Charlie, the beloved Little Tramp, was born in London in 1889. When their father died at age 10, Charlie and his brother Sydney, left home to find their own way. They took to the stage where Charlie gained some reknown as a tap dancer. Soon he started doing comedy on the vaudeville circuit. This allowed him to move to the US, where he toured with the Fred Karno Repertiore Company and proved very popular with the audiences.

In 1913, Charlie joined Mack Sennett at Keystone Film for $150 a week to start acting in movies. Sydney moved to America to work with his brother. Charlie soon joined Mutual Film for a much bigger salary to make 2-reel movies.

Charlie decided to he would go independent to have greater control. He starting building a studio in Hollywood. He made a movie for the U.S. government to help their effort to sell War Bonds.

In 1919, Charlie became partners with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith to form United Artists.

To fulfill his obligations to his previous contract, he created his first masterpiece, The Kid, in 1821. It was a huge critical and financial hit. He took a tour of European capitals to much fanfare.