The Little Tramp, also known as The Tramp (Charlot in several languages) was Charlie Chaplin's most memorable on-screen character, a recognized icon of world cinema most dominant during the silent film era.
The Tramp, as portrayed by Chaplin, is a childlike, bumbling but overall good-hearted character who is most famously presented as a vagrant who endeavors to behave with the manners and dignity of a gentleman despite his actual social status. However, while he is ready to take what paying work that is available, he also uses his cunning to get what he needs to survive and escape the authority figures who will not tolerate his antics. Chaplin's films did not always portray the Tramp as a vagrant, however. The character (or "The Little Fellow," as Chaplin called him) was rarely referred to by any names onscreen, although he was sometimes identified as "Charlie" and rarely, as in the original silent version of The Gold Rush, "The Little funny Tramp".
Read more about The Tramp: History, Characteristics, Significance, Chaplin's Views, The Short Film
Famous quotes containing the word tramp:
“In the middle classes the gifted son of a family is always the poorest—usually a writer or artist with no sense for speculation—and in a family of peasants, where the average comfort is just over penury, the gifted son sinks also, and is soon a tramp on the roadside.”
—J.M. (John Millington)