Charlie Chaplin returned to the United States for the first time in over a decade to accept his honorary Oscar in 1972. He received a 12-minute long standing ovation, the longest in Oscar history. | The Academy

Charlie Chaplin, exiled from America for twenty years, returned at 82 to receive an Honorary Academy Award in 1972. The audience gave him a twelve-minute standing ovation—the longest in Oscars history. Born into poverty, Chaplin became the world’s first global film star, creating The Little Tramp and masterpieces like The Gold Rush and The Great Dictator. Targeted during McCarthyism for his political views, he lived in Switzerland, yet his art endured. His 1952 film Limelight even won an Oscar i