134 years ago today (in 1889), Charlie Chaplin was a born in South London.
10 years ago (in 2013), I was invited to research and write three chapters for Taschen’s The Charlie Chaplin Archives. The three chapters I wrote covered Chaplin’s childhood, theatre career, his move to Hollywood and first few years there working at Keystone and Essanay, and his signing with Mutual.
Little did I know that this commission would lead to so many great opportunities including speaking at the The Tramp at 100 conference in Bologna (2014), the Chichester Cinema at New Park (2014), the British Silent Film Festival Symposium (2016) and the University of Chichester Research Conference (2016).
These talks focused on different aspects of Chaplin's life and career including his attitude towards money, what he was up to during the First World War, and how Chaplin was perceived in the British Press.
In 2019 I was invited to contribute to the BBC World Service's series The Forum, where Bridget Donna Kornhaber, Paul Duncan and I are in conversation with Bridget Kendall. You can listen to the programme here.
If you'd to book me for a talk about Chaplin, do get in touch.
And for Chaplin's birthday, take some time out to watch one of his most significant and powerful film moments.