An Essay:

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin was a superstar in comedies and one of the great fans of 20-th century film. Charles Spenser Chaplin was born in London on 16 April 1889. The son of music hall performers from England, he began working on the stage at the age of five. Charlie was a popular child dancer, and then he got work in the theatre and began playing small roles.

And in 1906 he worked as a pantomime in several show groups traveling throughout Europe and America.

Beginning of his career-Top Star

When he was about 14, he got his first his first chance appeared in show “Sherlock Holmes”.

In 1913, the young Chaplin was hired as an actor by the Keystone Film Production Company. He agree to appear before the cameras in November

1913, and his entrance in the cinema world took place that month. He’s got $150 a week.

In 1914 Chaplin made his first film “Making a Living”. That same year he made thirty-four and more short films. His early films were not very successful but in 1915, he made hiss masterpiece “The Tramp”, in which he appeared in buggy trousers and with the hat and cane.

He changed a few studios and finally he moved to First National Studios where he made his comedy “The Kid”. Soon he had had his own studio built and was making his own film which included ”The Gold Rush”, “The Circus”, “Modern Times” and “The Great Dictator”.

Chaplin resisted making a talkie all through the 1930s, although ’talkies’ (movies without sounds) became the dominant mode of moviemaking. “City Lights” was Charlie Chaplin’s first non-silent film. But it still was not a ‘talking’ picture. Chaplin included the musical soundtrack, and used sound effects, but nobody spoke in the picture yet.

So, that’s why he was a top star: his films were both a financial and critical success, and many believe it to be one of Chaplin’s best films.

He doesn’t think about the … POPULARITY

Although Chaplin had his major successes in the United States, he refused to accept US citizenship. Later, he was accused of ‘un-American activities’ and left the United States in 1952 because of increased political pressure. He settled in Switzerland. Chaplin won Oscar twice.

In 1975 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth 2. He married three times and only his third marriage with Oona O’Neill, daughter of the dramatist Eugene O’Neill was a long and happy one.

The end of his life

Charlie Chaplin lived for over 25 years in Switzerland where he saw the birth of for of his 10 children. His last child was born when Charlie Chaplin was 73 years old.

He died on Christmas Day in 1977. Charlie Chaplin and his wife are rests in the Corsier cemetery. Today, there is a square named in his honour and a statue erected to his effigy on the shore Lake Geneva, in Vevey.

Used Literature:

A magazine – “English it’s easy”, №53

A newspaper – “English weekly- language & culture”, №39