Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in 1889 in
London. He (1)… (had) a very difficult childhood. As a boy, Charlie (2)
… (worked) to earn his living, and before he was fifteen, he (3) … (saw)
his mother from backstage while she (4) … (was performing) and it was then that
he first (5) … (though) about taking up such a career for himself.
When Chaplin (6) … (was touring) the US twice with the famous Fred Karno group,
he was headhunted by the American Keystone film company. He (7) …
(had worked) for them for three years before he discovered he could direct for
himself.
Along with Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, Chaplin
(8) … (formed) United Artists in 1919, with whom he (9) … (made) most of
his classic films. He (10) … (appeared) in his first talking film, The
Great Dictator, in 1940.
In 1952, after McCarthy’s Commission (11) …
(accused) him of communist sympathies he (12) …(emigrated) to
Switzerland, where he (13) … (lived) with his family until his death in
1977.