Sydney Chaplin

b. Sydney Earle Chaplin, 21 March 1926, Los Angeles, California, USA. The son of Charlie Chaplin and his second wife, actress Lita Grey, and named for his father’s half-brother Syd Chaplin, he was with the Los Angeles Circle Theater before making his debut in films with an appearance in his father’s Limelight (1952). On Broadway he had roles in a number of successful shows, including Bells Are Ringing (1956, for which he won a Tony Award as Best Supporting Actor In A Musical), Subways Are For Sleeping (1961), and Funny Girl (1964). His films of the 50s and 60s were sporadic and usually undistinguished, including Land Of The Pharaohs (1955), Pillars Of The Sky (1956) and Four Girls In Town (1957). In 1958 he was in a television production of Wonderful Town. He made numerous films in the 60s and beyond, most often in Europe. These include Follow That Man (1961), Seven Guys And A Gal (1966) and he was in his father’s A Countess From Hong Kong (1967). Other late 60s films are Gunfighters Die Harder, Criminal Face (both 1968), The Adding Machine and The Sicilian Clan (both 1969). In the 70s he made The Contract (1971), The Woman Hunter (a 1972 television film), Medical Story (1975, also for television) and Satan’s Cheerleaders (1977).