Chaplin Movie Characters

Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford

Chaplin is based upon Chaplin´s life ( Brilliant ! ) but many famous characters appeared in it. For more info, check links in that section.

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Charles Spencer Chaplin

Charles Spencer as unforgettable Charlot

As the king of silent screen comedies, Charlie Chaplin achieved international stardom with his utterly captivating portrayal of "The Little Tramp" in such classic films as The Kid (1920), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), and Modern Times (1936). The Tramp's shambling, yet winsome, characteristics weren't such a stretch for Chaplin to affect--growing up impoverished and often lonely in the London slums, he and his brother Sydney spent the majority of their childhood in orphanages and workhouses, after their father expired from alcoholism and their mother was confined to an insane asylum. During his adolescence, Chaplin made his own way by working variously as a lather boy in a barbershop, as a janitor in music halls, and as a bit vaudeville player. While traveling in the United States with the Fred Karno Company, a British troupe, in 1913, Chaplin was discovered onstage by producer Mack Sennett, who signed him to Keystone Films to star in one-reelers for a whopping $150 a week. Chaplin's fame as a great screen comedian spread like a plague, and by the end of 1920, he had appeared in sixty-nine films, and was commanding an unheard-of salary of $10,000 a week. His production output thereafter tapered off, as Chaplin, a gifted director, producer, scriptwriter, and composer, began to take full creative control of his projects. Something of a workaholic and most definitely a perfectionist, Chaplin became famous for shooting as much as fifty times the amount of footage necessary in order to satisfy his artistic vision. Taking his obsessive love of artistic control a step further, Chaplin co-founded United Artists, the first modern film production and distribution company, with screen legends Mary Pickford, D.W. Griffith, and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.

Trouble first beset Chaplin when he was accused in the press of being a Leftist, following the release of his anti-Hitler satire, The Great Dictator (1940)--the film's passionate plea for the launching of a second front in Europe to aid the Russians caused politicians and journalists to seriously doubt his nationalism. Again in 1947, censors and conservatives berated Chaplin over his black comedy Monsieur Verdoux (1947), which related an uncomfortably "contemporary" view of society; the film was picketed, banned in Memphis, and withdrawn from numerous theaters because of its controversial themes. Further plagued by a pesky paternity suit brought against him by actress Joan Barry that earned him--fairly or unfairly--the reputation of a debauching Svengali, Chaplin declared himself a "citizen of the world" in 1952, and took up permanent residence in Switzerland with his fourth and last wife, Oona. He returned to the U.S. only once, in 1972, to receive an honorary Academy Award. Chaplin won another Oscar, in 1973, for his 1952 score of Limelight (a morass of legal difficulties had postponed the release of the movie for two decades). In 1975, Chaplin received the ultimate honor of being knighted for his many legendary achievements in the entertainment field.

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Douglas Fairbanks

Douglas Fairbanks, a silent film star of the early 20th century, made his first appearance in "The Lamb" (1915). "The Lamb" was a comedy - western film. The next year, 1916, was a good one for Fairbanks. He made twelve pictures that year, all of them hits. And this was certainly reflected in his salary. In 1915, he was making only about $2000.00 a week; in 1916, his salary jumped to about $10,000.00 a week.

Douglas Fairbanks' first fencing movie "The Mark of Zorro," (1920), is one of the best "Zorro" film's ever made. The script, taken from a novel by Johnston McCulley, was written by Douglas Fairbanks. The orignal title of the story is "The Curse of Capistrano" .
"The Mark of Zorro, " is a swashbuckler film, with lots of exciting fencing; but
did you know that Douglas Fairbanks only started to learn to fence
once the film was underway?
Some of the other great swashbuckler films Douglas Fairbanks worked on are: "The Three Musketeers"
(1921), " Robin Hood" (1922) , " Don Q, Son of Zorro" (1925), " The Black Pirate" (1926), and "The Iron Mask. " (1929). "The Black Pirate" and "The Iron Mask" are probably his all-time best movies.
Douglas Fairbanks' son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., was also
a great swashbuckler movie star.

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Mary Pickford

Her early years are vague to say the least. According to Mary she was born Gladsy Maire Smith on April 9, 1893. In reality she was born Gladsy Louise Smith on April 8, 1892 in Toronto, Cannada. Her childhood eerly resmbles that of Charlie Chaplain and Lillian Gish. Her father was a hopeless alcholic who changed occupations frequently. He died after abandoning his family while looking for work. To avoid destitution and the possible breakup of her family, Mary's mother Charolette found work for her daughter work on the stage along with Mary's younger sister Lottie and younger brother Jack. Mary was a tremendous success and soon appeared in Broadway under the guidance of producer David Belasco who changed her name from Gladys Smith to Mary Pickford.
In 1917 Mary went on a nation wide tour to sell Liberty Bonds during World War I. While touring she met her future husband Doug Fairbanks the dashing swash buckler of the movies. In 1919 in an era when most women didn't even work Mary cofounded United Artists Studios with Doug Fairbanks, his friend Charlie Chaplain, and her old boss D.W. Griffith. The following got married after they both divorced their old spouses. They named their home "PickFair" a combination of their last names. Sadly the marriage was never really a happy one and the couple separted in 1929 and later divorced in 1936.
In 1937 Mary married her frequent costar Charles "Buddy" Rogers who was also a muscian. Mary who had retired from acting in 1933 and who had previously won an Academy Award for her work in "Coquette" 1929 spent her time promoting several differnt charities. She aslo helped incorperate Beveraly Hills as well as starting her own cosmetic line.She was also considered but later turned the role of Norma Desmond in "Sunst Blvd." In 1958 Mary was the owner of the largest collection of Jewerly in the world. Mary drew away from the public light in 1966, rarely leaving PickFair and becoming increasingly dependent on alchol. In 1976 she did appear at the Academy Awarads to recive her Life Time Acheivemnt Award. It would be her last public appearance. She later died due to a cerebral hemmorage on May 29, 1979 at the age of 87.

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Mack Sennett

Born January 17, 1880, in Danville, Quebec, Canada. He was an actor, writer, director, producer, deal-maker and star-maker. Hell, he was a full-blown studio at the pinnacle of his career. He was nothing less than a force of nature. Looking at Mabel Normand's filmography by itself, there are scores and scores of films they made together showcasing her. When one takes into account that Mack was simultaneously supervising dozens of other Keystone productions showcasing other comics, and on many occasions directing and acting in them, the output was staggering!

He started as a devoted outgrow his student and employee of D.W. Griffith, only to short pants, but not before he the comedy made his mark with the master. Sennett was mask to Griffith's mask of tragedy. was your If you were a dramatic actor, Griffith's school. If humor was your game, you Even if you enrolled at Sennett's komedy kollege. weren't a comic, Mack would try to make diva, Gloria you one anyway. Just ask screen Swanson, who began her early screen career Mixing la as a Sennett bathing beauty. Swanson and custard pie? Indigestible! To her credit, enough to Swanson was versatile take a pratfall or be the Grand Dame. The problem was laminating Sennett was forever the two types together.

Sennett was colorful - he was loved, reviled and envied. He was a slave driver of epic proportions. Ben Turpin, the famous cross-eyed comic, managed to finagle shorter working hours (under 18 hours a day!) by telling Mack that he would be glad to work the long hours, but that the eyes would go straight at 5 o'clock. An amused Mack gave in to Turpin's demand. A victim of Mack's overseer qualities was former gag writer Tay Garnett (who was later to become an esteemed director), who worked for Sennett in the mid-1920s. His description could very well be applicable to the Sennett factory of the mid-1910s.

Mack went through many changes from a business standpoint. Like a millionaire adventurer who has won and lost his fortune many times over, Mack would always rise up like the phoenix from the ashes. When he lost Keystone in a deal gone bad, he went on to create new production companies with new names. His dream would not be sidelined by anyone or anything. If he waited long enough, things would go his way again. Even Mabel came back after "leaving for good." He continued to make his movies well into the sound era, and was a regular fixture in the Hollywood community. Mack never lost the moniker "The King of Comedy." All the greats recognized this. This recognition has placed the name of Mack Sennett in the golden annals of Hollywood history for all time. Died November 5, 1960, in Woodland Hills, CA

Mabel Normand

Movie actress; born in Boston, Mass. Daughter of a vaudeville pianist, she was a model at age 13 and made her screen debut at age 16. By 1912 she was starring in Mack Sennett comedies and her performance opposite Charlie Chaplin in Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914) made her one of the stars of silent movies for a decade. Scandals involving drugs and two murder cases put a strain on her life and career and she died prematurely of pneumonia and tuberculosis.

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Edna Purviance

It is literally impossible to discuss the acting career of Edna Purviance without invoking the name of Charles Chaplin. Edna was a secretary in San Francisco when she was selected by Chaplin to play his leading lady in his second Essanay short, A Night Out (1915). From that point onward, Purviance worked only for Chaplin, appearing as the object of his affections in such imperishable classics as Police (1916), The Vagabond (1916), Easy Street (1917), The Immigrant (1917), Shoulder Arms (1918), The Kid (1921) and The Pilgrim (1923). Reportedly the professional relationship warmed into a personal one, with Edna becoming the first of Chaplin's many lovers. Their ardor had cooled by 1923, though Charlie continued taking a paternal interest in her career, attempting to establish Edna as a solo dramatic actress in A Woman of Paris (1923) and the never-released The Sea Gull (1923) (produced by Chaplin and directed by Josef Von Sternberg). But by 1925, Edna had lost interest in acting. Edna Purviance remained on Chaplin's payroll until the day she died; it has been written that she appeared as an extra in Chaplin's final American feature Limelight (1952), but this is not borne out by either the production call sheets or by the film itself.

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More characters are coming . . .

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