Charie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in “The Kid”.

For those that know me, know that I enjoy old movies, especially the classic comedians. Charlie Chaplin has always been one of my favorites and I have watched ever silent film to talkie he ever made.

Recently a friend forwarded a short article to me about Chaplin’s humanitarian efforts. It was widely known that Chaplin was a humanist often engaging in efforts to assist mankind. This unfortunately caused him some trouble in the later years being accused of not being an American.

Vigen Avetisyan wrote:

Primarily remembered for his role of “the Tramp” – which became an icon of the silent film era – he played numerous other roles thanks to his talent. His ability was testified by not only by his roles but also the fact that he did most of the job in the creation of his films.

However, Charlie Chaplin’s film career isn’t the only thing he is remembered for.
Few people actually remember that in the years of the Armenian Genocide, Charlie Chaplin established a fund to help Armenian children. He donated virtually all his earnings to this foundation.

In the 1920s, Charlie Chaplin made a tour in European countries, in which he raised $1 million (approximately $12 million as of 2018 when adjusted for inflation). He transferred the entire amount to his relief foundation to aid Armenian and Greek orphans who had fled from the Ottoman Empire. He personally visited these children and helped build shelters for Armenian and Greek orphans.

Also, Chaplin’s co-star from ‘The Kid’, the child actor, Jackie Coogan was also very instrumental in the Near East Relief Fund (NER) efforts in the early 1920s. NER’s mission was to provide humanitarian efforts to Armenian Genocide survivors/refugees.  Read more about this by clicking on this link.