[Ads-l] Anecdote: Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstein meet. Request help with 1930 Woman's Home Companion

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Thu Nov 15 18:22:22 UTC 2018


This request has now been satisfied; many thanks to a librarian at the
Spokane Public Library. The Quote Investigator piece will be updated
in the coming days.

Charlie Chaplin wrote a series of articles about his world travels for
the "Woman's Home Companion" in the 1930s. His October 1933 dispatch
included a description of a visit to Berlin, Germany during which he
also went to the home of Albert Einstein.

Date: 1933 October
Periodical: Woman's Home Companion,
Volume 60, Number 10,
Article: A Comedian Sees the World - Part II
Author: Charles Chaplin,
Start Page 15, Quote Page 17,
Publisher: The Crowell Publishing Company, Springfield, Ohio.
Note: Thanks to the staff of the Downtown Public Library of Spokane, Washington

[Begin excerpt]
Arriving at his flat I was introduced to his family. He has a son and
daughter, the latter a very good sculptress, and I was shown some
specimens of her work.

. . .
"We sat down to delicious home-baked tarts made by Mrs. Einstein.
During the course of conversation, his son remarked on the psychology
of the popularity of Einstein and myself.

"You are popular," he said, "because you are understood by the masses.
On the other hand, the professor’s popularity with the masses is
because he is not understood.'"
[End excerpt]

Garson O'Toole
QuoteInvestigator.com

On Fri, Nov 9, 2018 at 4:19 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> A popular anecdote claims that Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstein
> were together at the premiere of Chaplin's movie "City Lights", and
> they exchanged sharp observations about fame and incomprehensibility.
> Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article on the topic if you
> wish to have some background information:
>
> https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/11/05/chaplin-einstein/
>
> Researcher Austin Thompson provided me with a new and very valuable
> lead. The citation below appeared several years before other citations
> (known to me).

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