Charlie Chaplin – Early Life

Charlie Chaplin – Early Life

Exclusive extract from David Robinson’s new biography

This year Slapstick Festival’s Comedy Gala returns bigger and better than ever with a spotlight on the 1921 Chaplin masterpiece the Kid.

Many of Chaplin’s admirers regard The Kid as his most beautiful and most personal film. In honour of this year’s screening over the coming weeks we’ll be looking at the heartache that inspired this beloved classic. As a special treat, we’ve got our hands on extracts from David Robinson’s biography of Chaplin.
Patron and filmhistorian, David Robinson, is a renowned film critic and scholar, whose books Hollywood in the Twenties (1968), The History of World Cinema (1973) and official biographies of both Buster Keaton and Charles Chaplin have been critically acclaimed. We’ll be serialising parts from David Robinson’s biography of Chaplin, which looks in greater depth than ever before at Chaplin’s humble beginnings and the events in his life that motivated his work.

Charlie Chaplin's the Kid

Chaplin’s childhood

For those who have never delved into the history of silent comedy, Chaplin’s life started with great upheaval. He was born in 1889 to Hannah Chaplin and Charles Chaplin, Senior. Both his parents were music hall entertainers, but sadly never achieved fame. The temptations of the music halls meant both Charlie’s parents were distracted and often unable to take care of him. His parents married, but separated when Charlie was small.

His mother Hannah, suffered with mental illness most likely brought on by syphilis. Accepting this was incredibly difficult for Charlie, who often tried to be by her side as much as he could until her death in 1928. Charlie and his stepbrothers George and Sydney had to fend for themselves from an early age, and all had to suffer the hardships of workhouses when Hannah could not take care of them. By the age of nine Charlie had been sent to a workhouse twice. The workhouses were harsh places, effectively a prison for the poor. Despite all this Charlie was a resilient and plucky child, who remained determined and lively even given all the hardships he faced. Coping in London as two young boys, with no parents and little guidance, must have been terrifying. Born from his turbulent childhood, , The Kid shows some of the loneliness and desperation Chaplin must have felt, at this difficult time in his life.

Extract one : A london Boyhood

The Early life of Charlie chaplin

The career of Charles Chaplin Senior [Charlie Chaplin’s father] had a slower start than Hannah’s [his mother] but a more promising progression. At first he worked as a mimic, but soon developed into what was called a ‘dramatic and descriptive singer’ exerting a strong attraction upon his audiences. Chaplin described him as a quiet, brooding man with dark eyes, and said that Hannah thought he looked like Napoleon. The portraits that appear on the sheet music of his song successes show him with dark eyes that seem somewhat melancholy despite the broad prop grin.

Drink was the endemic disease of the music halls. They had evolved from drinking establishments and the sale of liquor still made up an important part of the managers’ incomes. When they were not on stage the artists were expected to mingle with the audiences in the bars, to encourage conviviality and consumption – which inevitably was best achieved by example. Poor Chaplin was only one of many who succumbed to alcoholism as an occupational hazard.

In 1890, however, he was still leaping from success to success. In the summer he was invited to sign for an American tour, and in August and September was appearing in New York at the Union Square Theatre.[1] The American trip, however, seems to have marked the final break-up of the Chaplins’ marriage[2]. Hannah had given birth to Leo Dryden’s son, George Dryden Wheeler.  Thus the young Charles Chaplin found himself fatherless, but with another half-brother. He was three and a half; Sydney was four years older. In his autobiography he recalls that at this time the children and their mother were still living in some affluence. However the comfort which sheltered Chaplin’s first three or four years was soon to end. Hannah’s liaison with Leo did not long survive the birth of their child. Hannah seems to have been a devoted, affectionate and protective mother, and to have loved the new baby as fiercely as she did her older sons. It is easy then to appreciate the shock that she must have suffered in the spring of 1893 when the appalling Dryden entered her lodgings and snatched away their six-month-old son. The baby was to vanish from the lives of the Chaplins for almost thirty years.

Soon after Charlie’s sixth birthday, the family’s situation reached a new crisis. Hannah became ill – it is not certain with what, but Chaplin recalls that she suffered from acute headaches. On 29 June she was admitted to the Lambeth Infirmary, where she .stayed until the end of July. On 1 July Sydney was taken into Lambeth Workhouse,[3] and four days later placed in the West Norwood Schools, which accommodated the infant poor of Lambeth.

In September Hannah was again taken into the Infirmary, and Sydney and Charlie, now eleven and seven, were admitted to the workhouse, ‘owing to the absence of their father and the destitution and illness of their mother’’.[4] Charles Chaplin Senior was traced and reluctantly appeared before the District Relief Committee. Somewhat heartlessly, he told them that while he was willing to take Charlie, he would not accept responsibility for Sydney, who was born illegitimate.

The Committee retorted that since Chaplin had married the boy’s mother, he was now legally liable for Sydney’s maintenance. At this stage, however, Hannah intervened to reject the idea of the boys living with their father as wholly repugnant, since he was living with another woman. Charles was not slow to point out her own adultery. No doubt somewhat bewildered by the family bickering, the Relief Committee decided that it was desirable to keep the boys together and that the best solution would be to place them in the Central London District Poor Law School at Hanwell.

Post script

From his incredible hardship in his earlier years to the famous persona we all know today as the iconic Chaplin; Chaplin’s dramatic ‘rags to riches’ story is an extraordinary tale of determination and ambition. In our next series of blogs, we’ll be exploring Chaplin’s later years looking at howhe attracted attention as a young performer, and track the route he took to stardom in America.

We’ll also be sharing Chaplin trivia acorss our social channels so don’t forget to follow us on TwitterFacebook and Instagram to find out more about Chaplin, and other famous silent stars.

[1] The Era, August 1890.

[2] Glenn Mitchell, op.cit. cites an intriguing ‘personal ad’ in The Entr’acte of 29 January 1887: ‘To Charles Chaplin – send address to “L.H.”, 56 Darwin Street, Old Kent Road, Very ill’.  If ‘L.H.’ was Hannah, it may be that the irregularities of the Chaplin marriage had begun before the birth of Charles Junior

[3] Renfrew Road (Lambeth) Workhouse Register, GLC Archives.

[4] Southwark Workhouse Register, GLC Archives

Matt Lucas’s Banana Skin

Slapstick Pre-Festival Launch Event

Fri 4th December, 8pm

£7-£19.50

We’re thrilled to announce that one of  the UK’s best loved entertainers, Matt Lucas, is coming to Bristol for a special Slapstick Festival launch event this December to be held in the beautiful St Georges. Matt is famous for his own brand of slapstick comedy, and has starred in a range of comedies from Little Britain, to Shooting Stars, and has appeared in major film productions like Bridesmaids. His own work is known for its light hearted appeal and acerbic social observations.

A former student of Bristol University, Matt Lucas is not only renowned for such hugely successful shows as Shooting Stars, Come Fly with Me and Little Britain, but also for the recent BBC comedy series Pompidou, his homage to ‘silent’ and visual comedy which “aimed to reinvent silent comedy for the twenty-first century”.

Titled Matt Lucas’s Banana Skin On 4th December Matt will be offering an exclusive insight into where he takes inspiration for his own comedy. He’ll be discussing his own career path, with a special guest host, and revealing the work behind his latest release, Pompidou. There will be a Q&A live with the audience afterwards. Matt says “I’m delighted to be invited to open Bristol’s Slapstick Festival. Graeme Garden has been harassing me to come for years and this time I could make it!”

Festival Director Chris Daniels is especially happy to be welcoming Matt to Bristol to help launch the 2016 festival, commenting…
“Matt Lucas is a perfect match for Slapstick. Matt’s body of work is full of visual comedy and affectionate references to the silent era films and stars we also cherish, especially Chaplin, Keaton and Laurel and Hardy.”

Get tickets your tickets today from the St George Website

Bought your tickets already? Let us know and send us a tweet! @SlapstickFest

Slapstick Festival’s Silent Comedy Gala returns to Colston Hall

Slapstick Silent Film Festival Comedy Gala 2016 - Charlie Chaplin The Kid

SILENT COMEDY GALA

Fri 22nd January
7.30pm
£25/£20concs /£10 under 12s

Slapstick Festival’s annual celebration of silent comedy returns to Colston Hall for a 12th year, beginning with a special triple bill.

Both wonderfully funny and deeply moving, THE KID (1921) is rightly considered a cinematic masterpiece. Chaplin’s first feature film was a landmark of world cinema, where pathos meets slapstick to perfection. Chaplin excels in his role as the devoted, but comically inept, self appointed parent after he discovers an abandoned baby. Jackie Coogan turns in the performance of a lifetime as his mischievous, adopted ‘son’.

This is a UK premiere of Chaplin’s own score performed live by a 15-piece orchestra – the Bristol Ensemble.

The evening also features two other classic clowns: Charley Chase, and that great master of the stone-face, Buster Keaton, in their own silent mini-masterpieces.

COPS (1922) is considered one of Keaton’s finest – and funniest – comedy shorts. A series of mistaken identities leads to mishaps resulting in Buster being chased all over the city by the entire police force. Here it is accompanied live by the European Silent Screen Virtuosi.

There will also be an exclusive screening of MIGHTY LIKE A MOOSE (1926). It’s a silent gem of a short, starring the rare genius of comedy master Charley Chase.

With a special guest host to be announced*, and other surprises, there’s no better way to brighten up those gloomy January nights.

Book early to avoid disappointment!
*Previous hosts include: Victoria Wood, Chris Addison and Griff Rhys Jones.