Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. was born on April 16, 1889, in London, England. His parents were music hall entertainers and he made his first stage appearance at the age of five, filling in for his mother Hannah (who sang opera as Lily Harley) when she walked out in tears after a throat condition led to her receiving boos. It was one of the most difficult audiences around, but the determined boy won it over. His father, Charles, was an alcoholic who was only distantly involved with him, but he and his mistress, Louise, looked after the young Chaplin when his mother was ill. Charles Chaplin Sr. died when his son was twelve; his mother was unable to care for Chaplin and his, brother, Sydney Chaplin, so they found themselves lodging with dancing troupe The Eight Lancashire Lads, led by John William Jackson.
In his early teens, Chaplin found a regular stage role as a newspaper boy in Sherlock Holmes, supporting William Gillette, which led to a part as a clown in Fred Kamo's Fun Factory, where he was soon the most popular performer. The success of this group led to tours of the U.S. on which Chaplin met Stan Laurel and attracted the interest of film producer Mack Sennett. Chaplin was subsequently hired by Keystone Studios. His first film was the one-reel Henry Lehrman comedy Making a Living, but it was his second, Kid Auto Races at Venice, that introduced the character of the Little Tramp which was to make him a star. These were the first of eighty seven films he was to make as an actor, including such classics as The Kid, with Edna Purviance and Jackie Coogan; The Gold Rush, with Mack Swain and Tom Murray; City Lights, with Virginia Cherrill and Florence Lee; The Great Dictator, with Paulette Goddard and Jack Oakie; and Modern Times, with Henry Bergman and Tiny Sandford. Enjoying massive popularity, he went on to form his own production company, and along with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and DW Griffith, he founded the United Artists Corporation.
From the moment he started working as an actor, Chaplin took an interest in the technical side of the film-making process. Within a year he was editing his own work and shortly afterwards he started working as a director. He was given a special award at the first ever Oscars ceremony and would later receive a lifetime achievement Oscar. However, his relationship with Hollywood was complicated by his left wing politics, and during the McCarthy era he came under significant pressure because of the political content of his work, leading him to move to Switzerland. However, he always regarded England as his homeland, and in 1975 was made a Knight Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
Chaplin was married four times, to three actresses: Mildred Harris, with whom he had a son, Norman, who died in infancy; Lita Grey, with whom he had two sons, actors Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sydney Earle Chaplin; Paulette Goddard; and to Oona O'Neil, daughter of the playwright Eugene O'Neill, with whom he had three sons, Christopher, Eugene, and Michael, and five daughters, Geraldine, Josephine, Jane, Victoria, and Annette-Emilie. He also had passionate affairs with London dancer Hetty Kelly, actresses Edna Purviance, Pola Negri, and Joan Berry, and his secretary, May Reeves. All of these women were significantly younger than him and it was rumored that Vladimir's Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita was inspired by his relationship with Grey. He was also suspected of involvement with William Randolph Hearst's partner Marion Davies, and was aboard Hearst's yacht at the time of the tycoon's mysterious death.
Chaplin died on Christmas Day in 1977, of natural causes. He is buried in Corsier-Sur-Vevey Cemetery in Switzerland.
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