Charlie Chaplin has broken all records in making people laugh. No one has so set a whole world laughing as the little man with the walking stick and the overlarge shoes.

Much has been written about Chaplin's art and his career, and opinions have varied widely. But perhaps those who called him "the most universal human being of our time" came closest to the truth. Those who have called him a genius stress the timeless and universal qualities in his work. It is an art filled with tragic elements and deep human feeling, with which an audience cannot help but become involved. It is for these reasons, I believe, that the figure of Charlie has attracted generation after generation.

All his biographers agree that Charlie's miserable childhood in the London slums was a decisive influence on his development and on the type of films he made. Chaplin himself emphasizes it in his memoirs. The more one reads about his earliest period, the more one is inclined to agree. For Chaplin, his suffering youth had a lasting fascination.

Chaplin was never afraid to tackle controversial subjects in his films. He gave a humorous performance on war only a few weeks before the American troops came home from World War I in 1918. This was regarded as madness, but the performance was well received. So perfectly did it hit the nail on the head that even the homecoming soldiers found it irresistible and deeply appreciated this short and humorous performance on what for them had been grim reality. Chaplin gave numerous performances attacking capitalism, satirizing the inhumanity of the machine age and even making fun of Hitler.

Years after his death, the comic films of movie actor and director Charlie Chaplin continue to be popular. He is particularly well known for his success as a creator of humorous presentations that make fun of people, institutions, or systems.