Sydney Earl Chaplin (March 30, 1926 – March 3, 2009) was an American actor. He was the second son of Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey. One of his major roles was in his father's film Limelight (1952). In theater, Chaplin won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his 1957 performance in Bells Are Ringing.

Early years Sydney Earl Chaplin was born on March 30, 1926, in Beverly Hills, California. Chaplin was the second son of Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey. His parents had married in November 1924 when Lita became pregnant with Sydney's elder brother Charles. Sydney was born five weeks prematurely, 10 months after the birth of his older brother. He was named for his father's half-brother, Sydney Chaplin. His parents divorced a year after his birth. The boys later had eight half-siblings from their father's fourth marriage to Oona O'Neill.

His mother insisted on calling him "Tommy" due to her distaste for his namesake uncle. Sydney and his older brother were brought up mostly by their maternal grandmother, while his mother attempted to advance her career as a singer. The family spent most of one year in Nice, where the boys became fluent in French.

Chaplin was educated at the boarding schools Black-Foxe Military Institute and Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, as well as the public North Hollywood High School.

Career After serving in the United States Army during World War II in Europe, Chaplin returned to California, where he became involved in acting both on stage and in films. He gained early acting experience in The Circle Theater, now known as El Centro Theatre, including acting in three plays directed by his father.

He also appeared in several Broadway productions, including Bells Are Ringing opposite Judy Holliday in 1957, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. In 1959, he costarred with Lauren Bacall in George Axelrod's comedy Goodbye Charlie and headlined Jule Styne's 1961 musical Subways Are for Sleeping. He played in Funny Girl opposite Barbra Streisand in 1964, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Chaplin also had supporting roles in two of his father's films, Limelight (1952) and A Countess from Hong Kong (1967).

Chaplin retired from acting in the 1970s. In the 1980s, he owned and managed a restaurant, Chaplin's, in Palm Springs, California.

Following his retirement from acting, Chaplin seldom made public appearances. Exceptions included his attendance at Cinecon in Los Angeles in 1998, and at the Cineteca di Bologna 2002 festival (Il Cinema Ritrovato), which mounted a fiftieth-anniversary screening of Limelight. He appeared also at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in 2004, where he spoke after screenings of his father's film The Circus to promote film historian Jeffrey Vance's Chaplin books.

Personal life In 1960 Chaplin married French dancer and actress Noëlle Adam, by whom he had one son, Stephan (b. 1960). In 1985 this marriage ended in divorce.

He became involved with Margaret Beebe in 1984. They married in 1998, and remained married until Chaplin's death.

Book Chaplin helped complete and publish his mother's 1998 autobiography, Wife of the Life of the Party. He also wrote the book's foreword, where he shared some of his own history and private thoughts on his parents.

Death At age 82, Chaplin died of a stroke on March 3, 2009, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California.

Stage credits Year Title Role Venue Notes 1946 Johnny Got His Gun Joe Bonham Circle Theatre Stage adaptation by Dalton Trumbo; Directed by Charlie Chaplin 1948 The Adding Machine Mr. Zero Circle Theatre Directed by Jerry Epstein 1950 Rain Sergeant O'Hara Circle Theatre 1956 Bells Are Ringing Jeff Moss Shubert Theatre Won Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical 1959 Goodbye Charlie George Tracy Lyceum Theatre Co-starred with Lauren Bacall 1961 Subways Are for Sleeping Tom Bailey St. James Theatre Nominated—Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical 1964 Funny Girl Nick Arnstein Winter Garden Theatre Nominated—Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical 1966 Funny Girl Nick Arnstein Prince of Wales Theatre West End debut; reprised role with Barbra Streisand 1968 The Goodbye People Max Silverman Ethel Barrymore Theatre Original Broadway production 1970 Three by Two Various roles St. James Theatre Directed by Arthur Storch

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1952 Limelight Neville Directed by Charlie Chaplin 1954 Jimmy Hunter German production; released in US as Columbus Discovers America; aka Columbus entdeckt Krähwi 1955 Land of the Pharaohs Treneh Directed by Howard Hawks 1955 Confession Mike Kessler UK title: The Deadliest Sin 1955 Abdullah the Great Ahmed Also known as Abdullah's Harem 1956 Pillars of the Sky Timothy Starring Jeff Chandler 1957 Four Girls in Town Johnny Troy 1957 Quantez Gato Starring Fred MacMurray 1967 A Countess from Hong Kong Harvey Directed by Charlie Chaplin 1968 Adieu l'ami Ely French film; co-starring Alain Delon 1968 Double-Cross Cass 1969 The Sicilian Clan Jack French title: Le Clan des Siciliens 1971 The Man's Woman 1974 So Sad About Gloria Fred Also known as Visions of Evil 1977 Satan's Cheerleaders Monk Final film role

Television Year Title Role Notes 1955 The Spike Jones Show Himself Guest appearance 1958 Kraft Television Theatre Episode: "The Sea Is Boiling Hot" 1959 Lux Playhouse Episode: "The Best House in the Valley" 1960 The Ed Sullivan Show Himself Guest (S13.E28) 1961 Follow the Sun Episode: "The Primitive" 1971 Medical Center Episode: "The Nowhere Child" 1971 Night Gallery Episode: "The Last Laurel" 1975 Baretta Episode: "On the Road" 1977 The Six Million Dollar Man Episode: "The Infiltrators" 1977 Switch Episode: "The Snitch" 1977 Kojak Episode: "The Summer of '69"

Additional media Year Title Role Medium Notes 1952 The Great Dictator (Re-issue) Narrator Audio/Promotion Spoke the promotional radio spots for the re-release 1956 Bells Are Ringing Jeff Moss Cast Recording Original Broadway Cast Album (Columbia Records) 1964 Funny Girl Nick Arnstein Cast Recording Original Broadway Cast Album (Capitol Records) 2003 Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin Himself Documentary Directed by Richard Schickel 2003 The Chaplin Puzzle Himself Documentary Archive footage and interview

References

Further reading Grey, Lita. My Life With Chaplin, Grove Press. 1966. Chaplin, Lita Grey; Vance, Jeffrey. Wife of the Life of the Party. Foreword by Sydney Chaplin. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1998 pg. ix-xi-3. . Guardian obituary

External links