What was the name of Charlie Chaplin's first wife?
When he was 29 years old, Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) married Mildred Harris (1902-1944), a 16-year-old film star who claimed to be pregnant with his child. The pregnancy turned out to be a false alarm, but Harris soon fell pregnant shortly after their marriage in September 1918. She gave birth to a boy, Norman Spencer, on 7th July 1919, who sadly passed away three days later. Losing their child put an irreparable rift between Chaplin and Harris, so they divorced in April 1920.
The death of his son greatly affected Chaplin and may have inspired his next film, 'The Kid'. With four-year-old Jackie Coogan (1914-84) as his co-star, Chaplin played his iconic character, the Tramp, who discovered an abandoned baby in an alleyway and raised it as his child. Lasting 68-minutes, 'The Kid' was Chaplin’s first film to last more than an hour. It took nine months to produce and became an instant hit after its release in 1921.
Rising to fame in the silent film era, Charlie Chaplin became a worldwide icon for his performances in many films. Throughout his 75 year career, Chaplin also wrote, directed, produced, and composed the music for his productions. Best known for starring as the Tramp, Chaplin remains a firm favourite among many generations.