Chaplin Books

Since the beginning of his popularity back in the early part of the century, there have been dozens, maybe even hundreds of books that have been published, and they are still coming out. Below, I list the books that I have and a write-up about each one. I put my favorite ones (which are also the most reliable) first. If you having trouble finding any of these at bookstores or libraries, than try odering through the Barnes & Noble website. These are not all the ones I have, and I'll write about the others later on....

MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Charles Chaplin

This is a great introduction to the man, by the man himself. First published in 1964, Chaplin writes about his early childhood, performing on stage, falling in love, coming over to America and being discovered by Mack Sennett who brought him to the movie industry. I bought this book when _Chaplin_ came out back in Jan '93 published by Plume. You can still find the original book published by Simon & Schuster if you check out used book stores or the library.

MY LIFE IN PICTURES by Charles Chaplin

Another wonderful book by Chaplin, filled with photos that covers from his childhood up to 1975 (when the book was published). If you like picture books, than this is the book for you. Interesting pages are the color comics and movie posters. As far as I know, it hasn't been reprinted, so check your local library or used book store. I found mine in a antique store when I was traveling with the circus.

CHARLES CHAPLIN: HIS LIFE AND ART by David Robinson

This is *the* book to have. It was first published in 1985 and is considered by just about every Chaplin fan as the best source of info on him. It was the first book on CC that I bought back in 1992 at a used bookstore. I managed to find the first edition, hard back copy of it :). It's been republished a couple times since and (of course) has a little more up-to-date things such as who is still alive and who has passed away since the first edition.

CHARLIE CHAPLIN: COMIC GENIUS by David Robinson

I like to consider this a pocket version of "His Life and Art" book. This one is a balanced combination of a picture book (there's hardly a page without a picture) and text. Well laid out and easy to read. My favorite part of the book is towards the back, the "Documents" section. In there are essays about Chaplin either by him or by other people.

MY FATHER, CHARLIE CHAPLIN by Charlie Chaplin, Jr.

A wonderful read. Written by Chaplin's oldest son, Charlie Jr. talks about what it was like to be offspring of a world famous and loved figure. It was publish in 1961 prior to Chaplin's own autobiography. My favorite stories are the Charlie's driving, and the fly that dared to interupt Chaplin directing a scene in THE GREAT DICTATOR :).

REMEMBERING CHARLIE by Jerry Epstein

Jerry Epstein was an associate of Chaplin's from 1952 to Chaplin's death in 1977. He was an assistant for LIMELIGHT and remained close with the family for years. Some of my favorite pictures of Chaplin are the ones with his kids :). This book was put out during the celebration of Chaplin's 100th birthday back in 1989. Although there is plenty to read in this book, I haven't read it since the only copy I have I bought in Germany, so everything is in German and so I don't understand very much of what is written :).

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