Michael John Chaplin (born March 7, 1946) is an American actor born in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

Career

Chaplin's started acting at age six, appearing (uncredited) in the 1952 film ''

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a non-electric type of stage lighting that was once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illum ...

''. In the mid-1960s Chaplin signed a book contract with British publisher Leslie Frewin to publish his autobiography ''I Couldn't Smoke The Grass On My Father's Lawn'', which was ghostwritten with Tom Merrin and Charles Hamblett. This was a teenage hippie-memoir of drugs and rebellion against a world-famous father. Before its release his father filed an injunction to prevent publication, arguing that it would have a detrimental effect on himself and his family. The injunction was set aside by judges for the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

, who held that Chaplin's contract was binding because he stood to gain from the work's publication, as it launched his writing career. In addition, Chaplin is the author of a novel, ''A Fallen God'', a modern version of the story of

Tristan and Iseult Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Of disputed source, usually assumed to be primarily Celtic nations, Celtic, the tale is a ...

. His last part in a film, which was also his first in 48 years, was in the 2014 short film, ''The Innovators'', where he was the voice of the minister.

Personal

He is the second child and eldest son from

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

's fourth and final marriage, to Oona O'Neill. He was first married to the writer Patrice Johns, with whom he has two sons. He later married Patricia Betaudier, a painter and the daughter of Trinidadian painter Patrick Betaudier. He has five children with her, including actresses

Carmen Chaplin Carmen Chaplin (born ) is an English and Irish actress and film director. Carmen is the daughter of Michael Chaplin, granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, and great-granddaughter of American playwright Eugene O'Neill. Her mother is the British-Iris ...

and Dolores Chaplin.

Filmography

*''

'' (1952) as Child in Opening Scene (uncredited) *'' A King in New York'' (1957) as Rupert Macabee *'' Promise Her Anything'' (1965) as Heathcliff - Beatnik (uncredited) *'' The Sandwich Man'' (1966) as Pavement Artist *''The Innovators'' (2014) as the Voice of the Minister (short film)

Books

* ''A Fallen God''

References

External links

* * 1946 births Living people 20th-century American memoirists American male film actors American people of Bermudian descent American people of English descent American people of Irish descent

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Male actors from Santa Monica, California 20th-century American male actors American autobiographers Writers from Santa Monica, California {{US-film-actor-1940s-stub