Charlie Chaplin...the Psychic?

One of Hollywood's very first superstars, Charlie Spencer Chaplin was born on April 16th 1889 to Hannah and Charles Chaplin Sr, in London, England.

Chaplin learned to fend for himself at the tender age of 10 following the premature death of his father and ongoing sickness suffered by his mother. Along with his brother he began tap dancing and was soon a member of a youngsters theatre group, but he had his sights set on the bright lights.

These days most people have heard of Charlie Chaplin and if asked to describe him we'd probably all say he was a silent movie comedian, wonderfully gifted and quite unique even today. What we wouldn't necessarily know about however is that Chaplin was fascinated by the Occult and all things macabre and loved telling ghost stories to his sons who later spoke of their fathers "ghoulish and bloody tales" which they couldn't get enough of.

Chaplin was also convinced that he possessed extrasensory perception. He believed he was psychic.

A youthful Charlie Spencer Chaplin

It was more than mere belief however, as in the winter of 1916 the Boston Society for Psychical Research became very interested in a strange occurrence that involved Chaplin. There was, what was later referred to as a 'Chaplin Impulse Wave" in which hundreds of hotels across the USA, from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast in one direction, and as far north as Canada and south as the Gulf of Mexico, all received pages for Mr Chaplin. The Boston SPR sent one of their most experienced and well respected members Professor Bamfylde More to investigate, and his report was produced in the February of 1917.

"We find beyond pre-adventure that on the date mentioned, 12 November, there existed for some inexplicable reason a Chaplin "impulse" which extended through the length and breadth of the continent. In more than 800 of the principal hotels, Mr Chaplin was being paged at the same hour. In hundreds of smaller towns people were waiting at stations to see him disembark from trains upon which he was supposed to arrive".

The cause concluded by the Boston SPR was one of a mass mental impulse created by fans of his work, upon seeing his latest film release maybe. A telepathic charge of energy that spread like a wildfire. Subconscious linking with subconscious.

Chaplin himself was understandably intrigued and amused by the phenomenon and there are those who believe it was actually caused by Chaplin.

Many who worked with Chaplin claimed that he had an almost intuitive, psychic ability to take on the character of whichever part he was playing, as if he were tapping into the stored memories all around and hand picking the traits needed for specific roles.

Of course these days we hear of actors being 'method actors', of which the same can be said.

It seems that as the years went by Chaplin believed more than ever in not only his psychic and extra-sensory abilities, but that he was infact a 'devil in disguise' and there were stories of his involvement with the Illuminati at this time.

Some say that the sheer level of Chaplin's wild genius was something 'beyond human' and that off stage his energy and ability to indulge in sexual exploits for hours at a time without tiring, were all indicators that he was somehow being 'charged' by an unseen force, some form of dabbling in black magic. Who knows. Personally I think this sounds like a good story but very unlikely.

What we can all agree on however is that for whatever reason, however it came about and whatever his true abilities were, the man was in every sense of the word...MAGIC.