Hannah Chaplin
Hannah Chaplin (born August 6, 1865 in London , † August 28, 1928 in Hollywood , California ; born Hannah Harriet Hill ; widowed Hannah Pedlingham ) was a British dancer and singer . Today, however, she is best known as the mother of Charles Chaplin .
Marriages and children
In 1885 Hannah had their first son, Sydney John Hill , presumably from an illegitimate relationship with a Jewish bookmaker. She met the entertainer Charles Chaplin (1863-1901), whom she married in 1885. She was accepted as a singer in the ensemble of the London Music Hall , where she performed alongside her husband under the stage name Lily Harley . Their son Charles Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 .
Hannah and Charles Chaplin separated in 1891 when Hannah became pregnant by artist Leo Dryden. However, Chaplin Sr. and Hannah remained formally married until his death in 1901. The son Wheeler (1892–1957) was born, but Leo Dryden took his son Wheeler Hannah away as a baby and raised him himself. Sydney and Charles did not find out about their half-brother until the 1910s.
illness
During Charlie and Sydney's youth, Hannah Chaplin developed syphilis and suffered from severe depression . She was very often in psychiatric treatment. In 1895 she was first admitted to the psychiatric department of Lambeth Hospital under the name Lilian Chaplin . Almost a year later she was back on stage, but was hospitalized again in May 1896. Her two sons had to go to the poor house. Charlie and Sydney grew up mostly in homes and boarding schools . From 1898 Sydney fled to sea and hired first on a training ship and then on various passenger ships as a steward.
On May 9, 1903, Hannah Chaplin was again classified as insane and admitted to the closed ward of the Cane Hill Mental Hospital. In 1904 she was temporarily released and accompanied her son Charlie on his tour of England. In 1905 she was back in Cane Hill. Her sons had her transferred to the privately owned Peckham House Hospital, where she stayed for nearly a decade. However, it could never be cured. In 1921, her sons brought her to the United States . Charlie bought her a house in Hollywood and organized nursing staff for her. She died there in 1928 at the age of 63.
"She died without ever knowing that the world's greatest comedian was her son," noted Mary Pickford .
Hannah Chaplin in films
Charlie Chaplin named the lead female role in His Mother's Great Dictator in honor of Hannah. In the autobiographical film Chaplin , the role of Hannah Chaplin is played by her granddaughter Geraldine Chaplin .
literature
- David Robinson: Chaplin. His life, his art . Diogenes, Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-257-22571-7 .
Web links
- Hannah Chaplin in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ The Music of Charlie Chaplin
- ^ Mary Pickford: Sunshine and Shadow. New York, 1955, OCLC 330753 , p. 233
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Chaplin, Hannah |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hill, Hannah Harriet (maiden name); Pedlingham, Hannah |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British dancer and singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 6, 1865 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 28, 1928 |
| Place of death | Hollywood , California |