Charlie Chaplin was born in Great Britain into a family of music hall performers. After his parents divorced, he lived with his mother, singer Hannah Hall, and a half-brother Sidney. At the age of five, Chaplin made his stage debut, filling in for her in one performance when Hall became ill. The young Chaplin drew applause and earned his first fee.

When Chaplin's mother went into a psychiatric hospital, both boys were taken in by Charlie's father. The man suffered from alcohol addiction and died a few years later. The teenage brothers were given to a school for orphans and children from poor families. Since then, they were forced to earn their own living.

Thanks to acquaintances of his parents Chaplin got into the dance group ‘Eight Lancashire Boys’, and in 1903 he got a place in the theatre and a small role in the play ‘Sherlock Holmes’. In 1908, he joined the pantomime troupe of Fred Carnot. Here the novice artist was able to show himself to the fullest extent and gradually became the main star of the collective. His image of Drunk in the sketch ‘A Night at the English Music Hall’ was a huge success with the American public.

While touring the United States with his troupe, Chaplin signed a contract with Keystone Studios, founded by Mack Sennett, and moved to Los Angeles. He made his film debut with Making a Living (1914), where he played a hustler named Johnny.

Chaplin did not like this character, which even led to a conflict with director Henry Lerman. Moreover, the artist even claimed that the director ‘out of envy cut the best scenes with him.

And yet Chaplin tried to make his hero as real as possible. Carefully considered the details of Johnny's outfit: a small coat, comically voluminous trousers. In the following films, they will add soft shoes, worn bowler, glued moustache square and cane. This image would later become an integral attribute of his famous Tramp Charlie.

Chaplin's demand grew every year. In 1916, he signed a contract with Essanay Studios. He was tasked with making 12 films. While working on the tape His New Job (‘His New Job’) Chaplin was a writer, director and actor. The following films were released a few months apart: The Champion, The Tramp, The Woman, and An Evening at the Music Hall.

After finishing work on these films, Chaplin went to New York, where he signed a contract with the studio Mutual Film Corporation on record terms: $150 thousand he received for signing the agreement, as well as another $10 thousand a week for a year. The total amount for the year amounted to $670 thousand. Among the films of this period are considered particularly successful ‘Easy Street’ (Easy Street, 1917) and ‘The Immigrant’ (The Immigrant, 1917).

In most silent films, there is an illusion that the characters are talking, although the viewer cannot hear them. Chaplin's tramp is more of a mime, a human being, and his body language is responsible for his speech. He is judged by his appearance: he is homeless, has no real friends or family, and interacts with the world mainly through his actions. Occasionally he may sing a song or shout something, but by and large there is no pressing need to do so.

And yet, beginning in 1927 with the release of The Jazz Singer, which was the first feature film in history to feature a synchronized recorded musical score, as well as synchronized singing and voice-overs for some of the lines, the silent film era began to decline.

Sound films quickly supplanted their silent counterparts. However, Chaplin was hesitant to embrace the new reality, fearing it would ruin his Tramp Charlie. In his two 1930s films, Big City Lights and New Times, Chaplin incorporated music, but he was hesitant to do dialogue. Finally in 1940 he released a full sound film, The Great Dictator, an anti-Hitler satire. In this film Chaplin for the first time in 20 years played not Tramp Charlie, but a double role - an unnamed Jewish barber and Adenoid Hinkel, the dictator of Tomania.

In 1919, together with American cinematographers David Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Chaplin organized his own film company United Artists. In the 1920s at this studio created a series of feature-length films, which are recognized by critics as pearls of world cinema, among them: the drama ‘The Parisian’ (1923) and comedies ‘Gold Rush’ (1925) and ‘The Circus’ (1928).

During World War II, Charlie Chaplin wrote anti-fascist articles and made strong statements. During the era of McCarthyism (the policy of the 1940s-1950s aimed at fighting the Communist Party of the United States), the FBI placed him under surveillance, and a congressman from Mississippi called for his deportation.

In September 1952, Chaplin sailed with his family to tour England. He was no longer able to return to the United States. The authorities revoked his permission to enter the country, accusing the artist of anti-American sentiments and links with communists. Chaplin settled in Switzerland. The next time he will visit the U.S. only 20 years later - in 1972, to receive an honorable mention of the American Film Academy.

Charlie Chaplin was married four times. From different marriages the artist had 12 children. His spouses were actresses Mildred Harris, Lita Gray, Paulette Goddard. The last was the daughter of the famous American playwright Eugene O'Neill - Una O'Neill.

Some of the girls entered into a relationship with the actor while still underage. One of Chaplin's wives, Lita Gray, accused the silent film star of seduction. The actress claimed that the artist married her in 1924 in Mexico just to avoid prison. The couple lived together for three years before divorcing in a scandal.

One of Charlie Chaplin's last public appearances was in 1975, the same year he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Two years later, in 1977, the artist died in his sleep at the age of 89.

A few months after Chaplin's death, the coffin with his body was stolen from a Swiss cemetery by a pair of thieves. The artist's wife Una O'Neil was sent a letter demanding a ransom of $600,000. She refused to pay, saying that her husband would consider this demand ‘ridiculous’.

Soon the criminals were caught - they turned out to be car mechanics - Roman Vardas from Poland and Gancho Ganev from Bulgaria. The men explained that they were trying to improve their financial situation in this way. Vardas as the organiser of the crime received four years of correctional labour, and Ganev - 18 months of probation.

After the incident, Chaplin's family reburied his body and filled the grave with concrete to prevent future theft attempts.