My Autobiography Charles Chaplin by Charles Chaplin 9780141912493, 9780141011479, 0141912499, 0141011475, B002RI9EQO instant download after payment.

Born into a theatrical family, Chaplin's father died of drink while his mother, unable to bear the poverty, suffered from bouts of insanity, Chaplin embarked on a film-making career that won him immeasurable success, as well as intense controversy. His extraordinary autobiography was first published in 1964 and was written almost entirely without reference to documentation - simply as an astonishing feat of memory by a 75-year-old man. It is an incomparably vivid reconstruction of a poor London childhood, the music hall and then his prodigious life in the movies.

Chaplin brought a richly Dickensian flair to this autobiography: with the same mix of sadness, sentimentality, humour and warmth that formed the bedrock of the Hollywood storytelling style he pioneered. He gave it to us in three acts: the grinding poverty in London; the staggering success in Hollywood; and then the chilly anti-communist cold shoulder and final retreat to that well-known leftwing enclave, Switzerland. Chaplin name-checks grand acquaintances such as the Prince of Wales, but he isn’t big on acknowledging other silent-movie greats and is reticent about his love life.