My Autobiography (Penguin Modern Classics)
£10.30
A silent comedy star whose legendary slapstick routines are recognisable to this day, Charles ‘Charlie’ Chaplin’s My Autobiography is an incomparably vivid account of the life of one of the greatest filmmakers and comedians, with an introduction by David Robinson
As a child, Charlie Chaplin was awed and inspired by the sight of glamorous vaudeville stars passing his home, and from then on he never lost his ambition to become an actor. Chaplin’s film career as the Little Tramp adored by the whole world is the stuff of legend, but this frank autobiography shows another side. Born into a theatrical family, Chaplin’s father died of drink while his mother, unable to bear the poverty, suffered from bouts of insanity. From a childhood of grinding poverty in the south London slums, Chaplin found an escape in his early debut on the music hall stage, followed by his lucky break in America, the founding of United Artists with D.W. Griffith and Douglas Fairbanks, the struggle to maintain artistic control over his work, the string of failed marriages, and his eventual exile from Hollywood after personal scandals and persecution for his left-wing politics during the McCarthy Era.
Sir Charles ‘Charlie’ Chaplin (1895-1976) was born in Walworth, London. Best known for his work in silent film, his most famous role was The Little Tramp, a universally recognisable and iconic character who appeared in films such as The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925) and City Lights (1931). His other films include Modern Times (1936), a commentary on the Great Depression, and The Great Dictator (1940), a satirical attack on Hitler and the Nazis.
If you enjoyed My Autobiography, you might like Andy Warhol’s The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.
‘Tells so much about this curious, difficult man … a wonderfully vivid imagination’
The New York Times
‘The only genius to come out of the movie industry’
George Bernard Shaw
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Additional information
| Publisher | Penguin Classics, Reprint edition (24 April 2003) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 512 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0141011475 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0141011479 |
| Dimensions | 19.7 x 12.9 x 3.06 cm |
by Sp2
Worth reading even if you come to it with no interest in Chaplin or his work. This vividly captures the deprivation of early 20th century London slums and takes us into the equally rough but exhilarating terrains of California of that time, along with everything that came with those first pioneers of Hollywood. Throw in plenty of pathos, some Hollywood scandal and lots of heart and this makes for a compulsive read. I came away desperate to watch the films mentioned, never having watched any of them (The Tramp, needless to say, is a masterpiece and set the tone of cinema as we know it).
by Lensman
I’ve never been a fan of Chaplin but I watched the broadcast of ‘Chaplin’ the movie recently and I was sufficiently impressed to buy this autobiography upon which it was allegedly based. I thought the film to be quite good until I read the book and realised that much of the screenplay is invented or warped. Chaplins own version of events is informative, well written and engaging. He spends some time explaining his impoverished early years in Victorian London and its facinating stuff: really brings the era to colourful life. His mother, portrayed very negatively in the the film, was actually a warm and imaginative character who I would love to meet (way too late of course).
Chaplin describes the early days of movie making with great eloquence (he did NOT make his Keystone debut by walking into a shoot by mistake – that’s pure invention for the movie) and again it is fascinating. If the past is a foreign country we can never visit then this is the definitive travelogue for early 20th Century Hollywood. Great stuff and recommended. I even might buy a Chaplin DVD!
by MISS S
Its great to read more about probably the greatest artist of the early 1900s. He made 82 films in black and white as well as with sound – managing the transition into the ‘talkies’. its interesting to hear from his perspective about his childhood and later his fame as well. He seems to have omitted certain important characters (eg his wives) from the narrative and only glosses over them in a few sentences. Towards the middle of the book, it feels a bit repetitive at times when he describes yet another dinner or meeting with a famous person. Great insight into his life though and his character and how he thought.
by Rod Butler
I greatly enjoyed this biography. Great details if Chaplins life from his poor childhood in London to his time as a celebrity in Hollywood and beyond.
by Victoria McGregor
An interesting read! I purchased this after visiting his home in Vevey. It was so interesting visiting the museum that I knew I wanted to learn more about his story. It was truly inspiring learning about his difficult background and then his rise to global fame. Highly recommend this to anyone interested in old Hollywood or autobiographies! written really well.
by JennyM
Charles Chaplin’s autobiography shares an early and very genuine time of desperate survival, stemming from his mother suffering from the beginnings of life-time insanity. It honestly conveys some of the early hardships he experienced in the late Victoria period he was raised in (b 1889) but I believe does not cover all – as this was written in the early 1960’s. While his experiences with relationships and colleagues may have become difficult or challenged over the years (he was very stubborn and could lose his temper), he was also very generous. Well worth a read.
by Oggie
I was interested to learn about this iconic characters life, and this book is not short on detail! On the downside it’s written in an early 20th century style which makes reading a little laborious – in fact I doubt many of the words and phrases exist today. It doesn’t help that the text is very small. I’ve put it aside for now but plan to return to it later.
by Abiding in the fields
A few months ago whilst on business on a rainy day in Kennington South London, I found myself standing outside a house with a blue plaque “Charlie Chaplin lived here …”.
I then saw this book “Charles Chaplin My Autobiography” and bought it out of curiosity and for something to read on the Tube-not expecting very much.
I was was completely wrong. It is brilliant so well written and the way Charlie writes is so vivid & engaging. He clearly was often very interested in the people he met and what motivated them and the situations in which he found himself.
It certainly pushed asided the preconceptions I had about him as just playing the “little tramp” and just being a silent movie star without much relevance to modern times. On the contrary his life was astonishingly rich and he was greatly loved and respected by people of all walks of life. But although he became very wealthly, he never forgot where he came from and he supported socialism. He suffered for this at the hands of the American authorities during the McCarthy Era and the anti communist witch hunts.
As regards the criticism by another reviewer of his film “the Great Dictator” and the way it pokes fun at Hitler and the Nazi’s. Well seeing the funny side is a very English way of dealing with monsters. But when Charlie made that film he did not know about the concentration camps. We know about them but we still poke fun at the Nazis in comedies such as “Allo Allo”
This book is definitely a good read.