Wheeler Dryden
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George Dryden Wheeler Jr. (31 August 1892 – 30 September 1957), AKA Lee George Wheeler but known professionally as Wheeler Dryden, was an English-born American actor and film director. He was the son of
Hannah Chaplin Hannah Harriet Pedlingham Chaplin (née Hill; 6 August 1865 – 28 August 1928), also known by the stage name Lily Harley, was an English actress, singer and dancer who performed in British music halls from the age of 16. Chaplin was the mother ...
and music hall entertainer
Leo Dryden George Dryden Wheeler Sr. (6 June 1863 – 21 April 1939), known as Leo Dryden, was an English music hall singer and vocal comic. Life and career George Dryden Wheeler, known as Leo Dryden, was born in London, the son of Sarah Ann (Frost) and ...
, and younger half-brother of actors Sir Charlie and
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 ...
. He moved to the United States in 1918, joining his mother and two half-brothers. He worked as an actor and director, sometimes assisting Charlie Chaplin. He was married for a short time to ballerina Anna Chapple and they had one child together, Spencer Dryden, who became a rock musician with several prominent American bands and was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
.


Life and career

He was born as George Dryden Wheeler Jr. in
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, the youngest of three boys born to Hannah Hill Chaplin, and the son of
Leo Dryden George Dryden Wheeler Sr. (6 June 1863 – 21 April 1939), known as Leo Dryden, was an English music hall singer and vocal comic. Life and career George Dryden Wheeler, known as Leo Dryden, was born in London, the son of Sarah Ann (Frost) and ...
, a music hall entertainer. While George was an infant, his father removed him from his mentally troubled mother, who was committed to a mental asylum for a time. He grew up estranged from her and his two older half-brothers. Known as Wheeler, Dryden became an entertainer like his father. In 1915 he was touring
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and the
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as a
Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
comedian when his father first told him that the newly famous actor
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 ...
was his half-brother. At this point, Dryden (who adopted use of this as his surname) wrote several letters to Chaplin and his half-brother Sydney, but received no response from either of them. In 1917, he got in touch with Chaplin's lead actress,
Edna Purviance Olga Edna Purviance (; October 21, 1895 – January 13, 1958) was an American actress of the silent film era. She was the leading lady in many of Charlie Chaplin's early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with him ...
, who is thought to have convinced Chaplin to recognise Dryden as his half-brother. He joined the Chaplin brothers and their mother in America in 1918. After nearly two decades, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1936. Dryden entered the growing film world as an actor, and later worked as a director. He appeared in
Stan Laurel Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...
's '' Mud and Sand'' and was the "other man" in the melodrama, ''False Women''. In 1928, he directed
Syd 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 ...
in '' A Little Bit of Fluff.'' He also played Plimsoll in the 1928 – 1929
Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...
play, '' Wings Over Europe''. Later, he worked at the Chaplin Studios as Charlie's assistant director on ''
The Great Dictator ''The Great Dictator'' is a 1940 American political satire black comedy film written, directed, produced by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. Having been the only Hollywood filmmaker to continue to make silent films well into the period of sound f ...
'' and ''
Monsieur Verdoux ''Monsieur Verdoux'' is a 1947 American black comedy film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, who plays a bigamist wife killer inspired by serial killer Henri Désiré Landru. The supporting cast includes Martha Raye, William Frawley, and ...
''. He also appears in the supporting roles of a doctor and a clown in Chaplin's last American film, ''
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'' (1952). After Charlie Chaplin left America for
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in 1952, Dryden managed the winding down of Chaplin's Hollywood business affairs until 1954, when the studio was sold. In his final years, he suffered from mental illness and reclusiveness. His difficulties were exacerbated by aggressive
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inquiries into his brother's politics, during the period of increasing anti-Communist actions by government and Hollywood studios in the US. Dryden died in
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in 1957.


Family

In 1938 Dryden married Alice Chapple (1911–2005), a prima ballerina of the Radio City Music Hall dancers. They had a son Spencer Dryden before they divorced in 1943. Dryden took his son to Los Angeles jazz clubs during the 1950s, which inspired his musical ambitions as a jazz and rock drummer. Spencer became a musician and played with
Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...
,
New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred to ...
, and other bands; he was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
in 1996.


Selected filmography


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dryden, Wheeler 1892 births 1957 deaths English male film actors American male film actors English film directors Film directors from Los Angeles People from Brixton Chaplin family Male actors from London 20th-century English male actors 20th-century American male actors Naturalized citizens of the United States English people of Irish descent American people of English descent American people of Irish descent English emigrants to the United States