was called "the Little Tramp". The "Tramp" was a man of good manners, who wore a coat, a pair of big trousers, shoes, mustache, and a black hat.

Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on 16 April 1889 in London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Chaplin had a rough childhood; his mother, Hannah Hill Chaplin, a talented singer, actress, and piano player, spent most of her life in and out of mental hospitals. His father, Charles Spencer Chaplin Sr. was a fairly successful singer until he began drinking. After his parents separated, Charlie and his half-brother, Sidney, spent most of their childhood in orphanages, where they often went hungry and were beaten if they misbehaved. He first started acting at age five. He acted in a music hall in 1894, standing in for his mother.

When Charlie was a child, he was kept in bed for many weeks from a bad illness. At night, his mother would sit at the window and act out what was going on outside. His first important work came when he joined The Eight Lancashire Lads. In 1900, his brother Sydney helped him get the role of a comic cat in the pantomime Cinderella. In 1903 he was in a play called “Jim: A Romance of Cockayne”. Chaplin was in Casey's 'Court Circus' variety show. The next year, he became a clown in Fred Karno's 'Fun Factory' comedy company.

Chaplin was the target of an assassination attempt which took the life of Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi.

On 15 May 1932, Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was shot by eleven young naval officers (most were just turning twenty years of age) in the prime minister's residence.[1] The original assassination plan had included killing Chaplin who had arrived in Japan on 14 May 1932, at a reception for Chaplin, planned by Prime Minister Inukai. When the prime minister was killed, his son Inukai Takeru was watching a sumo wrestling match with Charlie Chaplin, which probably saved both their lives.[2]

Chaplin won two special Oscars. Chaplin had first been chosen for both "Best Actor" and "Best Comedy Directing". But then, instead, he was given a special award "for versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing and producing". Chaplin's second special award came 44 years later, in 1972. When getting this award, Chaplin had the longest standing ovation (people standing up and clapping) in Academy Award history.[3] In 1976 he was given the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, a lifetime achievement award. Chaplin became the first actor to have appeared in the cover of Time in 1925.[4]

Chaplin once entered in a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest.[5][6] Chaplin lost the contest.[5][6]



On 9 March 1975, Charlie Chaplin was knighted in England by Queen Elizabeth II.

Chaplin died on Christmas on 25 December 1977, in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. He died of a stroke in his sleep, at the age of 88. On March 1, 1978, his body was stolen by a small group of Swiss people. They were trying to get money from Chaplin’s family. This plan didn’t work. The criminals were caught, and Charlie’s body was found 11 weeks later near Lake Geneva. He was buried under concrete to prevent further incidents.