Charlie Chaplin example essay topic

What a little tramp! Charlie Chaplin, who brought laughter to millions worldwide as the silent 'Little Tramp' clown. Born in East Street, Walworth, London on 16 April, 1889, Charles Spencer Chaplin was the son of a music hall singer and his wife. Charlie Chaplin's parents divorced early in his life, with his father providing little to no support, either financial or otherwise, leaving his mother to support them as best she could.

Chaplin's mother Hannah was the brightest spot in Charlie's childhood; formerly an actress on stage, she had lost her ability to perform, and managed to earn a subsistence living for herself, Charlie, and Charlie's older half-brother Sidney by sewing. She was an integral part of Charlie's young life, and he credited her with much of his success. Sadly, she slowly succumbed to mental illness, and by the time that Charlie was 7 years old, she was confined to an asylum; Charlie and Sidney were relegated to a workhouse (a government facility for orphaned and abandoned children). Furthermore, The Great Dictator was Charlie Chaplin's first truly talking picture, and when it was finally released in 1940, it was a worldwide sensation. In the same year that Charlie Chaplin began working on The Great Dictator, the House Un-American Committee begins investigating Charlie. At first glance, there seems to be no reason for this -- until the second glance.

Earlier Chaplin had done his patriotic part in raising money for the war effort, alongside his long time friends Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford - raising large amounts of money for the war. Charlie was a lifelong pacifist, but he was also a realist who saw that the aggression of the Axis powers had to be stopped. In many ways, Chaplin was politically naive -- such as speaking at fund raisers for the Communist USSR, whom Chaplin simply saw as our allies in the fight. And by suggesting that America immediately open a two front war to help our 'friends' in the Soviet Union. These were some of the reasons that the government began keeping tabs on the immigrant film maker.

Although he worked for all of these years in America, he maintained his British citizenship, and had no intention of becoming an American citizen. Moreover, due to the false rumors that Chaplin was a communist or communist sympathizer, as well as an organized protest by various unions resulting in theaters refusing to show his films. Charlie took a vacation to England, wanting to show his new wife and children his native country. Upon leaving the territorial waters of the United States of America, Charlie Chaplin received a cable, informing him that the State Department had rescinded his reentry permit -- effectively locking him out of the country as an undesirable alien. There were many reasons for this -- Chaplin's unorthodox political views, the false accusation that he was a Communist, and not least of all, money.

There would have been an attempt by the federal government to seize Chaplin's assets, which were enormous. However, his wife Oon a returned to the United States, and promptly took all of the liquid assets, as well as liquidating everything she could -- leaving the government without a penny for its' trouble. However, Chaplin's professional pace seemed to be slowing down, to an outside observer. After all, he was now 69 years old.

However, Charlie was not finished working. He had been reediting some of his earlier movies, and composing new music for some of them. Charlie was musical by nature as well as profession, and he wrote some of the most enduring melodies of the century -- not least among them the song 'Smile'. However, before he could release his reedited movies, now narrated by Charlie Chaplin himself, death claimed another old friend -- Edna Purviance died in 1958. To add insult to injury, Chaplin's name was removed from The Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1968, Chaplin was now 79 years old.

It is not surprising that more and more of his friends and coworkers died -- for example, his longtime cameraman and assistant Rollie Tother oh died the previous year. Also, Charlie Chaplin's oldest son, Charles Chaplin Jr., died. Again, Charlie worked through his grief, and threw himself into his work. He was preparing a new film, The Freak, about a young girl who sprouts wings, as a vehicle for his daughter -- but it never went past the planning stages.

In 1972, Charlie Chaplin did something he never thought he would do -- he returned to the United States of America. He was returning to accept a lifetime achievement Academy Award. The foolishness of 20 years previous had been forgotten, and Chaplin was greeted by America with open arms. Correcting another old injustice, Chaplin's name was added again to the 'Walk of Fame' in Hollywood. The next year, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, and became Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin. In 1977, Charlie Chaplin passed away, on Christmas Day.

He left behind grieving family and friends, and millions of fans worldwide. Finally, Charles Spencer Chaplin is definitely one of the most interesting people I have had the pleasure of reading about in a long time. Personally, when I analyze human existence I picture every person at a starting line in a race, I picture weights being placed on everyone's back, some weights heavier than others. However, the goal of life is to succeed and fight the fight no matter how heavy the weight. Throughout his life he overcame many obstacles despite all of the extra weights that were placed upon his back, and for this he is admirable. I recommend everyone to learn more of Charlie Chaplin.