Charles Chaplin Sr.

Charles Spencer Chaplin Sr. (18 March 1863 – 9 May 1901) was an English music hall entertainer. He achieved considerable success in the 1890s, and was the father of the actor and filmmaker Sir Charlie Chaplin. Early years Chaplin was born on 18 March 1863 in Marylebone, London. He was the third child of Spencer Chaplin (1834/5–1897) and Ellen Elizabeth Smith (1838–1873); his siblings were Spencer William Tunstle (1855–1900), Ellen Kate (1864–1919), Blanche (1867–99), Albert Frederick (1869–1939) and Harry (born 1871). Chaplin's father was a butcher, and he had a working-class upbringing. Little is known about Chaplin's early life, although the 1871 and 1881 censuses show his parents and family were living in Rillington Place in Notting Hill, the street in which the murderer John Christie later lived. In June 1885, aged 22, he married 19-year-old Hannah Hill, who had been his "sweetheart" three years earlier when they starred in the same play. Hannah had a 3-month-old son, Sydney John, who was given Chaplin's surname. On 16 April 1889, Chaplin's biological son and namesake, Charles Spencer Jr. (known as Charlie), was born. Chaplin and Hannah separated by 1891, and remained legally married until his death. Music hall