I just finished the biographical book “Charlie Chaplin, A Brief Life” by Peter Ackroyd. It was a great and easy read.
Here’s just a couple of facts:-
Charlie was the very first superstar in the world. He, his older brother and mother experienced brutal poverty when he was a child. His mother and grandmother had such severe mental illness that they were confined to mental asylums (though the book only mentions his maternal grandmother in this way). He & his brother often had to fend for themselves and spent some time in and out of poorhouses and orphanages. He spent his adult life in fear of becoming insane like his mother and/or losing his fortune and having to return to a life of poverty.
His incredible world-wide popularity (due in part to the fact that silent films knew no language barriers) helped to create in him considerable megalomania.
He was married 4 times, the last time to Oona O’Neil (daughter of the playwrite). The age difference between them was 38 years and they had 8 children.
He always hated Christmas and coincidentally died on Christmas morning.
Fun Facts:
Maybe not the first superstar. In his time, Franz Liszt) was basically a worldwide rockstar, except on the concert piano. He had sold out concerts, crazed and screaming crowds of fans, and a larger-than-life public image and attitude. The term Lisztomania is named after him.
But aside from all-time history, I will agree that Chaplin is definitely the first film superstar.
A case can be made for the “Biograph Girl” Florence Lawrence or Max Linder as both predate Chaplin (the latter was a huge inspiration for the Little Tramp) but neither reached the levels of Charlie.