On this day in history, April 16, 1889, future Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin — full name Charles Spencer Chaplin — is born in London, England.
Chaplin would go on to become one of the most financially successful stars of early Hollywood, according to History.com.
At the tender age of five, he was introduced to the stage as the son of London music hall entertainers.
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As a young child, he was watching a show in which his own mother, known by the stage name Lily Harley, was starring — “when her voice cracked,” as History.com relates.
“He was quickly shuffled onto the stage to finish the act” for her, the site also says.
Queen Elizabeth II, at left, shakes hands with actor Charlie Chaplin at the Empire Theatre in London on Oct. 27, 1952, for the Royal Film Show, a benefit performance to aid the Cinematograph Trade Benevolent Fund. (AP, File)
His father passed when he was very young and his mother wound up having “a nervous breakdown.”
That’s when Chaplin, along with his older half-brother, Sydney, took to the streets of London. The boys earned pennies for their dancing and were eventually sent to an orphanage.
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They joined the Eight Lancashire Lads, a children’s dance troupe, says the History Channel.
Young Charlie Chaplin quickly attracted attention as an outstanding tap dancer, according to the site CharlieChaplin.com.
His “bowler hat, out-turned feet, mustache and walking cane” soon became his trademark.
At age 12 or so he had his first chance to act in a legitimate stage show — and appeared as “Billy” the page boy in different productions of “Sherlock Holmes,” that same site says in an overview of the actor’s life.
After that, he began his career as a comedian in vaudeville — eventually traveling to the U.S. in 1910 as a featured player with the Fred Karno Company.
The “bowler hat, out-turned feet, mustache and walking cane” soon became his trademark.
Charlie Chaplin sits wrapped in a blanket in the snow as The Lone Prospector in his 1925 film, “The Gold Rush.” (Bettmann/Contributor )
He appeared in “Making a Living,” playing a villain who wore a monocle.
“It wasn’t long before he also worked on the other side of the camera, helping direct his 12th film and directing his 13th, ‘Caught in the Rain,’ on his own,” History.com notes.
Chaplin would go on to perfect and refine the character Charlie the Tramp — signing on in 1915 with the Essanay company for $1,250 a week, plus a $10,000 bonus — “quite a jump,” notes History.com, from what he was paid earlier by the Keystone company.
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Fast-forward — and in 1918, he signed a contract with First National for $1 million for eight films, History.com reports.
Chaplin is known for founding United Artists Corporation — with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and director D.W. Griffith — in 1919.
He was known as “a masterful silent film actor and pantomimist who could elicit both laughter and tears from his audiences.”
No surprise, then, that he reportedly resisted the arrival of sound in movies. “City Lights” in 1931 was his first film to feature sound — and he only used music in it.
He composed the entire score for it, according to CharlieChaplin.com.
Up-close shot of Charles Chaplin (1889-1977), without mustache. He achieved huge success with the character of “the tramp,” a humorous and pathetic character that became world-famous. (Bettmann/Contributor)
His first true sound picture was 1940s “The Great Dictator,” in which he mocked fascism, says History.com.
Chaplin is also known for founding United Artists Corporation — with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and director D.W. Griffith — in 1919.
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He wound up living in the United States for more than 40 years but reportedly never became a U.S. citizen.
“I was so nervous working with him,” Sophia Loren said about Charlie Chaplin.
Chaplin was accused of communist ties, which he denied, says History.com. But in 1952, immigration officials prevented Chaplin and his wife “from reentering the United States after a foreign tour.”
The couple settled in Switzerland with their eight children.
In 1972, Chaplin returned to America to accept a special Academy Award for “the incalculable effect he has had on making motion pictures the art for and of this century.”
Charlie Chaplin is shown in 1970, then in his early 80s. He was knighted in 1975. (STILLS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
A few years ago, actress and icon Sophia Loren — in a reflection of her decades-long career in Hollywood for the Actors/Directors/Screenwriters issue of The Wrap’s awards magazine — observed a photo of herself from 1967’s “The Countess from Hong Kong,” also known as Charlie Chaplin’s last film.
“I was so nervous working with him,” Loren told the outlet of Chaplin.
“He’s such a master. But on the first day on the set, I realized he was just as nervous. If you care and love something, you get nervous. I’m suspicious of people who don’t ever get nervous.”
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Chaplin was knighted in 1975.
He passed away at age 88 on Christmas day in 1977.
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He was survived by eight children from his marriage with Oona O’Neill and one son from his short marriage to Lita Grey.
