SIR CHARLES SPENCER CHAPLIN (b. April 16, 1889, London, Eng.--d. Dec. 25, 1977, Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switz.), British-born American actor and director, who won international fame with his portrayal of a pathetic yet humorous little tramp in American-made silent films. Within two years of his first appearance in motion pictures, in 1914, he had become one of the best-known personalities in the nation. By the early 1920s, his box-office appeal was so great that no studio could afford his talents, and he appeared only in films produced by himself. Though he appeared in few films after the advent of sound at the end of the 1920s, his fame scarcely diminished as his early works became recognized as motion-picture classics and found appreciative new audiences. Among Chaplin's great feature-length comedies were The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator (1940). He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1975 (from the britannica).

FIRST THE BOOKS ABOUT CHARLIE;  AND THEN THE IMMORTAL MOVIES

Chaplin : His Life and Art

David Robinson / Paperback / Published 1994 - -  Of the many books about Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), among them the Tramp's own charming but evasive 1964 autobiography, this magisterial volume does by far the best job of detailing and analyzing his genius as a filmmaker. Chaplin's widow allowed David Robinson to examine their personal archives in Switzerland, and he makes good use of this access in his meticulous descriptions of the movies that created the legend, including City Lights and Modern Times. Robinson is less interested in Chaplin's tumultuous personal life, skating rather lightly over the lawsuits and scandals that plagued his later years in the United States. No matter: Chaplin lovers will find their understanding of his films enhanced; those unfamiliar with his artistry will learn why an actor-director whose greatest work was done before 1940 remains a key figure in the history of motion pictures.

Chaplin and American Culture : The Evolution of a Star Image

Charles J. Maland / Paperback / Published 1991

Charlie Chaplin : And His Times

Kenneth S. Lynn / Hardcover / Published 1997  - Some people attract biographers like a picnic attracts ants. Charlie Chaplin is one of these magnets. It's difficult to imagine what facets of his life, work, and character have been left unplumbed by the many biographies (including Chaplin's own autobiography) that have appeared over the years. Kenneth S. Lynn develops the voluminous Charlie Chaplin and His Times around a central thesis that boils down to this fairly simple proposition: Chaplin's artistic and financial success were predicated on an unfulfilled wish to rescue his mother from the poverty and madness that consumed her. (A MUST HAVE FOR ANY CHAPLIN FAN)

 

Charlie Chaplin : Comic Genius (Discoveries)

David Robinson / Paperback / Published 1996

Charlie Chaplin : Intimate Close-Ups

Georgia Hale, Heather Kiernan (Editor) / Paperback / Published 1999  -- The memoirs of the heroine of Chaplin's classic The Gold Rush describe Hale's love/hate relationship with Chaplin during the years 1928-1931.

Charlie Chaplin : The Beauty of Silence (Impact Biographies)

Alan Schroeder / Paperback / Published 1997

Charlie Chaplin : The Beauty of Silence (Impact Biography)

Alan Schroeder / School & Library Binding / Published 1997

Oona: Living in the Shadows: A Biography of Oona O'Neill Chaplin

Jane Scovell / Hardcover / Published 1998  --  Like Jackie O, Oona O'Neill (1925-91) captured public attention for two reasons: her impressive familial/marital alliances (she was the sole daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill and the last wife of filmmaker Charlie Chaplin) and her elegant, raven-haired beauty. The two women also shared vitas that were filled with childhood disappointments, humiliating public attention during crises, and the wrenching deaths of loved ones. But as Jane Scovell's new biography clearly shows, Oona O'Neill Chaplin lacked both the stoicism and personal passion of Jackie Onassis. Hers was a spirit too tender--and fundamentally fragile--to assert itself fully or survive independently for any period of time. Hence the book's apt subtitle, "Living in the Shadows."

With information culled from press clips, interviews with Chaplin's friends and contemporaries, and previous biographies of Eugene O'Neill, Scovell's book paints an engaging portrait of a privileged, potentially fabulous life gone way wrong. Most fittingly for their subsequent tortured relationship, Oona's parents--Eugene O'Neill and writer Agnes Boulton--met in a Greenwich Village bar dubbed the Hellhole. Eight years into their marriage, in which they flitted between Greenwich Village, Bermuda, Provincetown, Maine, and New Jersey, O'Neill abandoned the family life for the erstwhile actress Carlotta Monterey (christened Hazel Neilson Tharsing). Oona was two at the time. O'Neill, a boorish father, saw her only a handful of times before she turned 18; at that point, he disinherited her because he wasn't happy with the oozy publicity she was earning as a New York debutante. That same year, Oona moved out to Hollywood (in the hopes of pursuing an acting career), and met and married Charlie Chaplin, who was facing a scandalous paternity suit at that moment. Chaplin was 54, Oona was 18. She never worked again, and he was at the end of his career. They had eight children (the last when Chaplin was 72), and she stood by him till his death in 1977, spending most of their years together exiled in Sweden, where Chaplin had gone to avoid a host of problems with the U.S. government.

Tramp : The Life of Charlie Chaplin

Joyce Milton / Paperback / Published 1998

Wife of the Life of the Party (Filmmakers Series, No 61)

Lita Grey Chaplin, Jeffrey Vance / Hardcover / Published 1998

Chaplin in the Sound Era: An Analysis of the Seven Talkies

Eric L. Flom / Library Binding / Published 1997

Charles Chaplin : My Autobiography 

Charlie Chaplin, Charles Chaplin / Paperback / Published 1993 -- The life of one of the most interesting and most important men in the history of film making. Unputdownable. A must for anyonone interested to hear about how a man went from absolute poverty to richness. An excellent book indeed.

Charlie Chaplin

Wes D. Gehring / Hardcover / Published 1983

Charlie Chaplin

John McCabe / Paperback / Published 1993

Charlie Chaplin

Adolphe Nysenholc / Hardcover / Published 1991

Charlie Chaplin : A Centenary Celebration

Peter Haining / Hardcover / Published 1989

Charlie Chaplin : From Tears to Laughter (Lerner Biographies)

Ruth Turk / Library Binding / Published 1999

Charlie Chaplin : His Reflection in Modern Times (Approaches to Semiotics, Vol 101)

Adolphe Nysenholc(Editor) / Hardcover / Published 1991

Charlie Chaplin's One-Man Show

Dan Kamin / Hardcover / Published 1984

Charlie Chaplin's One-Man Show

Kan Kamin / Paperback / Published 1991

Charlie Chaplin; Intimate Close-Ups

Georgia Hale, Heather Kiernan (Editor) / Hardcover / Published 1995

The Gentleman Is a Tramp : Charlie Chaplin's Comedy

Claudia Clausius / Hardcover / Published 1989

Rediscovering Ben Hecht: Selling the Celluloid Serpent

Ben Hecht, Florice Whyte Kovan (Editor) / Hardcover / Published 1998

NOW CHARLIE'S FILMS

The Best of Chaplin - Box Set: Volumes 1-7 ~ VHS  YOU JUST HAVE TO GET ONE OF THESE COMPLETE SETS

Chaplin The Collection - Box Set: Volumes 1-5 (1997) -- Charlie Chaplin; DVD   YOU JUST HAVE TO GET ONE OF THESE COMPLETE SETS

Chaplin The Collection - Box Set: Volumes 1-10 ~ VHS  YOU JUST HAVE TO GET ONE OF THESE COMPLETE SETS

The Gold Rush (1925) -- Charlie Chaplin; DVD

Chaplin's Essanay Comedies #1 (1915); DVD

Adventurer/Cure ~ VHS

Burlesque on Carmen/Laffing Gas ~ VHS

Chaplin ~ DVD

Chaplin ~ DVD

Chaplin ~ VHS

The Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 1 ~ DVD

The Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 2 ~ DVD

The Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 3 ~ DVD
The Chaplin Review ~ VHS
Chaplin The Collection - Box Set: Volumes 1-5 ~ VHS
Chaplin The Collection - Box Set: Volumes 1-5 ~ DVD
Chaplin The Collection II - Box Set: Volumes 1-10 ~ VHS    -- this is great stuff; and a fantastic gift.

Chaplin The Collection: Volume 1 ~ DVD
Chaplin The Collection: Volume 2 ~ DVD
Chaplin The Collection: Volume 3 ~ DVD
Chaplin The Collection: Volume 4 ~ DVD
Chaplin The Collection: Volume 5 ~ DVD
Chaplin's Art of Comedy ~ DVD
Chaplin's Essanay Comedies #1 ~ DVD
Chaplin's Essanay Comedies #3 ~ DVD
Chaplin, Vol. 7 & Vol. 8 ~ VHS

Chaplin, Vol. 7-8 ~ VHS

Chaplin:Early Years Vol. 1 ~ VHS

Chaplin:Early Years Vol. 2 ~ VHS
Chaplin:Early Years Vol. 3 ~ VHS

Chaplin:Early Years Vol. 4 ~ VHS
Chaplins Essanay Comedies Vol 01 ~ VHS

Chaplins Essanay Comedies Vol 04 ~ VHS
Charlie Chaplin Collection - V. 2 - Charlie Chaplin at Essanay Studios 1 ~ VHS

Charlie Chaplin Collection - V. 3 - Charlie Chaplin at Essanay Studios 2 ~ VHS

Circus, The/A Day's Pleasure ~ VHS

City Lights ~ VHS

A Countess From Hong Kong ~ VHS

Dough and Dynamite/Jitney Elopement ~ VHS

Emerging Chaplin ~ VHS
The Eternal Tramp ~ VHS

Gift Set ~ VHS
The Gold Rush/Pay Day ~ VHS

His New Job/Champion ~ VHS

Kid Auto Races/Rival Mashers ~ VHS

Knock Out/Between Showers ~ VHS

Vagabond/Fireman ~ VHS