About the Book

Born into a theatrical family, Chaplin's father died of drink while his mother, unable to bear the poverty, suffered from bouts of insanity. Chaplin embarked on a film-making career which won him immeasurable success, as well as intense controversy.

His extraordinary autobiography was first published in 1964 and was written almost entirely without reference to documentation—simply as an astonishing feat of memory by a 75-year-old man. It is an incomparably vivid reconstruction of a poor London childhood, the music hall, and then his prodigious life in the movies.