Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin is considered an important figure in the development of the film industry, as his character, "The Tramp," was there from the beginning. He was born in London in 1889. His father was absent, and his mother was committed to a mental institution when he was 14, so he grew up in poverty, struggling, and in work houses part of the time. He started acting early and came to the U.S. at the age of 19, where he was steadily employed and then became famous. He sought control over his own movies and became political, criticizing Hitler and then some American politicians, and eventually had to leave the U.S. for Switzerland. He was a perfectionist and tried to make everything perfect in his films, which sometimes took him years to make.


___ 1. Who is The Tramp?
a. a friend of Charlie Chaplin
b. the character that Charlie Chaplin played
c. an important figure in the development of the film industry
d. the inventor of modern film

___ 2. What characterizes his childhood? a. he was poor and his life was hard
b. he traveled a lot
c. he was committed
d. he worked on houses

___ 3. When did he first come to the U.S.?
a. 1900
b. 1908
c. 1889
d. 1919

___ 4. Which is true of his movies?
a. Some were political
b. He controlled them strongly
c. Some included "The Tramp"
d. All of the above