Chaplin Pa (Rev)

by Weissman,Stephen M.

• ISBN13: 9781611450408
• ISBN10: 1611450403
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781628721850
• Edition: 00
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2011-11-17
• Publisher: FRWHEEL

Summary

'¬SChaplin is arguably the single most important artist produced by the cinema,'¬ wrote film critic Andrew Sarris. Born in London in 1889, Charlie Chaplin grew up in dire poverty. Severe alcoholism cut short his father'¬"s flourishing career, and his beloved mother first lost her voice, then her mind, to syphilis. How did this poor, lonely child, committed to the Hanwell School for the Orphaned and Destitute, become such an extraordinary comedian, known and celebrated worldwide? Dr. Stephen M. Weissman brilliantly illuminates both the screen legend himself and the turbulent era that shaped him.

Author Biography

Born in London in 1889, Charlie Chaplin grew up in dire poverty. Both his parents were in show business, but severe alcoholism cut short his father's flourishing career, and his beloved mother lost first her voice, then her mind, to syphilis. How then did this poor, lonely child, committed to the Hanwell School for the Orphaned and Destitute, become such an extraordinary comedian, known and celebrated worldwide? Chaplin cut his teeth in British music halls, but it was America that made him. Weissman traces Chaplin's life and the sources of his genius in fascinating detail, demonstrating how his tragic childhood shaped his personality and his art. Infamous for his politics and his scandalous sex life, Chaplin was a much more complex and contradictory figure than his famous roles imply. Weissman brilliantly illuminates both the screen legend himself and the turbulent era that shaped him. Stephen Weissman, M.D., is a practicing psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at George Washington University. He is also the author of His Brothers Keeper: A Psychobiography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. ix
A Family Romance	p. 1
Family Secrets	p. 9
Improvisations	p. 21
The Invulnerable Child	p. 37
"Life Is a Tragedy ... in Close-up, but a Comedy in Long Shot"	p. 49
Child Prodigy	p. 75
Woman in the Window	p. 97
An Actor's Life for Me	p. 107
Clowning Around	p. 117
Basic Training	p. 131
The Greenhorn and the Guv'nor	p. 145
The Immigrant	p. 167
Let's Go to the Movies	p. 183
Birth of a Tramp	p. 203
The Moon Shines Bright on Charlie Chaplin	p. 231
What Happened Next	p. 257
Afterword: Falsehoods or False Memories: Where's Charlie?	p. 271
Acknowledgments	p. 285
Notes	p. 287
Index	p. 305
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