All photographs unless otherwise specifically acknowledged are the copyright of the Roy Export Company Establishment.
1 Kennington Park Road at the time of Chaplin’s boyhood. (Author’s Collection)
2 Charles Chaplin, father of Charles, aged about twenty.
3 Hannah Chaplin, mother of Charles and Sydney, about 1885.
6 Leo Dryden about the time of his liaison with Hannah Chaplin. (Author’s Collection)
7 Cuckoo Schools, Hanwell. (Inman Hunter Collection, British Film Institute)
8 Charles Chaplin (circled) at the Hanwell Schools, 1897. (National Film and Television Archive)
9 Charles Chaplin at the time he was touring with the Eight Lancashire Lads.
10/10a Marceline, ‘The Droll’, in pathetic and manic moods, 1900. (Author’s Collection)
11 Chaplin as Sammy the Newsboy in Jim, A Romance of Cockayne, 1903.
12 Chaplin as Billy the Page in the touring company of Sherlock Holmes, 1903.
14 Sydney Chaplin, aged eighteen, c. 1903.
16 The Casey’s Circus company, 1906. (Author’s Collection)
17 The real Dr Walford Bodie. (Garrick Club)
18 Chaplin’s impersonation of Dr Walford Bodie, 1906.
19 Fred Karno c. 1920. (Author’s Collection)
20 Chaplin, c. 1909, at the time he joined the Karno companies.
21 Sydney Chaplin as Archibald in Skating, with his wife, Minnie.
22 Charles Chaplin as Archibald in Skating.
23 Hetty Kelly as stage artist. (Mrs Jay Reddaway)
24/24a Two pictures of Hetty Kelly about the time that she became Mrs Alan Horne. (Mrs Jay Reddaway)
25 The Karno company on tour in USA. (Betty Tetrick)
26 On tour with the Karno troupe: about to leave Solano railway depot, Philadelphia.
27 Chaplin in front of poster for A Night in an English Music Hall on Karno tour.
28 Chaplin with posters at Exeter (California) railway depot.
29 The Keystone Studios about 1913 (Bison Archives, Marc Wanamaker Collection)
30 Mack Sennett on the set. (Bison Archives, Marc Wanamaker Collection)
31 Mabel Normand (Author’s Collection)
32 Making a Living, Chaplin’s first film. (Bison Archives, Marc Wanamaker Collection)
33 The Essanay Studio at Niles, California, 1915. (Bison Archives, Marc Wanamaker Collection)
34 The Majestic Studio (formerly the Bradbury Mansion). (Bison Archives, Marc Wanamaker Collection)
35 Group of picture postcards with scenes from Essanay films, 1915. (Author’s Collection)
37 Chaplin’s first days at the Lone Star Studios.
38 Filming The Vagabond, 1916.
39 Edna Purviance, 1918, photographed by Jack Wilson. (Author’s Collection/ Jack Wilson Archive)
40 Chaplin and Sydney at the site of the projected studio, 1918.
41 The studio in early stages of construction.
42 Chaplin precariously balanced on the skeleton of the part-built studio.
43 Anticipation of Shoulder Arms: ‘advertisement’ for a putative film.
45 Aerial view of the studio during the shooting of A Woman of Paris, 1922–3.
46 Aerial view of the studio during the shooting of Modern Times, 1935–6.
48 A Dog’s Life (1918). Chaplin with Mut.
49 Chaplin after four days and nights spent editing A Dog’s Life.
50 A rehearsal at the studio, posed for How to Make Movies (1918).
51 Harry Lauder visits the studio, 23 January 1918.
52 Chaplin addressing a Bond rally in Wall Street, New York, 1918.
53 Shoulder Arms (1918): kitchen set for abandoned prologue.
54 Shoulder Arms (1918): banquet set for abandoned epilogue.
55 The Bond (1918): Chaplin and Edna.
56 Shoulder Arms (1918): Chaplin getting into his tree costume.
57 A break during filming of The Bond.
58 An impetuous visitor: Douglas Fairbanks vaults the gate of the Chaplin Studio.
61 Mildred Harris Chaplin, 1918. (Author’s Collection)
62 The grave of Norman Spencer Chaplin, Glendale Cemetery. (Mark Stock)
63 The Kid (1921). Chaplin, with wings, practises flying.
64 The Freak. Victoria Chaplin. (Jean-Baptiste Thierrée)
65 The Professor (1919). Shooting the dosshouse scene. (Author’s Collection/Jack Wilson Archive)
67 Chaplin and Clare Sheridan, November 1921.
68 Chaplin with Max Linder, 1921.
69 Chaplin in his cutting room, c. 1920
71 A Woman of Paris (1923): two pictures of Chaplin directing Edna Purviance. (Jeffrey Vance)
72 Chaplin rehearsing with Abe Lyman’s orchestra, 1925.
73 The Gold Rush (1925). Lita Grey (Lillita MacMurray) with Chaplin at the signing of her contract.
74 The Gold Rush (1925). Chaplin on set: evidently things are not going quite right.
75 The Gold Rush (1925). The 1896 stereogram which first inspired the film. (Author’s Collection)
76 The Gold Rush (1925). Chaplin’s version of the great trek.
77 The Gold Rush (1925). Lita Grey as leading lady.
78 The Gold Rush (1925). Georgia Hale as leading lady.
79 The Gold Rush (1925). Shooting the original ending.
80 Chaplin, out of costume, performs the Dance of the Rolls.
82 Chaplin’s first Hollywood home.
83 Chaplin’s house on Summit Drive.
84 The Circus (1928). Merna Kennedy as the circus girl.
85 The Circus (1928). Chaplin succumbs to exhaustion. (Author’s Collection/Jack Wilson Archive)
86 The Lita Grey divorce: Lita takes the oath in court. (Author’s Collection)
87 The aftermath of the studio fire, 28 September 1926.
89 Sea Gulls (A Woman of the Sea). Edna Purviance. (Inman Hunter Collection, British Film Institute)
90 Chaplin and Sergei Eisenstein on the tennis court, 1930 (Author’s Collection).
91 City Lights (1931). Chaplin on set, with Ralph Barton.
92 City Lights (1931). The studio back lot during shooting.
93 City Lights (1931). Chaplin with Virginia Cherrill, as the flower girl.
94 City Lights (1931). Chaplin shows Virginia Cherrill how to play the role.
95 Hannah Chaplin in 1921, while still in the nursing home in Peckham. (Pauline Mason)
96 Hannah, with friends, in her Hollywood home.
97 Chaplin’s sons, Charles Jr and Sydney, c. 1930. (Author’s Collection)
98 City Lights. The première at the Los Angeles Theatre, 30 January 1931.
99 City Lights (1931). Chaplin with Professor and Mrs Albert Einstein at the première.
100 The 1931 world tour. Chaplin at the Majestic Hotel, Nice.
101 The 1931 world tour. Sydney with May Reeves in front of a snowman Charlie at St Moritz.
102 Paulette Goddard, photographed by Hurrell.
103 Modern Times (1936). Chaplin, out of costume, rehearses the automated feeder sequence.
104 Modern Times (1936). Chaplin and Paulette Goddard, as the nun, in the abandoned original ending.
105 Paulette Goddard and Chaplin at the première of Modern Times.
106 Key members of the Chaplin unit at the period of Modern Times.
107 Set design for department store skating sequence in Modern Times.
109 Chaplin as Napoleon, mid-1930s.
110 The Great Dictator (1940).
112 The Great Dictator (1940). Chaplin and Roland Totheroh on the camera crane.
113 The last meeting of Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, 15 November 1939.
114 Chaplin at a music recording session for The Great Dictator.
115 Chaplin and Oona in a Hollywood restaurant, 1944.
116 Monsieur Verdoux (1947). Plan for Thelma’s villa, by John Beckman. (Author’s Collection)
117 Monsieur Verdoux (1947). Plan of villa garden, by John Beckman. (Author’s Collection)
118 Monsieur Verdoux (1947). Chaplin and Martha Raye.
119 Chaplin directing Somerset Maugham’s Rain at the Circle Theatre, Hollywood, 1948.
121 Limelight (1952). The screen debuts of Michael, Josephine and Geraldine Chaplin.
122 A King in New York (1957). Chaplin with Michael Chaplin and Oliver Johnston.
124 Chaplin and Oona in the park at Vevey, late 1960s.
125 Chaplin family group, 1972.
126 Oona as widow and hostess, August 1983.
127 The last official portrait, December 1977.
The London of Chaplin’s Youth. (Author’s Collection)
Chaplin’s first press notice, The Magnet, 11 May 1889. (British Library)
Marriage certificate of Charles Chaplin Senior and Hannah Hill, 1885. (GLC Archives)
Lillie Harley’s ‘card’, 2 January 1886. (Garrick Club)
Lillie Harley’s ‘card’, 9 January 1886. (Garrick Club)
Handbill for benefit concert at the South London Palace, including ‘Miss Lilly Harley’, 1886.
Illustrated song cover, with portrait of Charles Chaplin Senior, 1893. (Author’s Collection)
Leo Dryden’s ‘card’, 31 October 1891. (Garrick Club)
Leo Dryden’s ‘card’ 28 November 1891. (Garrick Club)
Extracts from minutes of Southwark Board of Guardians (1896). (GLC Archives)
Announcement of ‘Rags to Riches’, The Era, 20 August 1904. (Author’s Collection)
Letter from Sydney Chaplin to his mother, 1904.
Letter from the great pioneer music hall manager Charles Morton, 1904.
Letter from Hannah Chaplin to her sons, written from the Cane Hill Lunatic Asylum, 1905.
Programme for Sherlock Holmes at the Duke of York’s Theatre, 1905. (Author’s Collection)
Advertisement for The Football Match. (Author’s Collection)
Karno advertisement, 1910. (Author’s Collection)
Chaplin in A Night in a London Club, 1911, during US tour.
Cartoon of Chaplin as the Inebriate in A Night in an English Music Hall in USA, 1910.
A Night in an English Music Hall, 1910.
Charles Chaplin’s letter to Sydney, 1913, announcing he is going into films.
The two drafts of Chaplin’s first film contract, 1913.
Chaplin’s first filmography, written by himself in August 1914.
Music sheet, ‘The Charlie Chaplin Glide’, 1915. (Author’s Collection)
‘Alphabeticature’ self-portrait by Wheeler Dryden.
Daily production reports on A Dog’s Life, at first called I Should Worry, 1918.
Spanish cartoon depicting Chaplin with the Kaiser, 1917.
Letter written by Edna Purviance after seeing Shoulder Arms, 1918.
Bill from Peckham House for Hannah Chaplin’s clothing, 1920.
The cartoonist David Low’s view of Chaplin’s visit to London, 1921.
The cartoonist Will Owen’s view of Chaplin’s visit to London, 1921.
Programme for first Hollywood run of A Woman of Paris, 1923.
Page from première programme, The Gold Rush, 1925. (Author’s Collection)
A cartoonist’s view of the Chaplin–Grey divorce, 1927.
Shooting record for 7 (out of 17) takes of the final shot of City Lights.
‘Knighthood proposed for Chaplin (news item)’, 1931.
Ralph Barton, caricatured by Chaplin, 1931.
Caricaturist’s view of the encounter of Chaplin and Gandhi, 1931.
Certificate of destruction of the negative of Sea Gulls, 1933.
Cartoon of Chaplin and Hitler, late 1930s.
Script for Verdoux’s speech from the dock, marked up by the Breen Office, 1946.
Article from the Los Angeles Herald-Express, 1947.
Passage from the first page of Calvero’s story in the ‘novel’ version of Limelight, c. 1946.