CHARLIE CHAPLIN READING

Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977)

A bowler hat, a tight jacket, baggy trousers, oversized shoes ... a moustache and a cane: you all know the Tramp created by Charlie Chaplin. But what do you know about Chaplin's personal life and career?

THE KID

He was born in London in 1889. His parents were music-hall actors who taught their son to sing and dance. He first appeared onstage at the age of eight. His father left his mother when Charlie was very young and died soon after. His mother entered a mental hospital and her two children had to go to an orphanage* (1). Charlie had to do various jobs: paperboy*(2), printer, toy-maker*(3), glass-blower*(4)... before he became an actor in a theatre company with his older half-brother.In 1913, their company went on tour in the United States. The producer, Mark Sennett noticed Charlie and offered him a contract in Hollywood. That was the beginning of Charlie's film career.

THE TRAMP

He started acting in 1914 in silent films. As soon as his "tramp" character appeared on the screen he became a star in Hollywood. A year later, he started directing his own films and his salary rose astronomically, from $1,250 to $10,000 a week! Talking movies or "talkies" appeared in the 1930's but Chaplin continued making silent films until WWII*(5). Between 1920 and 1940, he directed and acted in six major films.

SIR CHARLES

Chaplin never became a US citizen*(6). "I am a citizen of the world", he declared. In his films, he was very critical of American society. In 1953, because of personal and political problems, he sold his house in Beverley Hills, left the United States forever and settled*(7) in Switzerland. He got married four times, had two children with his second wife, and married his fourth wife Oona O'Neil in 1943. She was eighteen and the daughter of a famous American playwright*(8). They had six children. Their last child was born in 1957. She lived with him until his death on Christmas Day, 1977.

Vocabulary:

(1) home for orphans (children whose parents are dead)

(2) a boy who sells newspapers

(3) a toy = un jouet

(4) a glass-blower = un souffleur de verre

(5) until WWII = jusqu'à la deuxième guerre mondiale (World War II)

(6) citizen = citoyen

(7) to settle = start living in a permanent home

(8) playwright = someone who writes plays, just like Shakespeare or Molière.