"Smile though your heart is aching. Smile even though it's breaking ..."
One of the most loved tunes of the twentieth century, and it was written by one of the best loved film actors of all time - Charlie Chaplin. Comic genius, traitor, coward, communist, sexual deviant; Chaplin was the most famous man of his age, he made millions laugh at his famous 'Tramp', but failed to find happiness himself until in 1943 aged 54 he married 18 year old Oona O'Neil. From then until his death in 1977 he made only four more films.
Charlie Chaplin created The Tramp, one of the most famous cinema images of all time. And in doing so Chaplin trapped himself inside an image he never truly managed to succeed without. Chaplin was the outstanding genius of the silent movie era. His genius raised early slapstick to a level of comedy setting the bench mark for future movie makers. But he never maintained that brilliance in the world of ‘talkies’. He had plenty he wanted to say, but sadly he never worked out how to say it.
The Tramp never spoke, just one gibberish song, no more, and yet his films said more to their audience than Chaplin ever managed to do in his few talkies. Worshipped for his silent creation Chaplin never achieved the same critical and public acclaim in his other films.
The Tramp made Chaplin the best known and best-paid film actor of his age. The Tramp opened the doors of society and celebrity to Chaplin and gave him a life style of endless young women and riches. The Tramp earned Chaplin the reputation of ‘genius’ and he propelled him into the worlds of intellectuals and royalty.
Not bad for a street urchin brought up in the Dickensian slums and workhouses of late 19th century London!
He was accused of sexual perversion by the press and the courts. He was vilified for his treatment of his ex-wives, and accused of being communist, he was investigated by McCarthy. In 1952 his American visa was revoked (he never became an American citizen, calling himself a ‘citizen of the world’) and he settled in Switzerland, where he lived for the rest of his life with Oona and their children.
Chaplin remains one of the greatest clowns of all time. He created an image of himself for public consumption that hid the darker sides of his personality.
In his new play Pip Utton steps in and out of the screen and becomes Charlie Chaplin, stripping away the myths and the moustache and revealing the man beneath.
