Charlie Chaplin had a job.
Sir Charles Spencer `` Charlie '' Chaplin , ( 16 April 1889 -- 25 December 1977 ) was an English comic actor , filmmaker , and composer who rose to fame during the era of silent film . He refused to move to sound films in the 1930s , instead producing City Lights ( 1931 ) and Modern Times ( 1936 ) without dialogue . Chaplin became increasingly political , and his next film , The Great Dictator ( 1940 ) , satirised Adolf Hitler .