День рождения Чарли Чаплина

The film actor, director, and writer Charlie Chaplin was one of the most original creators in the history of movies. His performances as "the tramp"—a sympathetic comic character with ill-fitting clothes and a mustache—won admiration from audiences across the world. Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in a poor district of London, England, on April 16, 1889. His mother, Hannah Hill Chaplin, was a talented singer, actress, and piano player; his father, Charles Spencer Chaplin Sr. was a fairly successful singer. He found success as a performer, making his stage debut in 1894. His first stage appearance, at age five, was singing a song in place of his mother who had become ill. At eight he toured in a musical, "The Eight Lancaster Lads". Nearly 11, he appeared in "Giddy Ostende" at London's Hippodrome. After his parents separated, Charlie and his half-brother, Sidney, spent most of their childhood in orphanages, where they often went hungry and were beaten if they misbehaved. Barely able to read and write, Chaplin left school to tour with a group of comic entertainers. From age 17 to 24 he was with English vaudeville troupe, which brought him to New York in 1910, aged 21. In November of 1913 he signed a contract and left for Hollywood the next month. His first movie, Making a Living (1914), premiered in February of 1914. He made 35 films that year, moved to Essanay in 1915 and did 14 more, then jumped over to Mutual for 12 two-reelers in 1916 and 1917. In 1918 he joined First National (later absorbed by Warner Bros.) and in 1919 formed United Artists. His first full-length film was The Kid (1921). The film, which he produced and directed himself, was A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate (1923). In 1929, at the first Oscar awards, he won a special award "for versatility and genius in writing, acting, directing and producing" The Circus (1928). In 1943 he entered his fourth marriage, to Oona Chaplin, daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill. They had eight children. Chaplin was accused of being a communist by senator McCarthy. Tired of political and moralistic controversies and plagued with tax problems, he left the United States for Switzerland in 1952. He made a film, 'The King In New York', in 1957, which was full of criticism of McCarthy and American society in general. He published his memoirs in 1964. He was allowed to return to the US in 1972 to receive an Oscar for his services to film. He was named Knight Commander of the British Empire in 1975. He died in Switzerland aged 88 in his sleep from old age.

In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Chaplin the 10th greatest male screen legend of all time. In 2008, Martin Sieff, in a review of the book Chaplin: A Life, wrote: "Chaplin was not just 'big', he was gigantic. In 1915, he burst onto a war-torn world bringing it the gift of comedy, laughter and relief while it was tearing itself apart through the First World War. Over the next 25 years, through the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler, he stayed on the job. It is doubtful any individual has ever given more entertainment, pleasure and relief to so many human beings when they needed it the most".

George Bernard Shaw called Chaplin "the only genius to come out of the movie industry".
tramp - бродяга

mustache – усы
orphanage – приют для сирот
versatility - многосторонность
controversy – дискуссия, полемика
plague – бедствовать