The Forgotten Charlie Chaplin Scandal That Changed Paternity Laws In America Forever

What do you know about Charlie Chaplin? You’ve probably seen him clowning around on the screen, raising laughs as his classic Tramp character. But while no one can deny Chaplin was a hugely talented performer, he wasn’t exactly an angel when the cameras stopped rolling. One of his scandals was so thorny, in fact, that it actually ended up changing the law.

Wife number one

You may have an inkling that Chaplin preferred younger women, but the details are still pretty shocking. He was almost in his thirties, you see, when he married his first wife, 17-year-old Mildred Harris. And he may not have even wed her in the first place if she wasn’t convinced she was pregnant.

The first divorce

Needless to say, the marriage was over pretty quickly. After just a couple of years, Harris filed for divorce, and all the sordid details of the relationship were dragged through the press. She claimed that Chaplin had been cruel to her, having “humiliated [her] before the servants.” And while she ultimately won a large sum of money from her ex-husband, it wasn’t enough to save her.

Harris’ death

Being estranged from her famous husband didn’t help Harris at all. Her acting career went on a downward spiral without the Chaplin link to help secure roles, and she reportedly went bankrupt. There was no redemption arc for her, either. Sadly, she would eventually pass away from pneumonia at the age of just 42.

Wife number two

Chaplin’s second wife was also a teenager. He’d first encountered the 16-year-old Lita Grey while filming The Gold Rush. And, yes, the marriage both began and ended very badly. Chaplin wed her purely because he had gotten her pregnant. Grey’s mother had claimed she would tell the police about Chaplin’s misbehavior if he didn’t make an honest woman of her girl.