Sydney Earl Chaplin (March 30, 1926 – March 3, 2009) was an American actor. He was the second son of

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 ...

and

Lita Grey Lita Grey (born Lillita Louise MacMurray, April 15, 1908 – December 29, 1995), who was known for most of her life as Lita Grey Chaplin, was an American actress. She was the second wife of Charlie Chaplin, and appeared in his films '' The Kid'' ...

. One of his major roles was in his father's 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 ...

'' (1952). In theater, Chaplin won the

Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality featured roles in a musi ...

for his 1957 performance in '' Bells Are Ringing''.

Early years

Born in 1926 in Beverly Hills, California, Chaplin was the second son of

and

. His parents had married in November 1924 when Lita became pregnant with Sydney's elder brother

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

. 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 Sydney John Chaplin (; 16 March 1885 – 16 April 1965) was an English actor. Chaplin was the elder half-brother of actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin and in later life, served as his business manager. Through their mother Hannah, they were ...

. 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 Oona O'Neill, Lady Chaplin (14 May 1925 – 27 September 1991) was a British actress, the daughter of American playwright Eugene O'Neill and English-born writer Agnes Boulton, and the fourth and last wife of actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin. ...

. 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 Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Chaplin was educated at the boarding schools

Black-Foxe Military Institute The Black-Foxe Military Institute was a private military school for boys in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was located adjacent to the Wilshire Country Club to the west and south and the Los Angeles Tennis Club to the ...

and

Lawrenceville School The Lawrenceville School is a Private school, private, coeducational College-preparatory school, preparatory school for boarding and day students located in the Local government in New Jersey, unincorporated community of Lawrenceville, New Jers ...

in New Jersey, as well as the public

North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School (NHHS) is a public high school in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is in the San Fernando Valley and enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Several neighborhoods, including m ...

Career

After serving in the United States Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 El Centro Theatre is a Hollywood theater. It was founded in 1946 and is located at 804 N. El Centro Ave. Hollywood, California 90038. History In 1946, students from UCLA, including William Schallert, Jerry Epstein, Kathleen Freeman, Sid Rusha ...

, including acting in three plays directed by his father. He also appeared in several

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

productions, including '' Bells Are Ringing'' opposite

Judy Holliday Judy Holliday (born Judith Tuvim, June 21, 1921 – June 7, 1965) was an American actress, comedian, and singer.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', June 9, 1965, p. 71. She began her career as part of a nightclub act before working in Bro ...

in 1957, for which he won a

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality featured roles in a musi ...

. In 1959, he costarred with

Lauren Bacall Betty Joan Perske (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014), professionally known as Lauren Bacall ( ), was an American actress. She was named the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the America ...

in George Axelrod's comedy ''

Goodbye Charlie ''Goodbye Charlie'' is a 1964 American comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds and Pat Boone. The CinemaScope film is about a callous womanizer who gets his just reward after a jealous husband kills hi ...

'' and headlined Jule Styne's 1961 musical '' Subways Are for Sleeping''. He played in '' Funny Girl'' opposite

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

in 1964, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Chaplin also had supporting roles in two of his father's films, ''

'' (1952) and ''

A Countess from Hong Kong ''A Countess from Hong Kong'' is a 1967 British romantic comedy film scored, written, and directed by Charlie Chaplin, and the final film directed, written, produced and scored by him. It was based on the life of a former Russian aristocrat, as ...

'' (1967). Chaplin retired from acting in the 1970s. In the 1980s, he owned and managed a restaurant, Chaplin's, in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

. 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 Jeffrey Vance (born May 21, 1970) is an American film historian and author who has published books on movie stars including Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Career While working as an archivist for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists he met El ...

'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 Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on March 3, 2009, at his home in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a low-density desert community with resorts, golf courses, and country clubs within the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert. Nestled along the foothil ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaplin, Sydney Earl 1926 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American male actors United States Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from California Male actors from Beverly Hills, California American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American male stage actors

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Male actors from Greater Los Angeles Tony Award winners