Earlier Career of Charlie Chaplin

In 1897 Armed with his mother's love of the stage, Chaplin was determined to make it in show business himself, using his mother's contacts, landed with a clog-dancing troupe named “The Eight Lancashire Lads”. It was a short stint, and not a terribly profitable one, forcing the go-getter Chaplin to make ends meet any way he could.

"I (was) newsvendor, printer, toymaker, doctor's boy, etc. But during these occupational digressions, I never lost sight of my ultimate aim to become an actor," Chaplin later recounted. "So, between jobs I would polish my shoes, brush my clothes, put on a clean collar and make periodic calls at a theatrical agency."

Eventually other stage work did come his way. Chaplin made his acting debut as a pageboy in a production of Sherlock Holmes. From there he toured with a vaudeville outfit named Casey's Court Circus and in 1908 teamed up with the Fred Karno pantomime troupe, where Chaplin became one of its stars as the Drunk in the comedic sketch A Night in an English Music Hall.

With the Karno troupe, Chaplin got his first taste of the United States, where he caught the eye of film producer Mack Sennett, who signed Chaplin to a contract for a $150 a week.

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