Charles Spencer Chaplin
With shoes and trousers too big for him, and jacket too tight, moustache, bowler hat and walking cane the famous tramp portrayed by Charlie Chaplin as the little man suffering all unfair things of life. He produced a figure that would be immortal in film history. Charlie Chaplin was born in London as the son of a poor variety artist and appeared on the stage when was a child. During a tour of the USA in 1913 he was offered an engagement by the Keystone film company. His role in the film "The Tramp" made him world-famous during the 1920s. He also played in such films as "The Child" and "The Gold Rush" produced by United Artists, a film company he founded in 1919 together with Mary Pickford and others. Chaplin continued his work when the "talkies" appeared and produced such film as "Modern Times" and his masterpiece "The Great Dictator". After the Second World War he settled down in Switzerland. He died in 1977. Although he became famous in the USA he remained a British citizen all his life.