50 Fun Facts About Charlie Chaplin

In which London district did Chaplin spend his early years with his mother and brother Sydney?

He believed he was born at East Street, Walworth, though no birth record exists.

How old was Chaplin when he was first sent to the Lambeth Workhouse?

He was housed at the Central London District School for paupers, 'a forlorn existence', and sent to the workhouse again at nine.

To which asylum was Chaplin's mother Hannah committed in 1898, and again permanently from 1905?

Her psychosis was thought to stem from syphilis and malnutrition; she stayed in care until her death in 1928.

With which clog-dancing troupe did the young Chaplin tour English music halls in 1899 and 1900?

He got in through his father's connections but wanted a comedy act, not dancing.

Which role did the teenage Chaplin play in Sherlock Holmes opposite William Gillette?

'It was like tidings from heaven,' he said of being called to London for it at 16.

Which impresario signed Chaplin in 1908 despite calling him 'pale, puny, sullen-looking'?

His brother Sydney had wangled him a two-week trial; the Karno troupe that toured America also included Stan Laurel.

Which future comedy star was in the same Karno touring company as Chaplin in North America?

Chaplin's biggest hit on the tour was the drunk 'Inebriate Swell' in A Night in an English Music Hall.

How much per week did Chaplin's first film contract with Keystone pay in 1913?

He thought Keystone comedies 'a crude melange of rough and rumble' but rationalised: 'it would mean a new life.'

What was Chaplin's first film, released on 2 February 1914, which he strongly disliked?

One review still called him 'a comedian of the first water'; his boss Mack Sennett had worried he looked too young.

In which film did audiences first see the Tramp, released on 7 February 1914?

Mabel's Strange Predicament was shot first but released two days later.

What did Chaplin add to the Tramp costume to give the character age without hiding his expression?

'The pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large'; the moment he was dressed, 'he was fully born'.

Which hobo comic strip in a London magazine did Chaplin credit as a childhood influence on the Tramp?

It ran in Illustrated Chips.

How much did Chaplin promise to pay Mack Sennett if his directorial debut, Caught in the Rain, flopped?

It was a hit, and he directed almost every short he appeared in thereafter, about one a week.

Which leading lady did Chaplin meet in a cafe and hire at Essanay, later making 35 films with him?

They were also a couple until 1917; A Woman of Paris was built as a star vehicle for her.

What was the annual value of Chaplin's 1916 Mutual contract, making him one of the world's highest-paid people?

'The public wants Chaplin and will pay for him,' the studio president explained; Chaplin later called these his happiest years.

With which three partners did Chaplin found United Artists in 1919?

The revolutionary arrangement let the four artists fund and control their own pictures.

How old was Mildred Harris when Chaplin married her in 1918?

Their son Norman, born in 1919, lived three days; the loss is thought to have shaped The Kid.

Which four-year-old co-starred with Chaplin in The Kid (1921)?

At 68 minutes it was his longest film yet and one of the first to blend comedy and drama; it reached over 50 countries by 1924.

Why was A Woman of Paris (1923), Chaplin's first film as an independent producer, unusual?

He made only an uncredited cameo; critics admired it but the public had no interest in a Chaplin film without Chaplin.

The Gold Rush was inspired by a photograph of the Klondike and by the story of which ill-fated group?

Chaplin said 'This is the picture that I want to be remembered by'; it features the Tramp eating his shoe.

On 6 July 1925, Chaplin became the earliest movie star to do what?

The same year his second son Sydney was born to Lita Grey, whom he had married in Mexico when she was 16.

Chaplin's 1927 divorce from Lita Grey cost him what settlement, then the largest awarded by an American court?

Her leaked petition accused him of 'perverted sexual desires' and groups called for his films to be banned.

For which film did Chaplin receive a special trophy at the very first Academy Awards?

He so associated it with the divorce stress that he left it out of his autobiography.

In City Lights (1931), the Tramp falls for a flower girl who is what?

Made silent in defiance of the talkies after a 21-month shoot, it became Chaplin's own favourite; James Agee called the ending 'the highest moment in movies'.

What had the ultra-nationalists who killed Japan's PM in 1932 originally planned to do to the visiting comedian?

The plot against him failed only because the reception's date was announced late.

In Modern Times (1936), the Tramp's voice is heard on film for the only time. What does he perform?

Chaplin had planned dialogue but changed his mind in rehearsals; Paulette Goddard co-starred and secretly married him in Canton.

Chaplin and Adolf Hitler were born how far apart?

Both rose from poverty and wore the same moustache; the resemblance supplied the plot of The Great Dictator.

What was the name of Chaplin's Hitler parody in The Great Dictator?

He also played a Jewish barber, a jab at Nazi claims that Chaplin himself was Jewish; filming began six days after Britain declared war.

How long is Chaplin's closing anti-war speech in The Great Dictator?

Critics saw the overt preaching as the start of his decline in popularity, though Churchill and Roosevelt both liked the film.

Under which law was Chaplin tried and acquitted in 1944 in a case pushed by J. Edgar Hoover?

He faced 23 years if convicted; the paternity suit brought by Joan Barry went the other way despite blood tests.

Chaplin's fourth wife, Oona, was the daughter of which playwright?

She was 18 and he 54; they had eight children over 18 years and stayed married until his death.

Chaplin paid whom $5,000 for the idea behind Monsieur Verdoux?

He was booed at the 1947 premiere; it was his first release to fail in the US, though he called it his 'cleverest and most brilliant film'.

Which author's secret 1949 list for British propagandists named Chaplin as a probable communist?

The list of 35 names was declassified in 2003; Chaplin called himself a 'peacemonger', not a communist.

Which fellow silent comedian appeared alongside Chaplin in Limelight, their only feature together?

They played stage partners in a pantomime scene; five of Chaplin's children also appear.

On which ship was Chaplin sailing to Limelight's London premiere when the US revoked his re-entry permit in 1952?

Attorney General McGranery claimed 'a pretty good case'; FBI files later showed there was none.

What was the name of Chaplin's final home, a 14-hectare estate above Lake Geneva?

In Corsier-sur-Vevey, it opened as the museum Chaplin's World in 2016.

In his 1957 satire of HUAC and 1950s America, made in England, Chaplin cast himself as what?

He banned American journalists from the Paris premiere and did not release it in the US until 1973.

Which two stars led A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), Chaplin's last film and his first in colour?

Chaplin appeared only as a seasick steward; the film was a critical and box-office failure.

How long was Chaplin's 1972 Oscars standing ovation, the longest in Academy history?

It was his first US visit in 20 years; the Honorary Award cited 'the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century'.

Chaplin's only competitive Oscar was for what?

It won Best Original Score in 1973, twenty years after the film, following a US re-release.

Which Chaplin composition from Modern Times became a hit for Nat King Cole in 1954 once lyrics were added?

Petula Clark later took his 'This Is My Song', from A Countess from Hong Kong, to number one in the UK.

How did Chaplin receive his knighthood in the 1975 New Year Honours?

A series of strokes had left him frail; he died on Christmas Day 1977 at 88.

On what date did Chaplin die in 1977?

He died in his sleep after a stroke and left more than $100 million to his widow.

What happened to Chaplin's coffin on 1 March 1978?

Roman Wardas and Gantcho Ganev buried it in a field in Noville; it was reburied in reinforced concrete.

How many children did Chaplin and Oona have?

From Geraldine in 1944 to Christopher in 1962; Geraldine later played Chaplin's mother in the 1992 biopic.

Which computer company used the Tramp image to advertise its personal computers throughout the 1980s?

A minor planet, 3623 Chaplin, is also named after him.

Who played Chaplin in Richard Attenborough's 1992 biopic?

Geraldine Chaplin played her own grandmother, Hannah.

How many people dressed as the Tramp set a record at Chaplin's World on his 128th birthday?

The Swiss museum opened in 2016 after fifteen years of development.

A London statue of Chaplin as the Tramp, unveiled in 1981, stands where?

There are nine blue plaques to him in England, and a memorial garden marks his 1931 meeting with Gandhi in Canning Town.

Chaplin's 500-page memoir, a worldwide best-seller, was published under what title in 1964?

My Wonderful Visit recorded his 1921 return to England; My Life in Pictures was his 1974 pictorial memoir.