--- title: 'Moment of Laughter Day': Charlie Chaplin on the Set of 'Limelight' description: LIFE celebrates 'Moment of Laughter Day' with a photo of Charlie Chaplin utterly convulsed on the set of his 1952 movie, 'Limelight.' canonical: https://time.com/3879558/moment-of-laughter-day-charlie-chaplin-limelight/ author: Liz Ronk article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-13T16:00:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:44.514Z og:title: 'Moment of Laughter Day': Charlie Chaplin on the Set of 'Limelight' og:description: LIFE celebrates 'Moment of Laughter Day' with a photo of Charlie Chaplin utterly convulsed on the set of his 1952 movie, 'Limelight.' og:url: https://time.com/3879558/moment-of-laughter-day-charlie-chaplin-limelight/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52571e0397cf03ca/69884b9bcd1bbaed6f6fadcb/140403-charlie-chaplin-eugene-smith1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Charlie Chaplin in 1952 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Moment of Laughter Day': Charlie Chaplin on the Set of 'Limelight' twitter:description: LIFE celebrates 'Moment of Laughter Day' with a photo of Charlie Chaplin utterly convulsed on the set of his 1952 movie, 'Limelight.' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt52571e0397cf03ca/69884b9bcd1bbaed6f6fadcb/140403-charlie-chaplin-eugene-smith1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # On 'Moment of Laughter Day,' See Charlie Chaplin Busting a Gut by [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Apr 13, 2014 4:00 PM UTC  Director and actor Charlie Chaplin laughs raucously during the making of his 1952 film, Limelight. Director and actor Charlie Chaplin laughs raucously during the making of his 1952 film, Limelight.W. Eugene Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Apr 13, 2014 4:00 PM UTC Need a good laugh? You’re in luck. Monday, April 14, is International Moment of Laughter Day, a non-denominational holiday dreamed up by writer, professional speaker and “humor consultant” Izzy Gesell. (One way to make yourself really laugh, according to Gesell: Get naked, and look in the mirror. Thanks a lot, Izzy.) To mark the occasion, LIFE.com features this lovely picture of the one and only Charlie Chaplin utterly convulsed on the set of his 1952 career coda, [_Limelight_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044837/). Here is the Silent Era icon on the set of his final major film, years after he had made his best-known works—masterpieces like _City Lights_, _Modern Times_ and _The Great Dictator_. And yet, even in his 60s, the great filmmaker’s light appears undimmed. The creator of the shambling, luckless [Tramp](http://lightbox.time.com/2014/01/31/charlie-chaplin-in-color-a-century-old-photo-redefines-the-tramp/#1), Chaplin’s tragicomic vision was perhaps forever shaped by his own difficult childhood.He grew up fatherless, and after his mother had a nervous breakdown, he spent time in a London orphanage. At times, he performed on the street for pennies. Still, Chaplin would later insist, “a day without laughter is a day wasted.” (It’s ironic that this raucously light-hearted photo was made by [W. Eugene Smith](http://life.time.com/w-eugene-smith/), a cantankerous genius celebrated for his pictures of life’s bitterest struggles, rather than silver-screen frivolity.) In the end, perhaps the happy fact of this brief meeting between two towering creative talents is reason enough for a smile. Or even a good laugh. [**_Myles Little_**](http://lightbox.time.com/contributor/myles-little/) _is an associate photo editor at TIME._  Director and actor Charlie Chaplin laughs raucously during the making of his 1952 film, Limelight. W. Eugene Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3879558/moment-of-laughter-day-charlie-chaplin-limelight/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3879558/moment-of-laughter-day-charlie-chaplin-limelight/"},"headline":"On 'Moment of Laughter Day,' See Charlie Chaplin Busting a Gut","datePublished":"2014-04-13T16:00:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:44.514Z","description":"Need a good laugh? You're in luck. April 14 is International Moment of Laughter Day, a holiday dreamed up by writer, professional speaker and \"humor consultant\" Izzy Gesell.","url":"https://time.com/3879558/moment-of-laughter-day-charlie-chaplin-limelight/","keywords":["Actors","W. 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