Great Lives

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Great Lives: Mark Steel on Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin - not just funny but a political rebel according to Mark Steel

Mark Steel on Charlie Chaplin

BBC Radio 4 - Great Lives, Mark Steel on Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin wasn’t funny but a political rebel. Mark Steel nominates him as his hero.

4 Extra Debut. Comedian Mark Steel chooses actor, filmmaker and political rebel, Charlie Chaplin. With Matthew Parris. From 2018.

Mark Steel makes the case for Charlie Chaplin being one of the most radical comedians of his time. 

He reckons it's sad that most see Chaplin as that bloke who wore a bowler hat, had a funny walk, waved a cane around and wasn’t even that funny. Mark argues that Charlie Chaplin’s silent films and his "Tramp" character make sense if you look at the upheavals in society that were occurring alongside his career.

Mark is best known for the Mark Steel Lectures and Mark Steel's in Town. He says that while Chaplin was standing up for the working class, the irony was that he became the richest rebel. 

Presenter Matthew Parris is also joined by Simon Louvish - author of ‘Chaplin: The Tramps Odyssey’.   

Producer:  Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Day 2018.

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