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Between 1915 and 1921 there was a popular rumor that, Charlie Chaplin allegedly entered a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like competition in San Francisco and came in 20th place.
The Straits Times from Singapore was the first newspaper to publish this story under the headline “How Charlie Chaplin Failed”.
Throughout the 1920’s, a variation on the same story appeared in various newspapers across the world, including Poverty Bay Herald and Albany Advertiser.
Did he enter a contest at all? Did he come in 20th place ? These were rumors that Charlie was probably aware of but never confirmed nor denied any of them.
It is nice to know this information.
I always thought that the rumour was that he came 2nd, not 20th! In any event, it has been denied many times over.
That said, we all know that fake news is more powerful than the truth, if enough people believe it to be true.