Charles Chaplin, Jr.

Charles Chaplin, Jr.
Born Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr.
May 5, 1925
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Died March 20, 1968 (aged 42)
Hollywood, California, U.S.
Cause of death
 blood clot
Occupation actor
Spouse(s) Susan Magness
(m. 1958–1959; divorced)
Children Susan Maree Chaplin
Parent(s) Charlie Chaplin
Lita Grey
Grave of Ch. S. Chaplin jr. (+1968)

Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (May 5, 1925 – March 20, 1968) was an American actor.

Life and career

Chaplin was born in Beverly Hills, California. He was the elder son of actors Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey. His half-siblings from his father's last marriage to Oona O'Neill are Geraldine, Michael, Josephine, Victoria, Eugene, Jane, Annette, and Christopher. His elder half-brother Norman died as an infant.

As young children, he and his younger brother Sydney were used as pawns in their mother's bitter divorce from Charlie Chaplin, during which a lot of the couple's "dirty linen" was aired in sensational—and very public—divorce hearings. Following the divorce, the young brothers were raised by their mother and maternal grandmother until the mid-1930s, when they began to make frequent visits to their father.

Chaplin attended the Black-Foxe Military Institute in Hollywood and The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He also served in the US Army in Europe during World War II.

Charles married actress Susan Magness (born c. 1936) on August 6, 1958. They lived in Los Angeles, California. Their daughter Susan Maree Chaplin was born in May 1959. They separated in October 1959 and divorced on November 23, 1959. His ex-wife and daughter still live in Los Angeles.

Chaplin acted in 13 films, appearing with his father in Limelight (1952). He was on stage with his brother Sydney in the play Ethan Frome at the Circle Theatre, now named El Centro Theatre. In 1960 he wrote a book about his family life entitled My Father, Charlie Chaplin.

Death

Chaplin died of a pulmonary embolism on March 20, 1968, in Santa Monica, California, just 46 days before his 43rd birthday. He was buried in the Abbey of the Psalms mausoleum at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery with his maternal grandmother Lillian Carrillo Curry Grey (1888-1985).

Selected filmography

Further reading

External links