Chaplin: Birth of a Tramp

For over 100 years, Charlie Chaplin has been the world’s best-loved clown. His brilliant comic creation of "The Little Tramp" is the first and most recognisable cinematic icon in history. But his remarkable story of stardom and success has a darker side. Raised in the horrific, grinding poverty of a Victorian slum, Charlie never knew the security of a stable family. Whilst his parents destroyed themselves with disastrous ambition and unshakeable vice, Charlie was thrown at the mercy of the workhouse. Desperate to escape his feral existence on the streets of South London, Charlie became captivated by the shining lights of vaudeville, and gradually began to see a way out.