Sir Charles Spencer " Charlie " Chaplin, KBE ( 16 April 188925 December 1977 ) was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era.

Chaplin was one of the most creative and influential personalities of the silent-film era.

Chaplin was identified with left-wing politics during the McCarthy era and he was ultimately forced to resettle in Europe from 1952.

In 2008, Martin Sieff, in a review of the book Chaplin: A Life, wrote: " Chaplin was not just ' big ', he was gigantic.

Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on 16 April 1889 to Hannah Chaplin ( née Hill, 1865 – 1928 ) and Charles Chaplin Sr. ( 1863 – 1901 ).

There is no official record of his birth, although Chaplin believed he was born at East Street, Walworth, in South London.

Because of this poverty, Chaplin was sent to a workhouse at seven years old.

In September 1898, Hannah Chaplin was committed to Cane Hill mental asylum — she had developed a psychosis seemingly brought on by malnutrition and an infection of syphilis.

" For the two months she was there, Chaplin and his brother were sent to live with their father, whom the young boy scarcely knew.

Charles Chaplin Sr. was by then a severe alcoholic, and life with the man was bad enough to provoke a visit from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

" There was nothing we could do but accept poor mother's fate ", Chaplin later wrote, and she remained in care until her death in 1928.

Hannah had been booed off stage, and the manager chose Chaplin, who was standing in the wings, to go on as her replacement.

It was an isolated performance, but at nine years old Chaplin became interested in the theatre.

Chaplin worked hard and the act was popular with audiences, but dancing did not satisfy the child and he dreamt of forming a comedy act.

The manager sensed potential in Chaplin and he was soon on the stage.

" It was like tidings from heaven ", Chaplin recalled.

Chaplin quickly began work in another role, touring with his brother — who was also pursuing an acting career — in a comedy sketch called Repairs.

It was popular with audiences and Chaplin became the star of the show.

* Borzoi can also been seen in cameo roles in the films Love at First Bite, Legends of the Fall (" Notchee Boy "), Excalibur, All Dogs Go to Heaven ( 1989 ), Bride of Frankenstein, Easter Parade, Wolfen, Ziegfeld Follies, Onegin ( 1999 ), Gangs of New York ( 2002 ), Chaplin, The Avengers ( TV series ), JAG, Maverick ( 1994 ), Sleepy Hollow, Last Action Hero, and A Knights Tale ( on the DVD deleted scenes ).

Karno selected his new star to join a fraction of the company that toured North America's vaudeville circuit ; he also signed Chaplin to a new contract, which doubled his pay.

With an insurance of $ 1, 500 promised in case of failure, Sennett also allowed Chaplin to direct his own film.

Chaplin also wished to " do something more " than comedy, and — as Louvish says —" make his mark on a changed world.

One advantage Chaplin found in sound technology was the ability to record a musical score for the film ; he also took the opportunity to mock the talkies, opening City Lights with a squeaky, unintelligible speech that " burlesqued the metallic tones of early talky voices ".

Federal prosecutors also brought Mann Act charges against Chaplin related to Barry in 1944, of which he was acquitted.

Chaplin decided not to release the film in the United States, which also meant that it was financially much less successful than his earlier films, despite moderate commercial success in Europe.

Chaplin also concentrated on his family, to which he and Oona added three more children, Jane Cecil ( b. 23 May 1957 ), Annette Emily ( b. 3 December 1959 ) and Christopher James ( b. 8 July 1962 ).

The impresario also taught his comedians to vary the pace of their comedy, that a hectic speed was not necessary, and used elements of absurdity that would become familiar in Chaplin gags.

However, he also often relied on help from his closest collaborators, such as his long-time cinematographer Roland Totheroh, brother Sydney Chaplin and various assistant directors, such as Harry Crocker and Charles Reisner.

Chaplin also diverged from conventional slapstick by slowing down his pace and exhausting each scene of its comic potential, and focusing more on developing the viewer's relationship to the characters.

He also often employed inanimate objects in his films, often transforming them into other objects in an almost surreal way, such as in The Pawnshop ( 1916 ) and One A. M. ( 1916 ), where Chaplin is the only actor aside Chester Conklin's brief appearance in the very first scene.

Alongside acting, directing, writing, producing, and editing, Chaplin also composed the musical scores for his films.

Chaplin also received his only competitive Oscar for his composition work, receiving the Academy Award for Best Original Score for Limelight ( along with Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell ) in 1973.

In 2011 two murals depicting Chaplin on two 14-storey buildings were also unveiled in Vevey.

In 1998, Chaplin also received a statue in Waterville, Ireland, where he spent several summers with his family in the 1960s.

Since 2011 the town has also been host to the annual Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival, which was founded to celebrate Chaplin's legacy and to showcase new comic talent.

Retrospectives of his work were presented that year at The National Film Theatre in London, the Munich Stadtmuseum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which also dedicated a gallery exhibition, Chaplin: A Centennial Celebration, to him.

Chaplin has also been remembered in several other ways.

Richard Attenborough directed a film on Chaplin's life, Chaplin ( 1992 ), which starred Robert Downey, Jr. as Chaplin and also included Chaplin's oldest daughter Geraldine Chaplin playing his mother, Hannah Chaplin.

Chaplin is also a supporting character in several other films, such as The Cat's Meow ( 2001 ), in which he was played by Eddie Izzard and The Scarlett O ' Hara War ( 1980 ), in which he was played by Clive Revill.

It was completed in January 1918, and Chaplin was given freedom over the making of his pictures.

At the 1st Academy Awards, Chaplin was given a special award " For versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus.

At the Academy Awards gala, Chaplin was given a twelve-minute standing ovation, the longest in the Academy's history.

Although some of Chaplin's critics have claimed that credit for his film music should be given to the composers who worked with him, for example Raksin, who worked with Chaplin on Modern Times, has stressed Chaplin's creative position and active participation in the composing process.

The romance theme was later given lyrics, and became the pop standard " Smile ", first recorded by Nat King Cole and later covered by artists as Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Trini Lopez, Eric Clapton, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Michael Bublé, Petula Clark, Liberace, Judy Garland, Madeleine Peyroux, Plácido Domingo and Dionne Warwick, Michael Jackson and Robert Downey, Jr. ( included on the soundtrack for the film Chaplin ).

On the night the film premiered, Chaplin had flyers given to those in line.

The first show ever given was a music hall revue entitled ' Giddy Ostend ' with Little Tich and ( in one of his first roles ) Charlie Chaplin.