Unveiling Charlie Chaplin’s Romantic Life with Four Young Women [+Photos]

According to Saed News’ society service, citing FaraDide, Charlie Chaplin married four times, with two of his wives being just 16 years old at the time of marriage. Mildred Harris married 29-year-old Chaplin at age 16, and Lita Grey became Chaplin’s wife at 16 when he was 35.

When Chaplin married Paulette Goddard at 47, she was 26. His fourth marriage, to Oona O’Neill, occurred when Chaplin was 53 and O’Neill was 18.

Michael Chaplin, now 77, the second child and eldest son from Chaplin’s fourth marriage, currently living in France, told The Guardian in a recent interview that he does not defend his father’s controversial marriages. However, he emphasized that Chaplin never broke the law.

Michael also said, “Jerry Lee Lewis, the rock singer, married a 13-year-old girl and got into trouble. My father did not face legal issues because his wives were slightly older.”

He added, “I don’t want to defend my father, but I don’t think he was the kind of man who used women purely for sex. He fell in love with many young women, but he never forced them into sexual relationships.”

Chaplin’s marriage to Michael’s mother, Oona O’Neill, 34, lasted from 1943 until Chaplin’s death in 1977.

Here’s a closer look at Charlie Chaplin’s most controversial marriages:

Marriage to Mildred Harris (16) at Age 29
Teen actress Mildred Harris, 16, became infatuated with Chaplin after meeting him at a party in 1918. Chaplin, 29 at the time and one of Hollywood’s wealthiest stars, was equally smitten. He sent roses to her hotel and waited outside the studio where she worked.

However, when Mildred told Chaplin she was pregnant, he panicked, as fatherhood was far from his plans. Still, he knew he had to avoid a scandal. They quietly married at a local justice of the peace, and Chaplin took her to a rented house.

Soon it became clear that Mildred was not pregnant, either due to a misdiagnosis or deception to compel Chaplin into marriage. This suspicion made married life difficult for Chaplin, who knew he did not love her. He provided her with a chauffeur, servants, and access to his bank account, but remained irritable and short-tempered.

Mildred later became pregnant and endured a difficult term, including a nervous breakdown and hospitalization. Chaplin’s multiple affairs worsened her situation. In 1919, their son Norman was born but tragically died three days later due to intestinal issues. Chaplin mourned briefly before relocating to Los Angeles.

In 1920, Mildred filed for divorce, eventually receiving $100,000 and a share of Chaplin’s house. Chaplin later said that his marriage to Mildred stifled his creativity and made filmmaking difficult.

Marriage to Lita Grey (16) at Age 35
By 1920, Chaplin was at the peak of his fame. He met Lita Grey, then 12, during the production of The Kid, encouraging her to pursue acting. Renaming her Lita Grey, Chaplin allegedly initiated a sexual relationship when she was 15 and he was 35—an act that could have led to statutory rape charges.

When Lita announced her pregnancy, her mother threatened to involve the police, forcing Chaplin into another secret marriage in 1924 when Lita was 16. The couple had two sons, Charles Jr. and Sydney Earl, but divorced after three years amid allegations from Lita of rape, coercion, and manipulation. Chaplin paid $800,000 in what was then Hollywood’s most expensive divorce settlement.

Marriage to Paulette Goddard (26) at Age 47
Chaplin’s third wife, Paulette Goddard, a former child model and actress who appeared in The Great Dictator, married Chaplin in 1936. Paulette soon moved into Chaplin’s mansion and starred in his film Modern Times. Despite their marriage ending after six years in 1942, sources indicate it ended amicably.

Marriage to Oona O’Neill (18) at Age 53
Chaplin married his fourth and final wife, Oona O’Neill, a year after separating from Paulette. They remained married until Chaplin’s death in 1977 and had eight children together. When they married in 1943, Chaplin was 53 and Oona 18. They had met a year earlier while Chaplin sought a young actress for his film.

Geraldine Chaplin, their daughter, said: “My mother was very young, only 17, when she met him, and he was 52. They fell deeply in love, and when my mother turned 18, they married. Everyone thought it was a fleeting infatuation, but they were madly in love.”

The couple’s children are Geraldine, Michael, Josephine, Victoria, Eugene, Jane, Ann, and Christopher.