With his trademark Little Tramp screen persona, Charles Chaplin transformed film comedy while the medium was still in its infancy. A London native born on April 16, 1889, he came to the United States with a touring pantomime troupe. Producer Mack Sennett spotted Chaplin and signed him to a contract in 1913.Chaplin made his screen debut in Making a Living (1914), and in that same year -- clad in baggy trousers, big shoes and a bowler -- he originated the Little Tramp character in Kid Auto Races at Venice.
In 1925, Chaplin made The Gold Rush, one of his greatest cinematic achievements along with 1931's City Lights.Talkies took over the industry in the late 1920s, but Chaplin shunned them until 1940 when he released The Great Dictator. Under fire for his socialist political leanings in 1952, he left America and took up residence in Switzerland, where he died in his sleep December 25, 1977.