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In his autobiography Buster Keaton called Chaplin "the greatest silent comedian of all time." Charlie Chaplin, considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, an icon of the silent film era. Associated with his popular "Little Tramp" character; the man with the toothbrush mustache, bowler hat, bamboo cane, and a

funny walk, he is always hopeful of romance and adventure besides keeping his dignity in a world with great social injustice.

Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in Walworth, London, England on April 26th, 1889 to Charles and Hannah (Hill) Chaplin, both music hall performers. His first stage appearance was at the age of five, after his father's death, singing a song in place of his ill mother famous in the stage name of Lily Harley. He started his career at eight when he toured in a musical, "The Eight Lancaster Lads" and rapidly won popular favour as an outstanding tap dancer. When he was about fourteen, he got his first chance to act in a legitimate stage show, and appeared as "Billy" the page boy, in support of William Gillette in "Sherlock Holmes". From age 17 to 24 he was with Fred Karno's English vaudeville troupe as a comedian, which brought him to New York in 1910 at age 21. In December 1913 he signed on with California's Keystone Studios' popular comedy director Mack Sennett. While at Keystone, Chaplin directed 35 films and appeared as the Little Tramp in nearly all the films.

His first movie was Making a Living in 1914. His next film, Kid (1914), changed his entire career. This picture saw him wearing baggy pants, size 14 shoes, a tiny jacket, a bowler hat and moustache trimmed down to toothbrush size. Here he introduced to the screen one of the greatest child actors the world has ever known - Jackie Coogan. The next year, he produced "The Idle Class", in which he portrayed a dual character.

In November 1914 he left Keystone and signed on at Essanay. From 1915 onwards Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, scored and, of course, starred in all his movies. There he made 15 films. In 1916, he signed on at Mutual and made 12 two-reel comedies. These include "The Floorwalker", "The Fireman", "The Vagabond", "One A.M." (a production in which he was the only character for the entire two reels with the exception of the entrance of a cab driver in the opening scene), "The Count", "The Pawnshop", "Behind the Screen", "The Rink", "Easy Street" (heralded as his greatest production up to that time), "The Cure", "The Immigrant" and "The Adventurer."

In 1917 Chaplin signed up with First National Studios, after which he built Chaplin Studios. Early in 1918, Chaplin entered into an agreement with First National Exhibitors’ Circuit. His first film under this new deal was "A Dog’s Life". After this production, he turned his attention to a national tour on behalf of the war effort, following which he made a film the US government used to popularize the Liberty Loan drive: "The Bond".

His next commercial venture was the production of a comedy dealing with the war. "Shoulder Arms", released in 1918 at a most opportune time, proved a veritable mirth quake at the box office and added enormously to Chaplin’s popularity. This he followed with "Sunnyside" and "A Day’s Pleasure", both released in 1919.

In 1919 he formed United Artists (UA) along with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith for production of their own films.
Chaplin did not make a film for United Artists until 1923 when A Woman of Paris (1923) was released. This was followed in 1925 by the classic The Gold Rush (1925) and in 1927 by The Circus (1928), for which he received an Academy Award.
For the premiere of City Lights (1931), Chaplin traveled to London, and stayed there until 1932 before returning to the U.S. His next film was Modern Times (1936), which proved to be one of his greatest successes, followed four years later his first "talkie", an indictment of the Nazi regime, The Great Dictator (1940). Chaplin here played a dual role, as a Jewish barber who fought in World War I and as the evil Adenoid Hynkel, dictator of Tomania. In 1945 he started working on a new picture, Monsieur Verdoux (1947). In 1952 he released what is probably his best-known "talkie", Limelight (1952), which also featured his longtime friend, Buster Keaton

In the same year due to political controversies he left U.S. for Switzerland. During his absence from the States he made two more films, A King in New York (1957), released in America 20 years later, and his final film A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), which starred Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren. This last film proved to be Chaplin's only failure and was a box-office flop.

In 1921 Chaplin was decorated by the French government for his outstanding work as a filmmaker, and was elevated to the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1952. In 1972 he was honored with an Academy Award for his "incalculable effect in making motion pictures the art form of the century." In 1975 he received an Knighthood from England's Queen Elizabeth II.

Chaplin’s versatility extended to writing, music and sports. He authored two autobiographical books, "My Autobiography" in 1964 and its companion volume, "My Life in Pictures" in 1974. Besides these there were "My Trip Abroad", "A Comedian Sees the World", as well as all of his scripts. An accomplished musician, though self-taught, he played a variety of instruments with equal skill and facility (playing violin and cello left-handed). He was also a composer, having written and published many songs, among them: "Sing a Song"; "With You Dear in Bombay"; and "There’s Always One You Can’t Forget", "Smile", "Eternally", "You are My Song", as well as the soundtracks for all his films.
Chaplin died of natural causes on the day of Christmas, 1977 at his home in Switzerland.