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Happy Birthday

...to Charlie Chaplin.

I know Charlie Chaplin from watching his silent films as a kid, and I know that he left the states during the McCarthy era and did not return until he received an honorary Oscar in 1972. I remember that Oscar program, vaguely, and really only because Charlie Chaplin actually showed up.

I did not know anything else about Charlie Chaplin until reading his biography on Wikipedia. I won't recount it for you because you'll find much more information if you just read it for yourself. Note the long list of women under the category of "Relationships with Women."

My middle school had a lunch-time program that included special classes--20 minutes of extra resources for children hungry for learning. We listened to lectures on farming (which I skipped which is why I received a detention--my only one ever), discussions on the nature of sound waves, and occasionally special showings of silent films. Besides those films starring Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle, the most memorable films we viewed starred Charlie Chaplin.

*Note: I was going to participate in Monday Melee today, but Dive's entry was so grumpy and choice, I settled for a birthday salute. Maybe later.

Comments

dive said…
Hee hee.
Thank you, Robyn.
My Chaplin tale:
The boss at the firm where I trained was a lovely old man called Barrie, but known to all as CC.
A glance at his qualifications revealed his middle names as Charles Chaplin. His parents had sneaked away from their chaperone to watch Chaplin films together while they courted and named him accordingly.
He liked to claim he was conceived in the cinema …
Sweet, huh?
7:16 AM
Gina said…
I am sadly poorly versed in Chaplain films.
12:58 PM
Sassy Sundry said…
Happy Birthday, dear Charlie!

How he got all those women is really beyond me. I mean, yes, he was funny, but really. He was a little odd.
1:50 PM
Scout said…
Dive, that is indeed a sweet story.

Gina, I'm not all that versed in Chaplain films either--beyond a few classics, I'm an idiot.

Yeah, Sassy has survived her move, so far. He was odd, wasn't he? Sometimes, I suppose, that's attractive, especially when the odd one gets paid for being odd.
7:02 PM
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