Charlie Chaplin's film career spanned more than 50 years

England have

Charles "Charlie" Spencer Chaplin, the comic genius of silent films, has died aged 88.

The "King of film"', knighted in 1974, died at 0400 today at his Swiss manor at Corsier-sur-Vevey.

His wife Oona, daughter of the late playwright Eugene O'Neill, and seven of their eight children were present.

The couple's eldest daughter, actress Geraldine, was abroad filming in Spain but his son Sidney, the eldest son by the second of his four marriages was at his bedside.

It is understood Sir Charles slipped into a coma last night.

A family spokesman said the actor would be buried in a private family ceremony in two days.

As actor, writer, director, producer, composer andchoreographerhe left his indelible legacy on 80 films including favourites The Gold Rush, City Lights, and Limelight.

From his screen debut in 1914, to his last completed film in 1967, Sir Charles is considered to have helped found the modern film.

He rose from humble beginnings to become one of the highest paid films stars.

Born into poverty in London in 1889 his parents Charles Chaplin, senior, and Hannah Hill were music hall entertainers who separated shortly after his birth.

Sir Chaplin and his half-brother, Sydney, who later became his business manger, ended up in an institute for destitute children.

Performing from the age of five he moved to America in 1910.

There he introduced the world to one of his most revered characters - Little Tramp - in the 1914 film Kid's Auto Races.

The shuffling, cane-twirling figure in over-sized trousers and a black moustache, was born.

By 1920, at the height of his fame worldwide regular cinema attendance, dances, dolls, comic books and toys were created in his image.

A colourful personal life combined with Left wing leanings during the Cold War led to him being virtually expelled from America in 1952.

He was awarded a special Oscar 20 years later but lived out the rest of his life in Switzerland where he died.    

This is what the Beagle 2 might have looked like if it had landed successfully

The $62m spacecraft was scheduled to touch down at 0254 GMT after its seven-month flight to the Red Planet.

Beagle 2 must recharge its batteries on the day it lands or it will not survive the first night on Mars.

The Beagle project's lead scientist, Professor Colin Pillinger, told reporters "it's not the end of the world."

"Please don't go away from here believing we've lost the spacecraft," he said. "I'm afraid it's the usual England scenario - we're going to play extra time."

The tiny craft - less than a metre across - travelled to the red planet "piggyback" on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter.

All went well until the probe separated successfully from its mother ship on 19 December to begin its descent to Mars.

Beagle 2's plunge through the planet's thin atmosphere is the most difficult part of the mission.

Nasa's Mars Odyssey orbiter, which has been circling the planet since 2001, has been unable to pick up Beagle's call sign from the landing site.

A second attempt by the giant Jodrell Bank telescope, in Cheshire, has also been unsuccessful.

If nothing is heard from the Beagle 2 when the Nasa craft makes another pass over the landing site late tomorrow, hopes for its safe arrival will begin to fade.

The Beagle 2 project was marked out from the start by its shoestring budget and tight deadlines.

Professor Pillinger of the Open University first drew the robot on the back of a beer mat in 1997. It has grabbed headlines ever since.

The project has attracted the support of celebrities such as pop group Blur, who composed Beagle 2's nine-note call sign, and Brit-artist Damien Hirst.

The worst case scenario is that the probe has crashed and is lying in fragments strewn across the Martian surface.

The failure of the mission would not be unprecedented. Of more than 30 missions to the Red Planet since the 1960s, most have failed to reach the Martian surface successfully.

choreographer: a person who usually works with dancers, actors and singers（舞蹈指导）