It is hard to compare great actors as every actor has their style of performing and showcasing their talent. The art of acting is hard as it means living the life of someone else and depicting their emotions.
In this, the art of doing silent comedy films is the most difficult acting skill. Both Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are the kings of silent comedy.
Charlie Chaplin vs Buster Keaton
The difference between Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton is their way of showing expressions. Charlie Chaplin communicates through his body language and facial expressions while Buster Keaton communities through an emotionless expression and signify violence mostly. Keaton was considered a superior filmmaker while Chaplin is known for his comedic writing.
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Charlie Chaplin was a British actor who gained popularity in making silent comedies. He never communicated through dialogues or by using any verbal means in any of the films he acted in.
He depicts and delivers the dialogue by the emotions on his face and also uses body language to add more meaning to the role in the movie.
Buster Keaton was an American actor who also gained popularity in making silent movies. But Buster Keaton was more focused on producing films of the violent genre instead of comedy.
He also does not use verbal communication in his movies and uses an emotionless face. He delivers his dialogues through the body or sign language.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Charlie Chaplin | Buster Keaton |
|---|---|---|
| Means of communication | Charlie Chaplin uses facial emotions and body language to communicate in his films. | Buster Keaton uses an emotionless face and body language to communicate in his films. |
| Nationality | He was a British actor. | He was an American actor. |
| Genre | He played many roles in comedy films. | He played roles mostly in violence. |
| Dressing culture | He wore a bowler hat as his identity. | He wore a pork pie hat as his identity. |
| Career | He was famous for acting and writing comedy scenes. | He was famous for his superior filmmaker. |
What is Charlie Chaplin?
Charlie Chaplin was a British actor born on 16 April 1889. Charlie’s parents were musical performers in London. Charlie had a tough teenage life as his mother was mentally ill and his father failed to perform the parent’s responsibilities.
Charlie worked for numerous traveling vaudeville shows before getting a role in his first film with Mack Sennett’s Keystone in 1913.
Later on, he signed many contracts and marked his face in the industry. In 1918, his turning point in the career show “A dog’s life” was signed by him. It was a million-dollar contract and had a far-reaching impact on his career.
A dog’s life was a movie directed by him and entered into a contract with First National Pictures. It was a profitable year for him.
Charlie Chaplin was known for his silent comedy. He never communicated through verbals means in his films and only used his facial expressions and body language to communicate his dialogues.
He wore a bowler hat in his films signifying his identity.
Paranoia after World War 2 affected his health badly and he spent his last days in Switzerland till 1977. The last films of Charlie Chaplin were “Limelight” and “A King in New York”.
What is Buster Keaton?
Buster Keaton was an American actor born on October 4th,1895. He is well-known for silent films where he won’t communicate through verbal language but he uses non-verbal communication like body language.
Mostly, he never shows any emotions on his face and has an emotionless expression on his face. He only relied on his body language for acting.
Buster Keaton played the roles of both comedian and violent filmmaker. Generally, Keaton played more roles in violent movies than comedy genre.
He won numerous awards for silent acting and superior filmmaker. In addition to this, he performed stunts and was a producer and a screenwriter.
His occupation was wide and he was successful in every line.
Buster Keaton had poor family background but revied from it through his successful acting career. However, he went into losses when he signed up a contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer as he lost his artistic sovereignty.
His wife divorced him and he became addicted to alcohol. He recovered from that in 1940 and remarried and once again marked his powerful entry into industries.
Buster Keaton won numerous awards in silent films and was a great actor. He died because of lung cancer on 1st February 1966.
Main Differences Between Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton
- Charlie Chaplin uses his facial expressions to communicate in films while Buster Keaton shows an emotionless expression on his face and makes use of body language to communicate.
- Charlie Chaplin mainly focused on being a great comedian actor and writing comedic pieces while Buster Keaton focused more on being a filmmaker and acting in the violent genre.
- Charlie Chaplin wore a bowler hat while Buster Keaton wore a pork pie hat.
- Charlie Chaplin got married four times and had eleven kids while Buster Keaton got married thrice and have two kids.
- Charlie Chaplin directed Buster Keaton in one of the last films “Limelight” while Buster Keaton did not have a chance to direct Charlie Chaplin.
- https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520931251-011/html
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KeJoqk4QYWsC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=buster+keaton&ots=fb7gFKIDr_&sig=9ZgAi2GYyDWurhEqABd58OvMuMk
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
