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January 17, 2009
Charlie Chaplin: A Story of Extraordinary Resilience
The psychiatrist Stephen Weissman has written Chaplin, a Life, a new biography of the comic genius who in his day was probably the most famous man in the world.
Born in 1889 of show business parents, he became an orphan at age 7 when his father was disabled by alcoholism and his mother was hospitalized for mental impairment due to neurogenic syphilis. Chaplin has said this was the end of his childhood. From then on he survived on the streets by honing his skills as an actor and comedian. first in British music halls, and then in Hollywood for Keystone Film Studio.
Weissman analyzes how his tragic childhood shaped his personality and his art.
Related Links:
- Chaplin: A Life by Stephen M. Weissman, M.D. at Arcade Publishing
Posted by admin at January 17, 2009 12:50 PM