Charlie Chaplin, one of the greatest stars of early cinema, has today (14 June) been commemorated with an English Heritage Blue Plaque. Fellow comedian and silent film enthusiast Paul Merton unveiled the plaque at the mansion block on Brixton Road, where Chaplin shared the top-floor flat with his older brother Sydney between 1908 and 1910.

 Speaking about the new plaque, Paul Merton said: “I’m proud to be associated with the foremost comic artist of the first half of the 20th century, and this unveiling today will remind us of the humble origins from which he sprung.”

Greg Dyke, English Heritage Blue Plaques Panel Member, said: “London was where Charlie Chaplin grew up and first made people laugh. We are delighted to honour one of cinema’s greatest stars and the modest building he once called home."

Though he found fame and fortune in America, the roots of Chaplin’s comedy lay in the music hall and vaudeville scene of his home city and his life in South London is reflected in many of his films. The tramp’s attire – too tight jacket, voluminous trousers and over-sized shoes – mirrored the ill-fitting clothes that he wore during an impoverished childhood, interspersed with spells in workhouses and workhouse schools, and his odd pigeon-toed walk was apparently copied from a local character in Kennington. Of all the places Chaplin lived in London, he later singled out Glenshaw Mansions, referring to the building by name in his novella, Footlights. He also recalled it with affection as the first proper home of his own – a ‘cherished haven’ – in his 1964 autobiography.

When Charlie and Sydney Chaplin moved into the four-storey mansion block in 1908, they spent £40 on furnishings for the flat – a couch and two armchairs, a fretwork Moorish screen lit from behind by yellow bulb in one corner, and a tasteful female nude portrait in the other. The effect, Chaplin wrote, was “a combination of a Moorish cigarette shop and a French whore-house. But we loved it.” While living there Chaplin continued touring with the Fred Karno Company and it was with Karno that he left for America in 1910. Disliking goodbyes, he left a note for Sydney on the table, promising to write.

 Today, Glenshaw Mansions – a block that dates from the turn of the twentieth century – survives much as Chaplin must have known it, despite the bomb that fell just behind it during the Second World War.

Other comic artists recognised by the Blue Plaques Scheme include the clown Joseph Grimaldi and Tommy Cooper.

The English Heritage London Blue Plaques scheme is generously supported by David Pearl and members of the public.