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Charlie Chaplin was born in 1889 in London, England. After the early death of his father, a music hall performer, Chaplin began to work in a clog dance act at age 10 and later took on comic roles. While he was touring with the Fred Karno Speechless Comedians in the United States, he was offered a job with the Keystone Film Company. Soon, Chaplin was writing and directing his own films. He eventually built his own studio and released his films through First International and later formed the United Artists. His films include A Woman of Paris (1923), The Gold Rush (1925), The Circus (1928), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1940), Monsieur Verdoux (1947), and Limelight (1952). Charlie Chaplin served not only as writer, director, producer, and actor, but also worked as the film score composer for his masterpiece, Modern Times, which was released as a sound picture but contained very little dialogue. The score for this film was restored and reconstructed in 2000 and shows the musical intricacies of Chaplin’s writing. Chaplin received an honorary Academy Award in 1972 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1975 before his death in 1977.