Charlie Chaplin receives honorary Academy Award
As part of his first visit to the United States in 20 years British film pioneer Charlie Chaplin accepts an honorary Academy Award for his incalculable contribution to the art of filmmaking.Chaplin once Americas most successful movie star and director had left the country under a storm of controversy in 1952.Born in London England in 1889 Chaplin was the son of music-hall performers and he appeared onstage from a young age.His father later died and his mother was put in a mental institution leading to a rough childhood that ended when Chaplin joined his half-brothers vaudeville troupe at the age of 17.
Mack Sennett the innovator of U.S.slapstick movie comedy discovered Chaplin during a U.S.appearance by the vaudeville troupe.
In 1913 he was signed to appear in movies produced by Sennetts Keystone Company.In his second picture Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914) Chaplin originated the character that would make him famousthe Little Tramp.The tramp wore a derby hat neatly kept moustache baggy trousers and cane and affected a bowlegged walk in his oversize shoes.He was an underdog hero beloved by moviegoers and Chaplin would play him in more than 70 films.
In the era of silent film slapstick was king and Chaplin was a master of physical comedy.He became one of the most recognized U.S.personalities and commanded increasingly high salaries.
He soon took to directing his own movies and with Mary Pickford Douglas Fairbanks and D.W.Griffith founded United Artists in 1919 so he could have greater control over his projects.Chaplin directed starred in wrote produced and composed the music for his feature-length comedies including The Kid (1921) The Gold Rush (1925) City Lights (1931) Modern Times (1936) and The Great Dictator (1940).These films addressed social and political issues of the day which seen through the eyes of the Little Tramp appeared a little sharper.
After the advent of sound in the late 1920s Chaplin appeared less often in movies but his fame continued to grow as his films won new audiences and became recognized as motion picture classics.Away from the camera Chaplins personal life often drew sensational headlines.He was married four times three times to his leading ladies and in 1943 was accused by another woman of fathering her child.That year in another controversial move he married Oona ONeill the 18-year-old daughter of playwright Eugene ONeill.
Chaplin was 54.Chaplins political views were also criticized as was his failure to apply for U.S.citizenship.
Pressed for back taxes and accused of supporting subversive causes by McCarthy-era America Chaplin left the United States in 1952.Informed that he would not necessarily be welcomed back he retorted I wouldnt go back there if Jesus Christ were president and surrendered his re-entry permit in Switzerland.He lived with his family at Corsier-sur-Vevey Switzerland and made several more films.In April 1972 he did return to the United States for a visit and accepted an honorary Oscar.
He had previously won an honorary Academy Award in 1929 for The Circus (1928).In 1975 Queen Elizabeth II knighted him.He died on December 25 1977.
