h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Charlie Chaplin - A2479494
Author: Steve - Drowner of Fish - U676405

I think I've done pretty well, but if anyone sees a mistake or thinks I should change something please let me know.

Very surprised that no-one has written an entry for the Edited Guide about Chaplin... or maybe they did and it wasn't good enough to get through PR.

Anyways, this looks pretty good

First thing to point out - you can only link to other edited entries in an edited entry, so you'll need to remove the link to Left and RIght Politics in order to make this entry recommendable.

Chalie's - Charlie's
mustache - moustache

"After a couple films, include"
Is there a missing 'of' in there? And shouldn't that be 'including'?

Dicatator - Dictator

How about a word or two concerning his talents as a composer? He wrote the theme to 'Limelight', as well as the song 'Smile'.


Scout

Thanks. I fixed those errors and also added the part about him doing the music, it's the 3rd paragraph under 'Independance'.

If you see anything else, or can think of anything else I need to add, just let me know.

Steve, this is excellent. I'm sure you'll have our Scouts snapping at your heels for this one. Well done!

This is a superb entry - really concise, really informative and backed up with a few quotes at the end! Top class.

Woodpigeon

Er, am I being dumb or was the repitition of:
"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of oneself."

intentional?

Researcher PSG

Beat me to it, I was going to say that too, PSG!

Obviously a good quote if it's worth saying twice!

Ha ha, actually, I didn't mean to put that in twice, I'm not sure how I missed that.

And thanks to everyone for all the support, you're very kind.

Hi Steve,

Very good! I enjoyed reading it.

Just a couple of little things.

After Chaplin came to America - this suggests that the reader is in America. How about 'went to' or 'moved to'?


he would have a set build in the studio. - Should this read 'have a set built'?

the state department grants him a visa allowing him to return only one, and for no more than two months. - 'to return only once'? (I assume it doesn't mean for only (min) one month and (max) two months.)

Awu

Thanks, I've got that all fixed up now.

Chas also wrote Petula Clark's hit 'This Is My Song'

I think this is a great *introduction* to the career of Charlie Chaplin. There is obviously a lot more to say about him, his biography is by far more complicated and interesting, a more thorough biography would also allow to see the person behind him. Maybe a re-title would be in order...

Some details I missed in the Entry:

- His mother's name was Hannah Harriette Hill, she suffered a mental breakdown and was admitted in an Asylum when Charlie was aged 12. She died in 1928.

- His father's name was Charles Chaplin Senior, and divorced Hannah soon after Charlie Jr's birth

- Both Charlie's parents were entertainers in the Music Hall - 'light opera' is a bit euphemistic. They were actually very poor artists.

- Sydney was his half-brother, and his personal manager. their relationship was very tight.

- Charlie's first appearance on stage was together with his mother on Music Hall aged 5.

- Before he even invented the 'tramp' he went to the US (1910 or so) and acted in various movies. The idea of the tramp ocurred to him (according to a biography film I saw recently) during this time, he was also Stan Laurel's roommate during a tour of the group (they acted on stages, not movies) - note the influence of Chaplin on Laurel.

- He was known as a womanizer, married twice to 16-year olds. (This part of his life could be researched more thoroughly)

- He was very loyal to his friends and his crew from the early days. He actually paid them (e.g. the cameraman) salaries for their whole lives even though they were not working for him anymore.

- He was knighted in 1975

- He won three Oscars, the first one in 1929 (the academy didn't have the same categories and voting procedures ans nowadays) the second one (for his life achievment) in 1972, and another one in 1973 for the musical score in Limelight. (It was only allowed in the US in 1972)

- In 1978 his body was stolen from the cemetery and was recovered weeks later near Lake Geneva. The burglars wanted to extort the family.

In summary, this is a nice *introduction to his career* but not the biography I would expect to see - I am not saying this is not suitable for the Guide. It is well-written and so on, but I think it needs a more suitable title.

On the other hand, this is just my 2p...

HELL

I really enjoyed this entry

I knew very little about Chaplin, so it was a great introduction. Well written and as comprehensive as I needed


Fb

Very good article.

I had heard about him having a thing for very young women. Probably not even as old as 16. And that one of the reason he was kept out of the US was because of paedohilia. . .

2/3

Hey Steve, I remember commenting on this in Writing Workshop, I think it's improved since then. Well done.

Just a few p(rather pedantic) points...

"20 years after Limelight premiered in Europe" - you missed the italics here for Limelight

"his mother,Hannah" - should be a space between the comma and Hannah

"the Hollywood Academy offered him an Oscar for his career in film making. Although invited by the establishment, the state department granted him a visa allowing him to return only once, and for no more than two months." - doesn't make clear whether he actually went or not

You haven't mentioned his knighthood, the fact that he was left-handed or what he died from. I'd really like to see those in there, but it's your call.

That's enough for now...

Niwt

His knighthood and everything HELL said will be going in there. This week's been a little busy, I'll try to get all that stuff in there as soon as I can. And if anyone else thinks HELL's idea of maybe changing the title is good, then I'll consider it.

I reckon maybe you should change the title, or try and add more information to reflect the current title (make it cover more I guess, if possible).

Thanks Everyone,

I've added alot of the stuff I had left out. I've also tracked down a copy of his autobiography (it's hard to find old books in America) and it should be arriving in the mail by the end of the month.
From what I know, I'm not sure if he actually died of anything besides "old age", and I don't really like the way that sounds, so if anyone knows that he died of something other than that, or has a nicer was of saying that he got too old, it'd be appreciated.

I'm still thinking about the title, so if anyone else has any suggestion or comments, let me know.

The standard phrase to denote someone died of old age is IMO:

'Joe Doe passed away in his home, aged 97.'

It is clear he was at home, so, he was not in a hospital suffering from something acute, and that he was old. The rest is understood.

I think...

HELL

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