Charlie Chaplin
Despite his fame and fortune in America, Charlie Chaplin was actually British, and was made a Knight of the Realm for his incredible body of work and contribution to the movie industry, which began when Chaplin rose to fame as a child actor. He is best known, though, for his on screen alter-ego, The Tramp, whose signature walk and twirl of the cane were often replicated but never matched.
As well as being a famed actor and silent movie star, Chaplin was also deeply involved in the business side of pictures. He formed his own company, United Artists, in 1919, giving himself the worldwide distribution rights to all of his films. The first, is 1921, was The Kid. Tiring of comedy for its own sake, Chaplin began to use his platform in the entertainment industry for more political purposes. His films reflected his growing frustration with the world, and in 1940 he made a feature length film that satirized Adolf Hitler. He became less popular in this decade too, believed to be a Communist and therefore investigated by the F.B.I. He left America in the late 1940s and settled in Switzerland. However, despite personal controversy, his films continued to be admired and ranked among the best ever made.
Paulette Goddard
Not only was Paulette Goddard one of Chaplin's favorite leading ladies on the screen, she also became his real-life leading lady for a time, marrying the actor and enjoying a brief marriage before their divorce after his controversial and very public paternity case. Goddard was one of Paramount Studios' most successful stars in the 1940s, starring in two of Chaplin's movies and going on to be nominated for an Academy Award in 1943 for her performance in So Proudly We Hail.
Reginald Gardiner
Yet another Brit in this film, Gardiner worked on almost one hundred movies during his long and storied career, beginning as an extra in crowd scenes and getting his big break when Alfred Hitchcock cast him in the 1927 silent film The Lodger. In the 1950s he branched out onto the small screen, working again with Hitchcock on an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
