Meet the Moroccan man who has spent three decades impersonating Charlie Chaplin on the streets of Rabat

Belhussein Abdelsalam, known locally as Charlo, makes less than $150 a month in tips

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  Belhussein Abdelsalam, a Charlie Chaplin impersonator, waits for an audience in Rabat, Morocco. AP Photo

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  Charlie Chaplin impersonator Belhussein Abdelsalam, 58, prepares for work in Rabat. He started making people laugh three decades ago, after he lost his job and was arrested. AP Photo

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  Belhussein Abdelsalam, applies make-up to transform himself into silent movie legend Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp character. He hit upon the idea after seeing Chaplin on television. AP Photo

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  Charlie Chaplin impersonator Belhussein Abdelsalam, a former sports photographer, makes around $150 a month in tips performing on Rabat's side streets. AP Photo

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  Charlie Chaplin impersonator Belhussein Abdelsalam performs for children in Rabat. To residents in the area, he is known simply as Charlo. AP Photo

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  Belhussein Abdelsalam, shows pictures of himself as a young man. He lost his job as a sports photographer and was arrested three decades ago. AP Photo

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  Charlie Chaplin impersonator Belhussein Abdelsalam carries balloons to sell in Rabat. He says imitating Chaplain gives him comedic mask to hide his own sadness and hardships. AP Photo

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  Belhussein Abdelsalam talks with his mother in their home in Sale, near Rabat, after his day's work as a Charlie Chaplin impersonator. AP Photo

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  Belhussein Abdelsalam says: 'It was when I lost everything that I became Charlie Chaplin, who made the world laugh and cry without saying a word.” AP Photo

When Belhussein Abdelsalam, 58, was arrested and lost his job three decades ago, the Moroccan saw Charlie Chaplin on television and in that moment decided upon a new career: impersonating the British actor and silent movie maker remembered for his Little Tramp character.

Abdelsalam has been performing on the streets of Morocco's capital nearly every day since then. Making people laugh in Rabat provides a meagre living: He earns under $150 a month from tips. But he is proud to be the street-side celebrity known to residents simply as Charlo.

The former sports photographer sees parallels between himself and the screen legend, whose humour and painted face hid a deep well of painful childhood memories. In the same way, imitating Chaplin gave Abdelsalam a comedic mask to hide his own sadness and hardships.

Belhussein Abdelsalam, a Charlie Chaplin impersonator, performs in Rabat, Morocco. AP Photo

“It was when I lost everything that I became Charlie Chaplin, (who) made the world laugh and cry without saying a word,” he said. “He is a unique person who fought against discrimination and united (everyone).”

Charlo’s bittersweet days are spent on the capital’s main artery, Avenue Mohammed V. He carries balloons, masks, oversized shoes, trumpets, pigeon feed and a smile.

One minute, he might be reapplying his stage makeup using a broken mirror in a flower shop. The next, he might be delighting the children with magic tricks and impressions, or sending the pigeons into feeding frenzies by scattering bags of seed.

But he also carries the ghosts of his past. He always keeps with him photographs from his previous career and images of himself as a young suited man involved in politics. The images were taken before he was arrested and spent a year in prison in the 1980s for activities that Abdelsalam says was linked to his political activism and journalism.

That was during the reign of King Hassan II, before Abdelsalam became Charlo.