Charlie Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in London. Her father was an entertainer and although not one of the big names, he was doing very well. Her mother Hannah was also an entertainer. A wonderful mimic, she had a sweet, charming voice. While they were by no means[1] rich, the music hall provided the Chaplins with a comfortabl

　　Unfortunately happy life didn't last long. Father's alcoholism was slowly, but surely destroying his marriage. Finally it ended in divorce, but Hannah was indomitable[2]. Without her, Charlie Chaplin would have become just one more child lost in the poverty of Victorian London. Somehow she not only managed to keep Charlie and his brother Syney clean and warm, clothed and fed but she conjured[3] little treats for them. She would sit at the window watching the passersby and guess at their characters from the way they looked and behaved, spinning tales to delight Charlie and Syney. Charlie took in her skills and went on using them all his life.

　　Charlie had always believed, even in the worst times, that had something special locked away inside him. He took his courage and went to see one of the top theatrical agents. With no experience at all, he was being offered the plum part[4] of Billy-- the pageboy in a new production of "Sherlock Holmes". "Sherlock Holmes" opened on July 27, 1903 at the enormous "Pavilion Theatre" Charlie seemed to change overnight. It was as if he had found the thing he was meant to do.

　　It was, by now, 1908, Charlie was nineteen and he fell in love. Hetty Kelly was only fifteen. But her parents quashed[5] the the romance before it really begun-- but the memory of pretty Hetty stayed with Charlie all his life.

　　In 1910, when Karno set off on his yearly American tour, "One of the best pantomime[6] artists ever seen here." They had reached Philadelphia when a telegram arrived and he was being offered the chance to replace a star in the Keystone film company.

　　Cinema was born in the same year as Charlie thought people still believed it was a passing fad, and would never replace live shows. He was kept hanging about[7] for several weeks and he used the time to watch and to learn. He was determined to master this new medium. It offered him the chance of money and success -- and it would set him free from the unpredictability of live audience.

　　Charlie's first film, released in February 1914, was called "Making a living". Though it didn't satisfy Charlie, the public liked it. After that he had made ten films and he had learned a lot. The public loved him and distributors were demanding more and more Chaplin films. In an incredibly short time, Charlie had become a very important man in motion picture...

　　1889年4月16日查理·卓别林出生于伦敦。他父亲是一个演员，

　　虽然不是什么大人物，但也表现不俗。他母亲哈那是一位出色的喜剧演员，嗓音甜美动人。虽然谈不上富裕，可戏院的工作毕竟能使卓别林一家过上安逸的生活。

　　然而,幸福的生活并不长久，父亲对酒的嗜好缓慢地、但却毫无疑问地破坏着他的婚姻生活。这桩婚姻最终以离婚而宣告结束，但哈娜是不会轻易认输的。没有母亲，查理·卓别林充其量也只是维多利亚时期伦敦城里又一位穷困潦倒的儿童。她不仅想方设法让查理和弟弟西尼吃饱穿暖，保持干净整洁，而且动足脑筋变换方法，让他们过得欢乐愉快。她有时站在窗边，注视行人，通过行人的外表和举止猜测他们的性格，继而仿造故事，逗查理和西尼乐。查理继承了母亲的这点，而这也正是他一生用之不尽的财富。

　　即便在处境最为艰难的时刻，查理也始终坚信自己蕴藏着特殊的才能。他鼓足勇气，前往伦敦一家高级的戏院经理商应聘。竟获得新编的《歇洛克·福尔摩斯》剧中的小佣人比利一角。1903年7月27日《歇洛克·福尔摩斯》新剧在气势恢宏的帕维廉剧院首演，不久外出巡回演出。查理似乎一夜间发生了巨变，他好似找到了立志从事的事业。

　　1908年，19岁的查理堕入情网。他所钟情的海蒂·凯年仅十五。在他们之间的恋情处于萌芽状态时，海蒂的父母果断地终止了它的发展，然而，海蒂迷人的丰采竟使查理终生难忘。

　　1910年，卓别林所在的卡诺戏班赴美国作一年一度的巡回表演，他被认为是“当地美国人曾经见过的最为出类拔萃的哑剧表演艺术家之一。当他们抵达费城时，一纸电文接踵而至，把替换基石电影公司的一位明星的机遇赐于了他。

　　电影业是与查理同年诞生的。但当时人们普遍以为电影业充其量只昙花一现的时尚，它不可能替代现场真人表演。公司给他几周观摩的时间，他站在一旁，边观察、边学习，下定决心要驾驭这个新生事物。这个新兴的行业给他带来了赚钱和走向成功的机会，也将有助于他从对戏剧观众喧嚷起哄的担忧中解脱出来。

　　1914年2月，查理主演的处女片上映，影片取名《谋生》 尽管此片由于导演的无能而令查理大失所望，但观众还是喜爱这部片子的。之后他又拍了几部片，增长了不少学识。公众喜爱他，并且电影销售商索要越来越多的卓别林的片子，在极短的时间内，他成了电影界的重要人物……