He took his artistic first name from Charlie Chaplin whom he encountered first in 1910.
Each respected the other.
Legend has it that Chaplin later asked him: "Is it you who imitate me or I who imitate you?"
He later discovered his definitive routine, featuring a chair, a guitar and a long jersey.
In 1971, he appeared in Federico Fellini's film Clowns.
The Charlie Rivel Hall in Cubelles is a museum dedicated to him,
There is also a park dedicated to him in Vigo in the province of Pontevedra, Spain.