Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in England in 1889. Chaplin's father was a talented singer and actor, and his mother, Hannah, was an actress who also sang opera. Their marriage wasn't a success, and Hannah ran away from Chaplin's alcoholic father, taking Charlie and his half-brother Sydney with her. Two years later, when Charlie was five, she lost her voice during a performance and Charlie was pushed onto the stage to sing in her place- it was his first public appearance. His mother, who suffered from recurrent mental illness, struggled to bring up her two sons, and the family found themselves in extreme poverty. When she was taken to a psychiatric hospital, Charlie and Sydney ended up in public care at a series of children's homes. In 1898, Chaplin took a job with a children's acting group, the Eight Lancashire Lads, traveling around England.