Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on 16 April 1889 in London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Chaplin had a rough childhood; his mother, Hannah Hill Chaplin, a talented singer, actress, and piano player, spent most of her life in and out of mental hospitals. His father, Charles Spencer Chaplin Sr. was a fairly successful singer until he began drinking. After his parents separated, Charlie and his half-brother, Sidney, spent most of their childhood in orphanages, where they often went hungry and were beaten if they misbehaved. He first started acting at age five. He acted in a music hall in 1894, standing in for his mother.