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| Winnipeg Tribune, September 8th, 1911 (click to enlarge) |
A couple of months later, he told the Oakland Tribune: "I very seldom take a drink off stage. I do insist, however, that the stuff I sip in the act is real; that I need Dutch courage, but I'm strong for realism."
I don't know - I want to call BS on this - he was so anti alcohol...this reads like a publicity gimmick story.
ReplyDeleteActually, he wasn't that anti-alcohol. He did drink occasionally.
Deletedo you believe that he would do this though? I don't. He was too much of a perfectionist.
ReplyDeleteI don't know but the part where he says "I'm strong for realism" sounds like Chaplin. Plus from what I've read about the skit there isn't a lot of actual drinking going on, if at all.
DeleteI will add that it's possible Chaplin himself was fibbing just to create interest in the show. I wouldn't put that past him at all.
DeleteThe inebriate was Chaplin's real claim to fame as a performer in his Karno days and it's how he got noticed by the Keystone owners and Mack Sennent. He did swear off booze as a result of his father's early death due to "the drink", but he did drink occasionally. There are references to this throughout his life. I do feel this article is a myth that he drank as part of the act, but it would certainly make it easier to play a drunk when drunk.
ReplyDelete