Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977)

An English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of
silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, "The Tramp",
and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film
industry. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era
until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and
controversy.

Chaplin's childhood in London was one of poverty and hardship, as his father was
absent and his mother struggled financially, and he was sent to a workhouse twice
before the age of nine. When he was 14, his mother was committed to a mental
asylum. Chaplin began performing at an early age, touring music halls and later
working as a stage actor and comedian. At 19, he was signed to the prestigious Fred
Karno company, which took him to America. He was scouted for the film industry
and began appearing in 1914 for Keystone Studios. He soon developed the Tramp
persona and formed a large fan base. He directed his own films and continued to
hone his craft as he moved to the Essanay, Mutual, and First National corporations.
By 1918, he was one of the best-known figures in the world.

In 1919, Chaplin co-founded the distribution company United Artists which gave him
complete control over his films. His first feature-length film was The Kid (1921),
followed by A Woman of Paris (1923), The Gold Rush (1925), and The Circus (1928).
He refused to move to sound films in the 1930s, instead producing City Lights (1931)
and Modern Times (1936) without dialogue. He became increasingly political, and his
next film The Great Dictator (1940) satirized Adolf Hitler. The 1940s were a decade
marked with controversy for Chaplin, and his popularity declined rapidly. He was
accused of communist sympathies, while he created scandal through his
involvement in a paternity suit and his marriages to much younger women. An FBI
investigation was opened, and Chaplin was forced to leave the United States and
settle in Switzerland. He abandoned the Tramp in his later films, which include
Monsieur Verdoux (1947), Limelight (1952), A King in New York (1957), and A
Countess from Hong Kong (1967).
Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred in, and composed the music for
most of his films. He was a perfectionist, and his financial independence enabled him
to spend years on the development and production of a picture. His films are
characterized by slapstick combined with pathos, typified in the Tramp's struggles
against adversity. Many contain social and political themes, as well as
autobiographical elements. He received an Honorary Academy Award for "the
incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century"
in 1972, as part of a renewed appreciation for his work. He continues to be held in
high regard, with The Gold Rush, City Lights, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator
often ranked on lists of the greatest films of all time.

Noted from Wikipedia

Joseph Frank Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966)

Joseph Frank Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, to Joe Keaton
and Myra Keaton. Joe and Myra were Vaudevillian comedians with a popular, ever-
changing variety act, giving Keaton an eclectic and interesting upbringing. In the
earliest days on stage, they traveled with a medicine show that included family
friend, illusionist Harry Houdini. Keaton himself verified the origin of his nickname
"Buster", given to him by Houdini, when at the age of three, fell down a flight of
stairs and was picked up and dusted off by Houdini, who said to Keaton's father Joe,
also nearby, that the fall was 'a buster'. Savvy showman Joe Keaton liked the
nickname, which has stuck for more than 100 years.

At the age of four, Keaton had already begun acting with his parents on the stage.
Their act soon gained the reputation as one of the roughest in the country, for their
wild, physical antics on stage. It was normal for Joe to throw Buster around the
stage, participate in elaborate, dangerous stunts to the reverie of audiences. After
several years on the Vaudeville circuit, "The Three Keatons", toured until Keaton had
to break up the act due to his father's increasing alcohol dependence, making him a
show business veteran by the age of 21.

Buster Keaton was an American actor, comedian, film director, producer,

screenwriter, and stunt performer. He is best known for his silent films, in which his
trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression that
earned him the nickname "The Great Stone Face". Critic Roger Ebert wrote of
Keaton's "extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929" when he "worked without
interruption" on a series of films that make him "the greatest actor-director in the
history of the movies". His career declined afterward with a loss of artistic
independence when he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, his wife divorced him, and
he descended into alcoholism. He recovered in the 1940s, remarried, and revived his
career as an honored comic performer for the rest of his life, earning an Honorary
Academy Award in 1959.

Many of Keaton's films from the 1920s remain highly regarded, such as Sherlock Jr.
(1924), The General (1926), and The Cameraman (1928), with The General widely
viewed as his masterpiece. Among its strongest admirers was Orson Welles, who
stated that The General was cinema's highest achievement in comedy, and perhaps
the greatest film ever made. Keaton in 1996 was recognized as the seventh-greatest
film director by Entertainment Weekly, and the American Film Institute ranked him in
1999 as the 21st greatest male star of classic Hollywood cinema.

Noted from Wikipedia and The Biography of Buster Keaton