Top Photograph: Theatrical advertisement of Charlie in his stage costume as a member of the Eight Lancashire Lads: his first big break. Had he never joined that clog dancing troupe and pursued a life on the stage, Chaplin could have ended up like some of the other Cockney street urchins   pictured in the other photographs. Referring to his 18-month-long ordeal in a charity orphanage that preceded his stage debut, Chaplin told a reporter: “my childhood ended at the age of seven.” (See Chaplin A Life for a complete discussion of these boyhood events ).