Hannah Chaplin
Hannah Chaplin (August 11, 1865 – August 28, 1928) was an English stage and musical actress and the founding matriarch of the Chaplin family of actors as the mother of Sir Charlie Chaplin.
Life and career
Hannah Chaplin was born Hannah Harriet Pedlingham Hill in Camden Street, Walworth, London, to Charles Frederick Hill and Mary Ann Terry. Some of her family had come from Ireland. She became a Music Hall entertainer and used the stage name Lily Harley.
On 16 March 1885, aged 19, she gave birth to the first of her three boys, Sydney John Hill, later Sydney Chaplin. His father is unknown, but Hannah claimed he was a bookmaker named Sydney Hawkes. Three months after his birth, on June 22, she married Charles Chaplin. Their son Charles Spencer ("Charlie") Chaplin was born in April 1889.
She gave birth to George Wheeler Dryden on 31 August 1892 in London, the son of music hall entertainer Leo Dryden and the future father of Jefferson Airplane musician Spencer Dryden. George was therefore the half-brother of Charles and Sydney Chaplin. As a result of her adulterous relationship with Dryden, Hannah and Charles Chaplin, Sr. separated soon after George's birth. Hannah became responsible for taking care of Charlie and his older brother Sydney, as George went to live with his father.
Podcasts:
