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| This guy should get some kind of compensation because his picture even appears on a couple of Chaplin bios. This is probably the most widely-used imposter photo. It's very convincing, but if you look closely you will see that the hat, tie & coat are too big & a white glove was not part of the Tramp's costume. |
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| I used to see this photo on cheap, homemade, Chaplin-related junk on ebay (clocks, watches, etc.) I emailed a couple of the sellers and told them that the man on their $20 "Charlie Chaplin" clock is not Charlie Chaplin, but they didn't seem to care. |
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| This man's name is Charlie but he's not our Charlie. This is impersonator Charlie Rivel holding up a another smaller Chaplin impersonator. Rivel's daughter, Paulina, is dressed as Jackie Coogan in The Kid. Rivel's profile is very similar to Chaplin's but a person with a good eye might notice that the shoes and the suit are not quite right. |
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| When I had a blog on Tumblr this photo would show up at least once a month under the Charlie Chaplin tag. I'd like to meet the person who thought this was Charlie because he looks nothing like him. This man is actually Dietrich's husband Rudolf Sieber. |
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| Here's another one that has fooled a lot of people but it's definitely not Charlie. This man is too tall & plump, and his chin and nose are all wrong. Plus Charlie's feet were not that big in real life & he never wore knickers. |
OK, #3 (Chaplin holding the doll)is a winner. The rest--hilarious!
ReplyDeleteFWIW, the guy with Joan Crawford is Milt Gross, a comic-book artist of the first half of the 20th century. I once corrected someone who'd posted this picture and identified him as Charlie Chaplin. Some info: http://classic.tcj.com/top-stories/milt-gross-banana-oil-and-the-first-graphic-novel/
ReplyDeleteThanks, Trish! I've always wondered who this man really was. I've heard of Milt Gross, and he also had a Chaplin connection. He evidently worked for Charlie as a gagman on "The Circus".
DeleteThe article in your link mentions his work with Charlie. I didn't read it before I commented. It also mentions his resemblance to Charlie. He looks more like him in the photo with the article than he does in the one with Joan Crawford.
DeleteJess, I thought so, too.
DeleteAnd I only skimmed the article myself, but it definitely looks interesting! Must go back and read it leisurely...
In fact, you can read "Milt Gross Gags" written on the suitcase in crawford's hands!
DeleteThank-you for finally clarifying the fact that the first image isn't him! I am relieved. I've seen it so many times on so many things related to him, but I never thought it looked like him. It just seemed considering so many were using it, there must be something to it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you; I never thought that looked anything like Chaplin. The facial bone structure is nothing like Chaplin's.
DeleteCharlie Rivel looks like an exact replica of Charlie Chaplin. They look so much alike!!
ReplyDelete:/
ReplyDeletehttp://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/146/1/f/chaplin_tattoo_by_jadroart-d3h9352.jpg
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2010/252/5/9/charlie_chaplin_coverup_by_lucky_cat_tattoo-d2ycdjj.jpg
I those aren't permanent!
DeleteYes, they are REAL my friend!
DeleteThat guy in the first two pictures gets on my nerves when people post his photo as Chaplin. He is far too ugly to be Charlie. He should have been sued.
ReplyDeleteHere's a good pic of Rivels from "The Little Fellow" by cotes and Nicklaus:
ReplyDeletehttps://ia700801.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/12/items/littlefellow00pete/littlefellow00pete_jp2.zip&file=littlefellow00pete_jp2/littlefellow00pete_0115.jp2&scale=4&rotate=0
Phil