Trivia: The first great screen comedian, Charles Chaplin was also one of the most gifted directors in history, in addition to being a formidable talent as a writer and composer. The son of music hall performers from England, he began working on the stage at age five. He was a popular child dancer and got work on the London stage, eventually moving up to acting roles. It was while touring America in 1912 that Chaplin was spotted by Mack Sennett, the head of Keystone Studios, and he was signed to them a year later. After a disappointing, relatively non-descript debut, Chaplin began evolving the persona that would emerge as his most famous screen portrayal, The Little Tramp, and after his first 11 movies, Chaplin began to manifest a desire to direct. By his 13th film, he had shifted into the director's chair, and also emerged as a writer. Chaplin's 35 movies at Keystone established him as a major film comedian and afforded him the chance to adapt his stage routines to the screen. He next moved on to Essanay Studios, where he had virtually complete creative freedom, and The Little Tramp became an established big-screen star. In 1916, Chaplin went to Mutual, earning an astronomical 10,000 dollars per week under a contract that gave him absolute control of his films -- the Mutual titles, most notably The Immigrant and Easy Street, are still counted among the greatest comedies ever made. These modestly proportioned two-reelers were followed by Chaplin's move to First National Studios, where he made lengthier, more ambitious, but fewer films, including the comedy The Kid, which was the second highest grossing silent film after D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, and made an overnight sensation of his co-star, Jackie Coogan. By this time, Chaplin had become an international celebrity of a status that modern audiences can only imagine because he achieved his success through comedy. With three other screen giants, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and D.W. Griffith, he founded United Artists, the first modern production and distribution company, and achieved further renown as a director with A Woman of Paris two years later. In 1925, he made what is generally considered his magnum opus, The Gold Rush. Chaplin's success continued into the sound era, although he resisted using sound until Modern Times in 1936. He had his first failure in 1940 with the anti-Hitler political satire The Great Dictator at about the same time that his personal life -- he had been involved in several awkward problems with various women, including a paternity suit filed against him by aspiring actress Joan Barry -- began to catch up with him. Chaplin's career during the immediate post-World War II period was marred by continuing problems, as his pacifism and alleged anti-American views led to investigations. He also made the black comedy Monsieur Verdoux, which failed at the box office. It was followed, however, by the best of his sound comedies, Limelight, which, because of his legal difficulties, didn't open in Los Angeles until two decades later -- when its score, written by Chaplin, received an Oscar. A King in New York, in 1957, and The Countess From Hong Kong, made nine years later, closed out his career on a lackluster note. After D.W. Griffith, Chaplin was the most important filmmaker of the silent film era. Through his clear understanding of film and its capabilities, and his constant experimentation -- he frequently ran through hundreds of takes to get just the right shot and effect he wanted -- he set most of the rules for screen comedy that are still being followed, and his onscreen image remains one of the most familiar.

Trivia: From 1915-23 she was Charlie Chaplin's only leading lady; they had met at a party and soon became lovers. When their relationship had run its course, he tried to launch her in a dramatic career (and meanwhile move her out of his films) with A Woman of Paris (1923), in which she starred and which he produced, directed, and wrote; the film was a success but failed to make a star out of her. She appeared in a couple more failed dramatic roles, then retired from the screen, popping up years later as an extra in two Chaplin films. Until the end of her life she remained under contract to Chaplin, receiving a salary from him.

Trivia: In the U.S. from 1912 with the famous Fred Karno troupe, gangly British music-hall comic Albert Austin appeared in stock in Denver, CO, for two years before joining fellow Karno comedian Charles Chaplin at Mutual in 1916. One of Chaplin's closest associates, Austin was the shop assistant in The Floorwalker (1916), the trombone player in The Vagabond (1916), and the cab driver in One A. M. (1916). He continued to work for Chaplin through 1931's City Lights, often functioning as an assistant director. During the notoriously long delays in filming, Austin would direct or co-direct such other Chaplin regulars as child stars Jackie Coogan and Dean Reisner. Working as a gag writer in the early sound era, Austin ended his career as a guard at Warner Bros. in Burbank, CA. His brother, William Austin, also enjoyed a long Hollywood career, often playing foppish characters.

Trivia: Bulky Swedish actor Henry Bergman came to the U.S. in the early 'teens. He worked as a utility player at Pathe, L-K0 and Mutual Studios until 1916, when he was cast in the Charlie Chaplin 2-reeler The Floorwalker (1916). Thereafter, Bergman worked almost exclusively for Chaplin as both supporting player (frequently in female drag) and assistant director. So devoted was Bergman to "the Little Tramp" that, as Chaplin later put it, "he'd have kissed me if I'd let him." Henry Bergman retired after the 1936 Chaplin feature Modern Times, but remained on Charlie's payroll until his death ten years later.

Trivia: Circus clown John Rand joined the Charles Chaplin stock company at Niles, CA, in 1915 and went on to play scores of supporting roles in Chaplin comedies well into the sound era, often taking more than one assignment per film (e.g., playing both a ship's officer and the drunken diner in The Immigrant, 1917). Rand's appearances away from Chaplin proved sporadic but he does turn up as Ruth Hiatt's father in Lige Conley's Fast and Furious (1924) and, late in life, as a gardener in Blondie (1938).

Trivia: Gentle giant Eric Campbell is best known for playing fearsome villains and thugs in Chaplin's films at Mutual from 1916-17. Born in Scotland, Campbell got his start in England's Fred Karno troupe -- the same place where Chaplin and Stan Laurel got their starts. It was Chaplin who involved Campbell in films in 1916. His best remembered scene comes from the film Easy Street where Chaplin beans him with a lamppost. When not playing thugs, he often played wealthy tyrants. In 1917, Campbell was killed in a car accident.