Happy Birthday Charlie Chaplin: 5 surprising facts about the Hollywood icon

While the world celebrates April 16 as Charlie Chaplin's birthday, most of us remember the Tramp — bowler, toothbrush 'stache, and cane held high, shambling silently through a noisy world. But beyond the slapstick and silent reels lies a life as dramatic, unpredictable, and layered as any of his films.

One of the most enduring ironies of film history: Charlie Chaplin supposedly entered a lookalike contest — and lost. There are many accounts, and the most plausible describes a contest in San Francisco in which he was unable to advance beyond the first round. Never formally confirmed by Charlie Chaplin himself, the anecdote has been repeated by top publications and has passed into Hollywood folklore.

Charlie Chaplin was a self-taught composer and composed the scores for films such as City Lights and Modern Times. His best-known work of music, Smile, gained popularity after Nat King Cole recorded it in 1954 and later Michael Jackson.

Though he was the face of early Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin never did become a US citizen. His political views and personal scandals made him the target of controversy during the McCarthy era, and he relocated to Switzerland, where he spent his later decades.

In 1978, shortly after Chaplin's death, grave robbers excavated his corpse in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland. The thieves demanded a ransom from his widow, Oona. The thieves were eventually apprehended, and Chaplin's corpse was reburied under reinforced concrete.

Albert Einstein, who was an admirer of Charlie Chaplin, went to the premiere of City Lights in Los Angeles in 1931. Both men were each other's great fans. When Einstein inquired of Chaplin how he had become so well recognised worldwide, Chaplin answered,“They cheer me because they all understand me, and they cheer you because no one understands you.”