The International Movie Database (IMDb) remains the best single source for information about filmmaking and those who create them. I urge you to check it out.

For example, here is a portion of the information IMDb provides about Charlie Chaplin.  He was born Charles Spencer Chaplin in Walworth, London, England on April 16, 1889, to Hannah Harriet Pedlingham (Hill) and Charles Chaplin, both music hall performers, who were married on June 22, 1885. After Charles Sr. separated from Hannah to perform in New York City, Hannah then tried to resurrect her stage career. Unfortunately, her singing voice had a tendency to break at unexpected moments. When this happened, the stage manager spotted young Charlie standing in the wings and led him on stage, where five-year-old Charlie began to sing a popular tune. Charlie and his half-brother, Syd Chaplin spent their lives in and out of charity homes and workhouses between their mother’s bouts of insanity. Hannah was committed to Cane Hill Asylum in May 1903 and lived there until 1921, when Chaplin moved her to California

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o Long after becoming a millionaire, he continued to live in a shabby hotel room, and kept his studio checks in a trunk for months.

o He was 47 years old when he wed Paulette Goddard; Paulette was age 26 at the time, almost ten years older than either of his previous wives. He stayed married to Goodard twice as long as either of his previous wives.

o He was 54 years old when he wed Oona O’Neill (Oona Chaplin) in 1943; Oona was age 18 at the time, which deeply disappointed her father Eugene O’Neill, who disowned his daughter as a result of his disappointment. Charlie’s marriage to Oona became the longest of his four marriages by far, lasting until his own death.

o On March 3, 1978, his dead body was stolen from the Corsier-Sur-Vevey cemetery. It took until May 18 when the police found the dead body.

o His Beverly Hills residence was known as “Breakaway House”. Designed by Chaplin himself and built by studio carpenters, it began falling to bits over the years, much to the amusement of visitors. Built on Summit Drive in the Pickfair neighborhood, the house boasted a pipe organ Chaplin continually used to entertain his guests in the great hall; he also screened his films there. His tennis court was a hive of activity; even the elusive Greta Garbo was a frequent player. He seems to have been an inspiring host; many of his guests joined in with his antics, and reflected that they had never been so funny before or since–it was the influence of Chaplin.

o He was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in September 1947, but his appearance was postponed three times, and he never appeared. He sent HUAC a telegram stating “I am not a Communist, neither have I ever joined any political party or organization in my life.” Subsequently, HUAC determined that it was no longer needed for him to appear.

o In her book, “Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin“, Joyce Milton asserts that Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial classic, “Lolita”, was inspired by Chaplin’s relationship with Lita Grey. On the 100th anniversary of Chaplin’s birth, celebrations were held in Corsier and Vevey, Switzerland, where he last lived. For the occasion, 100 children from the region performed a choreography dressed up as little tramps.

o A much-repeated story claims that he once entered a Charlie Chaplin lookalike contest and finished third! In some versions of the story, he came in second.

Stan Laurel was his understudy on the English stage.

o When both Stan Laurel and Chaplin moved to America they shared a room in a boarding house. Cooking was not allowed in the boarding house where Stan Laurel and Chaplin stayed, so he would play the violin to cover up the sound of Laurel frying up food on a hot plate.

o His bowler and cane was sold for $150,000 in 1987.

o After his body was recovered from grave robbers, it was reburied in a vault surrounded by cement.
Pictured (as Charlie Chaplin) on one of ten 29¢ US commemorative postage stamps celebrating stars of the silent screen, issued 27 April 1994. Designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, this set of stamps also honored Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, Zasu Pitts, Harold Lloyd, Theda Bara, Buster Keaton and the Keystone Kops.

o Son-in-law of Eugene O’Neill.

o Was an accomplished musician who, in his later years, often reissued his silent films with scores he had composed himself.

o Although Adolf Hitler was not at all a huge fan–in fact, he had been misinformed that Charlie was Jewish, and therefore despised him–he was also well aware of how beloved Charlie was throughout the world at that time, and that was the reason he grew the Chaplin mustache: he thought it would endear him to the people.

o When Chaplin arrived in the United States with the Fred Karno troupe on October 2, 1912, in his second trip to America, according to Ellis Island immigration records, he had $45 in his pocket. He listed his half-brother Syd Chaplin, as his next of kin. Though his mother was still alive, she was in a mental hospital. Sailing with him was fellow Karno troupe member Arthur Stanley Jefferson–later to be known as Stan Laurel.

o Was 73 years old when his youngest son, Christopher Chaplin, was born.

o Received an Honorary Oscar at The 44th Annual Academy Awards (1972). He appeared on stage blowing kisses to the Hollywood audience with tears running down his face while he received a long standing ovation, sitting on stage in his wheelchair. Ironically, he won a competitive Oscar the following year in a regular, non-honorary, competitive category.

o He and Buster Keaton had an interesting relationship. Long considered rivals but always having avoided commenting about each other in the press, Chaplin hired Keaton for a part in Limelight (1952). Keaton, who was flat broke at the time, went into a career decline after having been signed by MGM in 1928, as the studio would not let him improvise in any of his films nor allow him any writing or directorial input, and he was eventually reduced to writing gags–often uncredited–for other comedians’ films. Chaplin, at this point, felt sorry for Keaton due to his hard luck, but Keaton recognized that, despite Charlie’s better fortune and far greater wealth, he was (strangely) the more depressed of the two. In one scene in Limelight, Chaplin’s character was dying. While the camera was fading away, Keaton was muttering to Chaplin without moving his lips, “That’s it, good, wait, don’t move, wait, good, we’re through.” In his autobiography Keaton called Chaplin “the greatest silent comedian of all time”.

o In all his years of living and working in the United States, he never became a citizen.

o Composed about 500 melodies, including “Smile” and “This Is My Song.”

o Up until his last few movies, he never shot with a working script. He would start with a story in his mind and constantly retool it, often shooting hours of scenes that wouldn’t make the final cut until he was satisfied. He spent his nights during filming, critiquing the rushes with his assistant directors. Consequently compared to the major studio’s films, he spent months/years and excessive amounts of money on his productions. He often said though he would not release any of his films until he was 100% satisfied with the result.

o After finishing his last film A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) in 1966, he composed the music to many of his silent movies, among them The Circus (1928) in 1968, The Kid (1921) in 1971 and A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate (1923) in 1976.

o His trademark character The Tramp appeared in about 70 movies, shorts and features, during a period of 26 years, from the one-reeler Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914) to his triumphant feature The Great Dictator (1940).

He loved to play tennis, but described golf as “a game I can’t stand”.

o Marlon Brando played the starring role in Chaplin’s last movie A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) in 1966. While Brando had always greatly admired Chaplin’s work and looked upon him as “probably the most talented man the [movie] medium has ever produced”, the two superstars did not get along during the shooting. In his autobiography, Brando described Chaplin as “probably the most sadistic man I’d ever met.” Chaplin, on his side, said that working with Brando simply was “impossible”.

o The fact that neither City Lights (1931) nor Modern Times (1936), two of Chaplin’s most beloved and acclaimed movies, were nominated for a single Academy Award has puzzled many. One explanation could be that Chaplin expressed disdain for the Academy Awards early on; according to his son Charles Chaplin Jr., for a time Chaplin even used the Honorary Award he won in 1929 as a doorstop. However, apparently, his view on the Awards changed with time, as he accepted and seemed touched by his second Honorary Award in 1972.

o One of the last movies he saw (and very much enjoyed) was Rocky (1976).

o He remained in remarkably good physical and mental shape for most of his life, still playing tennis regularly well into his 70s and working constantly. However, after the completion of what turned out to be his last film, A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), his health began to visibly deteriorate.

o His favorite composer is reported to have been Richard Wagner (1813-83), who coincidentally, and unfortunately, was also the favorite composer of Adolf Hitler, who Chaplin brutally satirized in The Great Dictator (1940).

o He was the first, and to date, the last artist to have regular and complete control over every aspect of the filmmaking process of almost all of his films. He acted in, wrote, directed, produced, edited, cast, and composed the music for his movies. Chaplin literally paid for this authority by financing his films and studio overhead entirely with his own money.

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