He was born on April 16, 1889 in London, within a family of entertainers. His parents divorced when he was a child. Knew misery, hunger and misery. His father was an alcoholic and his mother suffered from mental problems. He spent long periods in orphanages before entering the world of entertainment as a child, in musicals and pantomimes. At fourteen, she played the role of Billy buttons in a traveling production of Sherlock Holmes. Participated in the tour with several productions of the work being recognized their work, therefore, that when it took a Billy for a London production, Chaplin sixteen, he was called. In 1907 he joined the company of sketch comedy by Fred Krane, and in less than a year he became the star of the company, touring the U.S., a country where two years later be moved. In 1913 he made his film debut in the Keystone films of Mack Sennett. In auto racing for children (or suffocating Carreras, 1914) first performed as Charlie Chaplin Tramp character, with baggy pants, enormous shoes, bowler hat and bamboo cane, He played this role in more than 60 films, including The Tramp (Chaplin tramp or in 1915). That same year the company teamed with Essanay, Mutual and then with the First National, to his own studio in Hollywood in 1918. During these years of short films, gradually developed the tramp character, from naughty clown stereotype of the human figure and compassionate calaría in audiences around the world. Created in 1919 with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and DW Griffith, United Artists Corporation, which participate until 1952. His most notable films are: The Kid (1921), The Pilgrim (1924), The Gold Rush (1925), The Circus (1928), City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936), all successive records box office. To these followed The Great Dictator (1940), Monsieur Verdoux (1947), appears for the last time the character of Charlie Chaplin, Limelight (1952) and A King in New York (1957). Apart directed, offhandedly, A Woman of Paris (1923) and A Countess from Hong Kong (1966), where for a small role. He also composed the music for most of his films. He perfected a personal style of interpretation, derived from the circus clown and the mime, combining acrobatic elegance, expressive gesture and facial eloquence, with an impeccable sense of rhythm. In the 20's came the talkies, but that did not make the effectiveness of their pantomime were impaired. At the same time, began to express concern about the social problems of his time. Some time later he left the role of the tramp to begin interpreting specific characters, in a transition that marks The Great Dictator, which already uses the full resources of sound. Chaplin's approach combines melodramatic satire and pathos, under which beats the love of humanity and individual freedom. He wrote two books, My Autobiography (1964) and My Life in Film (1975). In late 1940 and early 1950, Chaplin was prosecuted by the House Un-American Activities Committee, for his leftist political thought, left the United States in 1952 to start living in Switzerland. In 1972 he returned for a short period of time to receive several awards including an honorary Oscar for his contributions to cinema. He died on December 25, 1977, in Corsier-Sur-Vevey, Switzerland.
