Charlie Chaplin

Chaplin's childhood in London was brutal: workhouses before age nine, absent father, mother committed to an asylum when he was 14. He started performing young, touring music halls until the Fred Karno company brought him to the United States at 19. In 1914 he broke through at Keystone Studios and introduced the Tramp, refining the character at Essanay and Mutual until by 1918 he was among the world's best-paid performers. He co-founded United Artists in 1919 for creative control and released The Kid, The Gold Rush, The Circus - then defied the talkies with City Lights and Modern Times, silent films in a sound era. The Great Dictator in 1940 mocked Hitler, but the 1940s brought scandal: paternity suits, younger wives, communist accusations, an FBI investigation. Forced out in 1952, he settled in Switzerland and abandoned the Tramp for darker work like Monsieur Verdoux and Limelight. He wrote, directed, produced, edited, and scored nearly everything himself - a perfectionist whose independence let him spend years on a single picture.