2014/3/28 A Memorable Event My first appearance onstage 1 2014/3/28 Charlie's family - His mother Hannah, top; his father Charles Sr., right; Sydney, center left; and Wheeler Dryden and Charlie in 'Limelight', bottom. • Chaplin's Mother Hannah Chaplin Charlie's mother Hannah became a singer in the London Music Halls after marrying Charles Chaplin Sr. in 1885. She had one son Sydney at the time of the marriage. She appeared under the stage name 'Lily Harley', and for a few short years, the couple made a comfortable living singing at the London Music Halls. It was during this period that Charles Spencer Chaplin, Jr. was born on April 16, 1889. But the Chaplin marriage ended after Hannah was caught having an affair that resulted in birth of a son fathered by another Music Hall singer Leo Dryden. Charlie Jr. was too young to know what was going on and would not fully know about his half brother Wheeler Dryden until many years later. Soon after, the Chaplin family's comfortable life came to an end. During Charlie's and Sydney's childhood, Hannah suffered from mental illness and had to live under care for many years. Hannah would suffer with mental illness for the rest of her life. Charlie and Sydney loved their mother. They clearly remembered her entertaining them as children and inspired them through their tough childhood. They brought their mother to America in 1921. Charlie purchased a California home for Hannah and had special people to care for her where she lived her last years. She died August 28, 1928. 2 2014/3/28 "I was hardly aware of a crisis because we lived in a continual crisis; and, being a boy, I dismissed our troubles with gracious forgetfulness." – Chaplin on his childhood By 1916, Chaplin was a global phenomenon. Here he shows off some of his merchandise, c. 1918. 3 2014/3/28 tramp clown sad The Gold A Rush Dog’s (1925) Life (1918) The Kid (1921) The Shoulder Arms Circus (1918) (1928) Modern Times (1936) The City Lights (1931) 4.