4. Learning objective:
- To understand why Chaplin was important
for film.
- To identify other reasons why Chaplin is
historically significant.
5. Childhood
Charles Spencer Chaplin
was born in London,
England, on April 16th
1889.
His father was a versatile
vocalist and actor.
His mother, known under
the stage name of Lily
Harley, was an attractive
actress and singer.
6. Crises
When Charlie was ten,
he was thrown on his
own resources.
His father died.
The subsequent illness
of his mother made it
necessary for Charlie
and his brother, Sydney,
to fend for themselves.
7. Beginning of his
career
Charlie started a
career as a comedian
in vaudeville.
He was discovered
by Mack Sennett and
his Keystone Film
Company.
His first film, in 1914,
was aptly titled Making
A Living.
8. Cont..
His success was such that he was able to move
from one company to another, each time on to a
better deal.
He made his first film for them in 1923, the Edna
Purveyance vehicle, A Woman of Paris, perhaps
the least known of his films, but it was followed by
the Chaplin classics - The Gold Rush, The Circus,
City Lights and Modern Times.
9.
10. Charlie Chaplin – Modern Times
Several years into the Great Depression, which left millions
unemployed, Chaplin made a very important film called Modern
Times(1936) during a time where there were many strikes and
protests in America as wages were low and unemployment was high.
See a clip from Chaplin’s film “Modern Times”. Think about what the
message is underneath the jokes in the scene.
11.
12. Charlie Chaplin – The Great Dictator
By the time The Great Dictator was finished,
Britain was at war with Germany and the film
was used as propaganda against Hitler.
13. Awards & Recognition
Chaplin was given a star on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame
in 1970.
He was knighted in 1975 as a
Knight Commander of the
British Empire (KBE) by
Queen Elizabeth.
A statue of Charlie Chaplin
was made by John Doubleday,
to stand in Leicester Square in
London.
14. Cont..
When the first Oscars were awarded in 1929,
Chaplin had been nominated for Best Production,
Best Director in a Comedy Picture, Best Actor and
Best Writing (Original Story).
The Great Dictator was nominated for five awards.
Chaplin's film Limelight was honored with an
Oscar for Best Original Score.
Chaplin received the longest standing ovation in
Academy Award history, lasting a full twelve minutes.
15. In both England and
America, stamps
have been produced
to celebrate Chaplin’s
life and career.
16. -On the July 6th,
1925 Charlie Chaplin
was the first actor to
ever appear on the
cover of the famous
“Time” magazine.
17. •Charlie Chaplin even
had an asteroid named
after him four years after
his death by a Ukrainian
astronaut.
•Ms. Karachkina was a fan
of Chaplin’s and when she
discovered 131 asteroids
she named one of them
3623 Chaplin.
•It resides in the asteroid
"belt" between Mars and
Jupiter and appears as a
magnitude 12.1 object,
making it visible in a
moderately strong
telescope. tronomer,
Lyudmila Karachkina.
20. In 1978, the year after Chaplin’s death, he made the news.
Q) Can you guess how?
A) His body was dug up and stolen. The robbers rang his widow
and demanded a ransom of £400,000 for return of his body.
However, Charles' 51-year-old widow, Lady Oona Chaplin,
refused to pay up saying: "Charlie would have thought it
ridiculous.“ The men were eventually caught and the body was
returned
