Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) was a British comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the silent era. Chaplin became a worldwide icon through his screen persona “the Tramp” and is considered one of the most important figures of the film industry. His first screen appearance came in February 1914, after which he produced the popular features The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), and The Circus (1928). Chaplin 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), satirised Adolf Hitler. The 1940s was a decade marked with controversy for Chaplin, and his popularity declined rapidly. Accused of communist sympathies, he was forced to leave the United States. The Tramp was abandoned in his later films, which include Monsieur Verdoux (1947), Limelight (1952), and A King in New York (1957). Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred in, and composed the music for most of his films. His work is characterised by slapstick combined with pathos, and continues to be held in high regard. Read more: _______________________________ Today’s selected anniversaries: 1536: An expedition to the New World led by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Mendoza founded what is now Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1922: The novel Ulysses was first published in its entirety after this material by author James Joyce first appeared in serialized parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, becoming one of the most important works of Modernist literature. 1934: The Export-Import Bank, the United States’ official export credit agency, was established. 1971: The international Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands was signed in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran. 2004: Swiss tennis player Roger Federer became the No. 1 ranked men’s singles player, a position he held for a record 237 weeks. _____________________________ Wiktionary’s word of the day: amerce: (transitive) To impose a fine on; to fine. ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: I shall choose friends among men, but neither slaves nor masters. And I shall choose only such as please me, and them I shall love and respect, but neither command nor obey. And we shall join our hands when we wish, or walk alone when we so desire. –Ayn Rand Read More about the article here ift.tt/1cA4WSd ift.tt/1gCGftt
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 06:33:03 +0000
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