About the year 1900, a small, dark-haired boy named Charles Chaplin was often seen waiting outside the back entrances of London theatres. He looked thin and hungry but his blue eyes were determined1. He was hoping to get work in show business. He could sing and dance. Although his own boyhood was painfully hard, he knew how to make people laugh.
His own father had died from drinking too much. And his mother wasn't really able to look after Charles and his older half-brother2, Sid. She was often sick in mind and had to be sent into hospital. When Charles couldn't get work he wandered about the city streets. He found food and shelter wherever he could. Sometimes he was sent away to a home for children who had no parents. He was cold and miserable there and the children were scolded and punished for the slightest fault. He hated it.
Thirty years later this same Charles Chaplin was accepting the hospitality3 of kings. Everyone wanted to meet him. Pictures show him in the company4 of men like Churchill, Einstein and Gandhi. He had become almost a royal figure in the bright new world of the cinema— Charlie Chaplin, the king of comedy.
He once wrote, “You have to believe in yourself. That's the secret. Even when I was in the children's home, when I was wandering the streets trying to find enough to eat to keep alive, even then I thought of myself as the greatest actor in the world.”
Any regular visitor to the cinema must have seen some of Charlie Chaplin's films. People everywhere have sat and laughed at them until the tears streamed down their faces. From his very first appearance they know what to expect from the mild little man with the stiff black moustache, wide-open eyes, round black hat and shoes too large for his feet.
The character of the “little tramp5”, which Chaplin played in hundreds of films, is one everyone can understand. The poor man makes all kinds of stupid mistakes. He is always in trouble. Yet he dreams of greatness. He makes us laugh with his crazy attempts to escape6 his cruel fate. He finds surprising ways out of every difficulty. And life never quite destroys7 him. The little tramp is not very different from the cold, homeless, poorly dressed child who refused to despair8. Like the child he is weak, frightened and foolish, but he never gives up.
Even people who don't understand English can enjoy Chaplin's films because they are mostly silent. It isn't what he says that makes us laugh. His comedy depends upon little actions which mean the same thing to people all over the world.
Chaplin raises his thick black eyebrows or rolls his eyes. He straightens his coat or swings his walking-stick in the air. He hides behind a fat lady or under a table to escape from his enemies. Trying to be brave, he faints away on the floor. He shakes the dust off his rags to make a proud appearance at some grand social occasion. He pretends to be what he is not and never could be—a rich, successful, important man. It is all the secret of Chaplin's huge success. He discovered the character of the little tramp almost by accident. As young men, he and his brother traveled to America in a small company of actors and acted in various cities. One day Charles was invited to join a new company that was making film comedies. He accepted the offer9 and soon became popular.
Very soon he had made dozens of short films for this company. But it was in his second film that he wore the clothes which made his fame—black hat, tight coat, baggy trousers, huge shoes, moustache and walking-stick.
His appearance was a popular success, right from the beginning. But his first pictures hadn't much story. They were full of action. His manner is terribly funny and makes one roar10 with laughter.
By the time he was thirty Chaplin was the greatest, best known, and best loved comedy actor in the world. He received thousands of dollars for each film he made. He had formed his own film-making company and was writing and producing his own films. He was welcomed by excited crowds wherever he went. But he worked very hard and had few close friends.
Perhaps that's why the sad side of the little tramp began to show more clearly in the films he made. The little man began to want more than food and a roof over his head. He began to want love.
In one of his most famous films, “The Gold Rush”, a girl plays tricks on the little man. Then she begins to feel sorry for him and treats him kindly. He mistakes her pity for love. The girl in “City Lights” is blind. While she cannot see what he looks like she thinks he is the most wonderful man she has ever met. But then she recovers her sight and sees what a foolish figure he is. This sadness gives Chaplin's films a depth of human experience which few comedy actors can equal.
Chaplin married several times. But, although he was rich and famous, he was growing old before his wish for love was satisfied. Then he married Oona, daughter of the American writer Eugene O'Neill and this marriage lasted.
He came to dislike America, where he had lived for forty years and where he had become a great man. He moved with his wife and their large family to Switzerland. He described himself as a citizen of the world, rather than of any particular country.
In the last few years of his long life he returned to the U.S.A. and to Great Britain to receive honours for his work in the cinema. The king of comedy died in Switzerland on Christmas Day, 1977, at the age of eighty-eight. There was sadness all over the world at the news of his death.
时值1900年，人们经常看到一个叫查理·卓别林的黑发小男孩在伦敦各大剧院的后门外等待。他看上去单薄饥饿，但那双蓝色的眼睛却透着坚定。他期望在演艺圈找到工作。他能歌善舞，尽管自己的童年痛苦艰辛，他却懂得如何让别人欢笑。
他的父亲死于饮酒过量，母亲实际上无法照顾查理和他的异母哥哥锡德，她常常因精神问题不得不送进医院。 查理找不到工作时就在街上闲逛，到处寻找食物和住所。有时他会被送到孤儿院，在那儿他又冷又可怜，孩子们犯一丁点儿小错就会遭到责骂和惩罚。他恨这个地方。
三十年后，就是这个查理·卓别林受到了国王般的礼遇，人人都想和他谋面，和他合影的人中甚至还有丘吉尔、爱因斯坦和甘地这样的名人。在耀眼的电影新世界，他几乎成了皇家级的人物 —— 喜剧之王查理·卓别林。
（对于自己的成功）他曾写到：“你得相信自己，这就是秘诀。即使我在孤儿院或沿街要饭裹腹的时候，我都认为自己是世界上最棒的演员。”
任何一个电影院的常客想必都看过几部查理·卓别林的电影，世界各地的观众坐在屏幕前总是笑得泪流满面。他第一次亮相就让人们看好这个和善的小个子—— 一副僵硬的小胡子，双目圆睁，头戴黑色圆礼帽，还有那双大得过头的皮鞋。
在卓别林演过的几百部电影里，“流浪汉”是任何人都看得懂的角色。那个可怜的流浪汉处处犯傻出错，总是麻烦不断，可他胸怀远大的梦想。他想逃脱残酷的命运，他的疯狂尝试让我们捧腹不止。他总能找到怪招摆脱困境，生活也从未真正将他打垮。从前那个无家可归、挨饿受冻又衣衫褴褛的孩子拒绝绝望，这个流浪汉和他没什么不同，他像那个孩子一样弱小、胆怯和愚蠢，但他却从不放弃。
不懂英语的人也能欣赏他的电影，因为它们大多是无声片。让我们发笑的并不是他说的话，他的喜剧效果来自那些细微的一举一动，它们的含义对全世界的人来说都是一样的。
卓别林在影片中时而抬起浓黑的眉毛或者转动那双眼珠，时而抻一抻外套或在空中晃一晃他的文明棍；为了逃避对手他会躲在肥胖女士的身后或钻进桌底；本来想英勇一次，却晕倒在地；他抖掉破衣上的灰尘自豪地出现在盛大的社交场合；他派头十足，俨然一个富有、成功的重要人物 —— 一个他做不到也永远不可能企及的人物。所有这些都是卓别林巨大成功的秘密。
他得到流浪汉这个角色纯属偶然。年轻的他和哥哥随一小队演员到美国各个城市巡回演出，一天一家新电影公司邀请他加盟拍喜剧片，他接受了邀请并迅速走红。
很快他就为这家公司拍了几十部电影，不过使他一举成名的是第二部影片中他的那身行头——黑色礼帽，紧身外套，肥大的裤子，尺码超大的皮鞋，外加一副小胡子和一根文明棍。
他的这一形象一炮打响。不过他最初的那些电影都没有多少故事情节，全靠动作取胜，卓别林极其滑稽的神情举动使观众们捧腹大笑。
三十岁时，卓别林成了世界上最棒、最有名、最受青睐的喜剧演员，每拍一部电影片酬数千美元。他组建了自己的电影公司并自己写剧本拍片子。他所到之处受到夹道欢迎，但他仍然努力工作，也没有什么知心朋友。也许正因为如此，他的影片中流浪汉的悲哀一面更显突出。那个小人物需要的不仅仅是食物和头顶的屋檐了，他开始需要爱情。
在他最知名的电影之一《淘金热》中，一个女孩捉弄起这个小个儿男人，事后又觉得对不起他，于是对她友善起来，而他却将她的怜悯误作了爱情。《城市之光》中的女孩是个盲女，虽然她看不见他的模样，却认为他是自己遇到的最棒的男人。可是她恢复视力后，看到的他却是如此愚蠢。这种悲哀赋予卓别林的电影一种很深的人生阅历，没有几个喜剧演员能与之比肩。
卓别林经历了几次婚姻。名利双收的他在爱的愿望满足之时已不再年轻。后来他娶了美国作家尤金·奥尼尔的女儿欧娜，并与之白头到老。
渐渐地他厌倦了美国，这个他生活了四十年又功成名就的地方。他携同妻子和一大家子人去了瑞士。他说自己是个世界公民，不属于任何特定的国家。
在他漫漫人生的最后几年，他重返美国和英国，接受他在电影事业获得的各种荣誉。1977年圣诞节，这个喜剧之王在瑞士辞世，享年88岁。噩耗传来，全世界都为之悲痛。
1. determined adj． 坚定的
2． half－brother 异母或异父兄弟
3． hospitality n． 热情，殷情
4． company n． 陪伴
5． tramp n． 流浪者
6． escape v． 逃脱
7． destroy v． 摧毁
8． despair v． 绝望
9． offer n． 提供，提议
10． roar v． 狂声大笑