Lita Grey

Lita Grey began working for Charles Chaplin at his Hollywood studio when she was 12, doing bit parts in a couple of his movies. Three years later, at 15, she met him again and became pregnant by him; they married in 1924 when she was 16 and he was 35. They had two sons before their three-year marriage ended in a bitter divorce. Ms.

As part of her divorce from Charles Chaplin, she received $600,000, the largest cash settlement ever in an American divorce up to that time (the decree was granted on August 22, 1927). Chaplin was also ordered to establish $100,000 trust funds for their sons 'Charles Chaplin Jr.' and Sydney Chaplin. Lita's petition included a 52-page complaint against Charlie, listing his sexual peccadilloes. He settled after she threatened to name five "prominent women" with whom he had been sexually involved while married to Grey.

Despite marrying three more times after her divorce from Charlie Chaplin, Lita kept the name "Lita Grey Chaplin" throughout her life, as she had established herself professionally under that name, with nearly a decade of work on the Radio-Keith-Orpheum vaudeville circuit starting in 1928, the public knew her by that name. Furthermore, "Lita Grey Chaplin" retained a name connection to her sons with Chaplin: Charles Chaplin, Jr. and Sydney Chaplin.

In 1932, she lost a two-month-long court battle with ex-husband Charles Chaplin to prevent her from starring with their two sons, seven-year-old Charles Chaplin Jr., and six-year-old Sydney Chaplin, in a proposed movie, "The Little Teacher." While Charlie was away on a foreign trip, Lita Grey signed a contract with director David Butler to co-star in the film with the Chaplin boys. Upon returning to the U.S., Chaplin filed suit against her on August 25th, on the grounds that he wanted his boys to lead a normal life. Chaplin's own boyhood had been disrupted by work. On October 26th, the court ruled in Chaplin's favor. The film was never made.

Lita and Arthur Day adopted a baby boy in 1940 whom they named Robert. When they split up in 1946, Bobby went to live with his paternal grandmother and Lita had little contact with him after that.

Lita Grey Chaplin authorized the publication of two books: "My Life with Chaplin" (1966) and "Wife of the Life of the Party" (1998). Unhappy with the inaccuracies and distortions of the first book, Lita Grey Chaplin viewed "Wife of the Life of the Party" as the only authentic account of her life with Charlie Chaplin. "Wife of the Life of the Party" was co-written by her friend Jeffrey Vance and contained an affectionate foreword written by her son, Sydney Chaplin. The book's publication also received the support from the Chaplin family's Roy Export.

Son Charles Chaplin Jr., died of alcohol abuse in 1968.