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Charlie Chaplin was born in London in 1889.
His childhood was very poor.
His father left the family, his mother was often ill, and there was not always food at home.
As a boy, Charlie sang and danced on stage for a little money.
He learned early how to make sad people laugh.
In 1913, he began to work in American silent films.
One day at the studio, he put on baggy trousers, big shoes, a small round hat, and a little mustache,
and he picked up a cane.
The Little Tramp was born — a poor man with the manners of a gentleman and a funny walk.
Because the films were silent, people in every country could understand them,
and the whole world fell in love with the Tramp.
Chaplin did not only act.
He wrote his films, directed them, and even composed the music for them.
He worked slowly and could repeat one scene a hundred times.
In films like The Kid and Modern Times, he mixed comedy with real life — hunger, machines, loneliness.
His audiences laughed and cried at the same time.
In 1940, in his first speaking film, The Great Dictator,
Chaplin made fun of Hitler and asked people to choose peace over hate.
In 1952, during an angry political time in America, Chaplin was told he could not return to the country.
He moved to Switzerland with his family.
Twenty years later, Hollywood invited the old man back and gave him a special Oscar.
The audience stood and applauded for twelve minutes — the longest applause in Oscar history.
Chaplin died in 1977.
His little Tramp still makes people laugh today, without saying a single word.
