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Relative Relationhips

This article discusses Sydney Chaplin, the brother of famous silent film star Charlie Chaplin. Sydney also had a successful career in comedy and helped manage Charlie's affairs. Though less famous today, Sydney was an important part of Charlie's life and brought humor and relief to Charlie's family when they were children in Switzerland.

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Relative Relationhips

This article discusses Sydney Chaplin, the brother of famous silent film star Charlie Chaplin. Sydney also had a successful career in comedy and helped manage Charlie's affairs. Though less famous today, Sydney was an important part of Charlie's life and brought humor and relief to Charlie's family when they were children in Switzerland.

Uploaded by

anamg_0505
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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RCIati*e, relationsh ips

Gapped text
1 You are going to read an afiicle about Sydney Chaplin, the brother of the silent film
star, Charlie. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the
sentences A-G the one rvhich fits each gap (1-5). There is one extra sentence which you
do not need to use.

This is the story of a man named Chaplin. who extracted himself from
poverty with the discovery that he could make people laugh, first in
British music halls and later in Hollywood. Bythe early 1920s, hewas
shooting big-budget features on a million-dollar contract. But this man's
name was not Charlie.
ln the early 2Oth century, there was room in the world for two Chaplins.
Their names appeared together in print on the pages of fan magazines,
and side by side in rnk on the document that founded United Artists.
flT_l Even among silent-film specialists, his work is not well known.

Mention his name to any of Charlie s older children,-however, and


their faces light up with pleasure. 'Uncle Sydney was our favourite!'
r ru. lvrrlr
Michael, Charlie's eldest son, can still
Lr rqyilr r told
Lvru rme.
Geraldine
uEt oruil rL Chaplin
conjure the distrnctive smell of his cigars. Geraldine can remember the traces of a London accent in his
voice. f?T_l 'He loved to drive his great big Cadillac along the narrow Swiss roads,' Geraldine told me.
'He'd drrve very, very slowly - it took him about an hour to get from Lausanne - and other cars would be
honking around him.'
Best of all, they remember the good-natured anarchy which he brought to Vevey, their childhood home in
He was always clowning about - in
Switzerland. 'As a kid,' Michael said, 'it was a relief to see him.
always
on my back about working hard
more
man,
a
severe
who,
to
me,
was
always
contrast to my father,
at school and getting a good education.'

iTT-l

Sydney Chaplin was born in 1885, the first son of a seamstress named Hannah Hill. 'lt seems strange
to me,' reflected Hannah's sister, Kate Mowbray, in 1916. 'that anyone can write about Charlie Chaplin
Syd, of quiet manner, clever brain and steady nerve,
without mentioning his brother Sydney.
has been father and mother to Charlie. Charlie has always looked up to Syd, and Sydney would suffer

l4T_l

anything to spare Charlie.'

tTT_l

Sydney had become a leading member of Fred Karno's gang of acrobatic comedians, touring the
States on a weekly salary of $36. ln 1908, he persuaded Karno to admit his brother to the company on a
trial basis. Karno sent Charlie to do the next American tour, in the autumn of i910. Before long, Charlie
had accepted a contract with Mack Sennett's Keystone Pictures in Edendale, California. Not forgetting
that one good turn deserves another, he persuaded Sennett that Sydney would make a useful addition. By
November 1914, the Little Tramp had been joined by Sydney's most famous charactet, Gussle - a buffoon

with a cane, tiny fedora hat and big moustache.


Throughout his life, Sydney put his own performing career on hold to manage Charlie's affairs. He
negotiated his brother's first million-dollar contract in 1917; represented him in the foundation of United
Artists in 19i9; and quashed reports in 1931 about Charlie's affairwith a woman named May Reeves by
pretending that he had enjoyed an affair with her himself . 'They had a very close relationship,' Michael
told me. 'My father didn't have that many friends. IET-I But he never said anything derogatory about

Relative relationships
A This obsen-ation was never more true than in their twenties and thirties, when they
rvere building their careers as comedians.
B And both recall his cautious attitude to motoring.
C Thev have been inseparable all their lives.
D His failure to take any,thing seriously created tensions.
E Yet rvhile Charlie remains famous the world oveq, the memory of his brother has
largell- been forgotten.
F He rvould always joke and play magic tricks, make coins disappea4 fall off a chair.
G He rvas a hard man to get along with.

Complete sentence b with a homograph from sentence a. Decide if the two words have
the same or a different pronunciation. Write S for the same and D for different.

0 a Their names appeared together in print on the pages of fan magazines.


b I'll turn the fan on - it's hot in here. S
I a Their faces light up with pleasure.
b My e-book reader weighs just 170 grams - itt very
2 a They have been inseparable all their lives.
b My grandmother _
next door to us. _
3 a Sydney would suffer anything to spare Charlie.
b Come and stay with us - you can sleep in the
bedroom.
4 a One good turn deserves another.
b Chaplin began performing at the
of the century. _
5 a He negotiated his brothert first million-dollar contract in 1917.
b Metal will expand if you heat it, and
when it cools down.
6 a My father was always on my back about working hard at school. b He was a
man to get along with.
- you mean.
7 a I'm sorry, but I dont really understand what
b I dont think he's generous. On the contrary het very
8 a When I was a boy, I used to go fishing with my uncle.
b I didnt have a pen, so I
a pencil instead.
9 a I'vejust read a fascinating book about identical twins.
b The restaurant gets busy, so you'll need to
a table.
1O a The big wheel is the only ride I'll go on at the fair.
b Shes got lovely long _
hair. _

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