Chaplin

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Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London in 1889; his mother, part Irish, part Spanish, was playing there in a stock company. His father was a small-time music hall favorite.

Newspaper men have killed his parents in various ways; it is said that the paternal Chaplin died of natural causes and his widow (known to the boards as Lily Harley) went into dressmaking, taught Charles and his brother Sydney to hem flounces; there is still another affecting scene in which Chaplin, a sallow waif in bloomers, is portrayed leading his starved mother to a poorhouse while London gamins revile him for his kindliness. It was owing to this incident, some doters, declare, that his eyes acquired that tragic, haunted cast.

At 13, however, he was taking juvenile parts. A British critic hailed him as a "baby wonder." A year later he was playing with William Gillette in Sherlock Holmes. He got a part in a vaudeville skit, A Night in an English Music Hall, toured the U.S. In 1914 the Keystone Film Corporation enlisted his services for $40 a week.

His first efforts to be funny in celluloid were dismal. Keystone directors feared that he was overpaid, offered to cancel the contract. Chaplin told Roscoe Arbuckle, the now deposed cinema clown, that he needed a pair of shoes. Arbuckle tossed him a pair of his own enormous brogues. "There you are, man," he said. "Perfect fit!" Chaplin put them on, cocked his battered derby over his ear, twisted the ends of his prim mustache. His face was very sad. He attempted a jaunty walk which became, inevitably, a heart-breaking waddle. He put his hand on the seat of his trousers, spun on his heel. Arbuckle told him that he was almost funny. Such was the research that led him to "create a figure that would be a living satire on every human vanity."

In three months, the U. S. raved; in six, England shrieked; in a year his hat, feet, waddle and harrassed, insouciant smirk were familiar to South Sea Islanders who pasted his picture on the walls of their bathhouses; to lamas in Tibet who chucked each other in the ribs at a mention of his name; to bushwackers, coolies, Cossacks, Slavs, Nordics. His salary became $1.000, $2,000 $3,000 a week. One film company after another outbid each other for him; he worked for Essanay, Mutual, First National, United Artists.

1925年TIMES最佳封面——卓别林(2/3）

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Charles Spencer Chaplin1889年出生于伦敦。她的母亲有一半爱尔兰血统，一半西班牙血统，在股份公司工作。他的父亲当年是个三流杂耍剧院的红演员。

关于他父母的死因报纸上众说纷纭：卓别林老爹据说是自然死亡，他的遗孀（据说叫Lily Harley）后来改行做其了女装裁缝，教卓别林和他的哥哥Sydney缝衣服上的荷叶边；在卓别林的童年中有很感人的另一画面——有人描述卓别林当时一个穿着灯笼裤、一脸菜色的流浪儿，领着他饱受饥饿煎熬的母亲来到一所破房子前，而伦敦的其它流浪儿因为他的善良却欺侮他。因为这个情节，有些充满爱心的人说他的眼中总流露出悲剧性、深受折磨的神态。

然而，13岁时，他开始扮演一些少年角色。英国评论家称他为“天才儿童”。一年后，他和William Gillette在Sherlock Holmes表演。他因在杂耍幽默剧《英国杂耍剧院一夜》中饰演一个角色获得了去美国的机会。1914年Keystone Film Corporation以周薪40美元和他签了合同。

他第一次在大银幕上试图逗乐时票房惨淡。Keystone的导演觉得给他报酬太高，准备和他解除合同。Chaplin告诉当时一个失业的滑稽小丑演员Roscoe Arbuckle说他需要一双鞋。Arbuckle拎起他自己的那双又大又破的皮鞋说：“给你。”卓别林接过说：“太棒了！”，然后提了提自己那压扁的窄边圆顶礼帽，捻着自己修得很整齐的小胡子，看起来很悲伤。他尽力走得洋洋自得，却难免还是因毫无指望而步履蹒跚。他把手插在裤子口袋里，脚后跟捻地。Arbuckle说他看起来还算有趣。就是这次尝试使他“创造了一个反映每个人内心空虚的活生生的讽刺形象。”

不出3个月，美国沸腾；6个月，英伦震惊；一年后，他的帽子、鞋子、蹒跚的步态、疲倦而无忧无虑的傻笑已被南洋诸岛熟知，他们在自己公共澡堂的墙上放他的电影；就连西藏的喇嘛都会在互相推搡开玩笑时提起他的名字；游击队、苦力、哥萨克人、斯拉夫人、北欧人也都知道他的名字。这时他的周薪已成了1000、2000、3000美元。电影公司接踵而至，都想高价和他签约；他为Essanay、Mutual、 First National、 United Artists工作。

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