I was doing research today on good ol’ Chaz Chaplin and how he was run out of the country for being a communist (just a blurb we’re doing for AOL’s Research and Learn page). I read today that Charlie was so angry, that he publicly claimed, “I have no further use for America. I wouldn’t go back there if Jesus Christ was president.” (Actually, he ended up coming back during the Nixon administration to pick up a Lifetime Achievement Award.)

Anyway, that’s not my point. I’m writing because in my digging I realized, I can’t tell you how many times I keep running into THIS OTHER FACT about Charlie Chaplin. Sure, it’s charming and all. But when I stumbled into comedian BJ Novak’s take on it, I figured I had to publish it. This is straight from his myspace blog:

“In 1915, Charlie Chaplin won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.

This anecdote is, of course, very amusing, ironic, and charming.

But imagine if he had won first prize.

Everyone would have said, ‘What a dick!’”