Charlie Chaplin - ©Theda Bara

This name, which I will cover in this brief biography, is known to all of us, moviegoers or not. But it would be impossible to talk about films, whether silent or talkies, without mentioning the British actor, director, producer, comedian, businessman, writer, dancer, screenwriter and musician, being the biggest star of the silent film era, standing out for the use of mime in the slapstick comedy where he gave life to the character: The Tramp or The Little Tramp, known as: Charlotte in Europe.

Chaplin wrote, directed and staged 81 films, having received three Oscars, of which two were honorary, one of them being in 1929, for the film “The Circus”, from 1928, a sort of consolation prize for his work as a whole. Among his most notable films are such memorable masterpieces as: “A Dog’s Life” 1918; “The Boy”, 1921; “In Search of Gold”, 1925; “City Lights”, 1931; “Modern Times”, 1936; and “The Great Dictator”, from 1940. However, the actor was never properly recognized by the Academy, as he deserved.

What few know about Chaplin’s life is that he was also an excellent composer, having even won the Oscar for best soundtrack, with the composition: “Luzes da Ribalta” in the homonymous film of 1952; but which was only released in the United States in 1972, a fact that made it possible to compete for an Oscar in 1973.

However, what made Charlie Chaplin’s films reach the largest audience ever known was the mime, which was visually understood by all people in the world. Obviously, if he adopted a dialogue in the films, in the English language, his audience would decrease, since there were no subtitles at the time.

Sir. Charles Spencer Charlie Chaplin Jr., was born Charles Spencer Chaplin in Walworth, London, UK, on 16th April 1889 and died in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, on Christmas Day, 25th December 1977, aged 88 years.

Three facts about the life of Charlie Chaplin: the first is that he has two stars on the Walk of Fame, in the Film and TV categories, both at 6751 Hollywood Boulevard; the second curiosity is that he received the honor of “Sir”, treatment given to the Knights Commanders of the Order of the British Empire, in 1975, granted by Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022); the third fact, this one more macabre, was that three months after his death, in March 1978, his body was stolen from the tomb and was only recovered and cremated two months later, in May 1978.

Charlie Spencer Chaplin was married four times, having controversial marriages and even with underage young people. His first wife was the American actress Mildred Harris (1901-1944), aged 17, a marriage that lasted less than two years, from 1918 to 1920; Lillita Louise MacMurray, better known as: Lita Gray (1908-1995), 16 years old, another American actress who had to marry with parental consent, was Chaplin's second wife, a marriage that also did not last long, 1924 to 1927; Paulette Goddard, stage name: Pauline Marion Goddard Levy (1910-1990), another American actress, famous for her films for Paramount Pictures in the 1940s, and for her marriages to rich and famous actors, one of them being Charlie Chaplin, was his third wife, from 1936 to 1942; and finally Oona O'Neill, also known as: Oona Chaplin or Lady Chaplin (1925-1991), British actress, daughter of the 1936 Nobel Prize in Literature, Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953) and the British Agnes Boulton (1893-1968), columnist for the American magazine “Pulp”, was the last wife of Charlie Chaplin from 1943 to 1977.

Chaplin had ten children. His first child with the young actress Mildred Harris: Norman Spencer Chaplin lived only 3 days (from July 7, 1919 to July 10, 1919). — The actor had two children with Lita Gray: British actor, comedian, director, composer, screenwriter, filmmaker, editor and musician Charlie Spencer Chaplin III (1925-1968). Chaplin III acted with his father in “Limelight” (1952) and in 1960 he wrote a book about his family life, entitled: “My Father, Charlie Chaplin”, and the American actor Sydney Earle Chaplin (1926-2009). — With Oona O'Neill, Chaplin had seven children: the Anglo-American actress Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (1944-) famous for working in the film: “Doctor Zhivago” (1965); the Anglo-American circus artist Victoria Agnes Chaplin-Thierrée (1951-); American actor Michael John Chaplin (1946-); American actress Josephine Hannah Chaplin (1949-2023); Swiss actress and producer Jane Chaplin (1957-); the Swiss real estate businesswoman, based in Paris, France, Annette Emily Chaplin (1959-); Swiss-born English composer and actor Christopher James Chaplin (1962-), is Chaplin's youngest son.

Florence Lawrence - ©Theda Bara

The name I’m going to highlight in this post is Florence Lawrence, known as “The Girl of a Thousand Faces”, another great actress from the silent film era, famous for her versatility in front of the camera, having acted in nearly 300 films.

Florence Lawrence, along with another actress named Florence, the American Florence E. Turner (1885-1946), is considered one of the first actresses in the world to achieve success in cinema.

A curious fact about the actress: she was passionate about automobiles and, in 1914, invented the precursor to the turn signal and brake light: an electric mechanism that raised small flags to indicate direction, in addition to a “STOP” sign on the back of the car. However, she never patented her inventions, losing the rights to them.

Florence Lawrence has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 1623 Vine Street, in recognition of her fundamental contribution as the first great star of silent cinema.

Florence was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on January 2, 1886, and died in Beverly Hills, California, United States, on December 28, 1938, at the age of 52.

Florence married three times. First, to the American silent film actor Henry Lewis Harry Solter (1873-1920), from 1908 to 1920, from whom she was widowed; then, to the singer Charles Woodring (1855-1933), from 1921 to 1932, from whom she divorced; and finally, to the politician Henry Bolton (1843-1934), from 1933 to 1934, from whom she was widowed again and never remarried. The actress never had children.

Theda Bara - ©Theda Bara

 

My dear paternal grandfather, Jonathan Jon Goodman (descendant of the Goodmans, from actress Theda Bara’s father), in addition to being very wise, was a visionary man, because from a very young age, as soon as silent films appeared, he acquired some old theater rooms transforming them in (street) movie theater in Los Angeles, California, United States. My family has been involved in cinematic entertainment for decades and today we still have movie theaters in large shopping malls. This love for the seventh art motivated my father, who has the name Goodman in the genealogy of his ancestors, and my mother, a fan of Theda Bara, to baptize me with the name of this great silent film actress Theodosia, a name that comes from Greek culture and means: “gift from God”. I really like my name and I love old films, whether silent or not.

The actress featured in this post is Theda Bara, who for her fair skin and expressive green eyes was nicknamed “Vampira” (equivalent at the time to “femme fatale”). Theda was one of the most popular and highest-paid actresses in the world, surpassed only by iconic actor Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977),  who once said that Theda was cinema’s first sex symbol.

From her Jewish childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, to her happy retirement in Hollywood, Theda Bara always dreamed of being an actress and ended up being the most brilliant representative of silent movie. 

Theda married in 1921 the renowned filmmaker and screenwriter born in England, but based in American cinema, Charles J. Brabin (1882-1957) with whom she lived until his death in 1955. She made more than 40 films alongside her husband, to Fox Entertainment Group Inc., only six of which still exist in good condition.

Even without having received any Oscar statuette, Theda Bara has her star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, at 6307 Hollywood Boulevard, in the Cinema category, being one of the most visited by fans and tourists.

Theda Bara, born Theodosia Burr Goodman, in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, on July 29, 1885 and died in Los Angeles, California, on April 7, 1955, aged 99, was the daughter of Bernardo Goodman (1853-1936) and Pauline Louise de Coppett (1861-1957) and sister of silent film actress Lori Bara (1903-1965) and Hollywood artist agent Marque Goodman, known as: Mark G. (1888-1954). 

Theda Bara had no children, although she was a very maternal woman.