Geraldine Chaplin is a well-known American actress who has appeared in a number of critically praised films in English, French, and Spanish. She was able to carve out a name for herself as a prolific performer despite growing up in the shadow of her father, famed actor and director Charlie Chaplin. She has acted in a lot of serious roles over the years, in contrast to her father’s comedic flicks. For her first significant part in David Lean’s drama ‘Doctor Zhivago,’ she received her first ‘Golden Globe’ nomination. She subsequently began a long-term partnership with her future husband, Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura, and created a number of successful films, including ‘Ana and the Wolves,’ ‘Cra cuervos,’ ‘Elisa, Vida má,’ and ‘Mamá cumple Cien as.’ She’s been nominated for two additional ‘Golden Globes,’ for Robert Altman’s ‘Nashville,’ and the biopic ‘Chaplin,’ in which she played her own grandmother Hannah Chaplin. Her performance in Alan Rudolph’s film ‘Welcome to L.A.’ garnered her a BAFTA nomination, while her performance in ‘En la Ciudad sin lmites’ earned her a Goya Award. She just won a number of prizes for her role in the film ‘Dólares de Arena.’
Childhood and Adolescence
Charlie Chaplin’s fourth wife, Oona O’Neill, gave birth to Geraldine Leigh Chaplin on July 31, 1944, in Santa Monica, California. She has seven younger siblings and is the fourth child of her father and the first of her mother.
She is the granddaughter of English vocalists Charles Chaplin, Sr., and Hannah Chaplin on her father’s side. She is the granddaughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright Eugene O’Neill and British writer Agnes Boulton on her mother’s side.
She was born and raised in Hollywood until she was eight years old when her father decided to flee the country to avoid being persecuted by the US government because of his political beliefs.
The family took a vacation to the United Kingdom and Europe before settling in a home on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
She has wonderful recollections of growing up in the Chaplin household with her seven brothers and sisters, which she describes as a happy place for youngsters. They spent the entire day together, playing, laughing, and singing, and their parents did not intervene.
Her father, who was strict about discipline, sent her to a convent school in Switzerland when she was ten years old, where she learned to speak fluent French and Spanish.
She dropped out of college in 1961 to pursue her passion for dance and enrolled in a two-year ballet school at the Royal Ballet School in London.
The Career of Geraldine
Geraldine Chaplin began her career as a professional dancer, spending a year in Paris. She made her debut in the ballet ‘Cinderella,’ in which she played two one-minute roles.
Despite her ability to dance, she was dissatisfied and concluded that she would never be able to succeed in the art because she did not begin training at a young age. After a period of unemployment, she was approached by a photographer friend who offered her a fashion modeling job.
During this time, acclaimed English film director and producer David Lean spotted her and put her in the role of Tonya, the protagonist’s wife, in his 1965 epic drama ‘Doctor Zhivago.’
While she conceded that her name may have helped her land the job, she proved her acting chops and was nominated for a ‘Golden Globe Award’ in the category of ‘Most Promising Female Newcomer.’
Two years later, in 1967, she made her Broadway debut in Lillian Hellman’s ‘The Little Foxes.’ Clive Barnes, a writer and reviewer for the ‘New York Times,’ praised her for her stunning performance once again.
She also starred in the psychological thriller ‘Peppermint Frappé’ with Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura in 1967. The picture was one of Saura’s earliest commercial successes, and it marked the start of a series of noteworthy collaborations with him.
In the years that followed, she appeared in a number of Carlos Saura films, including ‘Stress-es tres-tres’ (1968), ‘La madriguera’ (1969), and ‘El Jardin de las Delicias (1970). ‘The Hawaiians,’ a 1970 American historical picture starring Charlton Heston and Tina Chen, featured her in a key part.
She appeared in the French comedy picture ‘Perched on a Tree’ (1971), the spy thriller ‘Innocent Bystanders’ (1972), and the Spanish drama ‘A House Without Boundaries’ (1973). (1972). For her role in the 1972 Danish-American dystopian science fiction picture ‘Z.P.G.,’ she earned the ‘Best Actress prize at the ‘Sitges Film Festival.’
She played Anne of Austria in Alexandre Dumas’ ‘The Three Musketeers in the 1973 film version, and she reprised the role in the 1975 sequel, ‘The Four Musketeers.’
In 1976, she was nominated for her second ‘Golden Globe Award,’ this time for ‘Best Supporting Actress,’ for her performance as the abrasive BBC reporter Opal in Robert Altman’s film ‘Nashville.’
She appeared in the films ‘Ana and the Wolves’ (1973), ‘Cra cuervos’ (1976), ‘Elisa, vida má’ (1977), and ‘Mamá cumple cien aos’ with Carlos Saura (1979).
She frequently co-wrote the scripts for the films, and her performance in ‘Cra Cuervo’s garnered her a ‘Special Jury Prize Award’ at the 1976 ‘Cannes Film Festival.’
Robert Altman went on to become one of the most well-known American filmmakers, usually casting her in his films. She played Annie Oakley, an American sniper, in the 1976 film ‘Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson,’ and she also appeared in the 1977 films ‘Roseland’ and ‘A Wedding’ (1978).
She was nominated for a BAFTA for her performance in the 1976 film ‘Welcome to L.A.,’ directed by Alan Rudolph and produced by Robert Altman. She earned ‘Best Actress’ honors at the ‘Miami International Film Festival’ and ‘Paris Film Festival’ for her role in another Altman film, ‘Remember My Name,’ in 1978.
She appeared in a number of French-language films at the start of the next decade, including ‘Les Uns et Les Autres’ (1981), ‘Life Is a Bed of Roses’ (1983), and ‘Love on the Ground’ (1984).
She eventually returned to Hollywood, appearing in films such as “The Moderns” (1988) and “I Want to Go Home” (1989), as well as reprising her role as Queen Anne in “The Return of the Musketeers” (1989).
She made her acting debut in Rebecca Horn’s independent German comedy film ‘Buster’s Bedroom’ in 1990. In the 1992 biographical picture ‘Chaplin,’ she played her own grandmother Hannah Chaplin, for which she won her third ‘Golden Globe’ nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actress.’
Martin Scorsese, the legendary director, cast her in his love period film ‘The Age of Innocence’ in 1993. She starred in the Irish drama film ‘Words Upon the Window Pane’ the following year.
In 1996, she was cast in Franco Zeffirelli’s film adaptation of Jane Eyre, and she also participated in the television miniseries ‘Gulliver’s Travels.’ She played Mother Teresa in the 1997 film ‘Mother Teresa: In the Name of God’s Poor,’ based on her experience at a convent school.
In the 2000s, she starred in several Spanish films, notably the Spanish-Argentine thriller ‘En la Ciudad sin lmites’ (‘In the City Without Limits,’ 2002), for which she received a ‘Goya Award.’ In 2007, she was nominated for another ‘Goya Award’ for her performance in José Antonio Bayona’s ‘The Orphanage.’
She appeared in ‘The Bridge of San Luis Rey,’ a 2004 film adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s novel of the same name, as part of the ensemble cast.
In 2005, she starred in the German-American fantasy action horror film ‘BloodRayne,’ and the following year, she appeared in an episode of ‘Agatha Christie’s Marple.’
She co-starred with her daughter Oona in the 2009 film ‘Imago Mortis,’ in which she performed the major role. In 2010, she starred in a variety of films, including ‘The Wolfman,’ a remake of the 1941 film of the same name, ‘The Trick in the Sheet,’ an Italian romantic comedy, and ‘The Mosquito Net.’ At the ‘Karlovy Vary International Film Festival,’ the last one got a ‘Crystal Globe Award.’
She starred alongside her daughter Oona in the Spanish eco-comedy film ‘Para qué sirve un Oso?’ in 2011, for which she received the ‘Best Supporting Actress award at the ‘Málaga Spanish Film Festival.’ For her part in the 2014 film ‘Sand Dollars,’ she earned the ‘Best Actress Award’ at the ‘Havana Film Festival.’
Following a long hiatus, she reunited with director J. A. Bayona in the 2012 film ‘The Impossible.’ She worked with him again in the dark fantasy thriller ‘A Monster Calls’ in 2016, and she is set to star in the director’s upcoming film, ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.’
Geraldine’s Major Projects
Geraldine Chaplin’s first major appearance as Tonya in David Lean’s ‘Doctor Zhivago’ wowed reviewers. Opal in ‘Nashville,’ Hannah Chaplin in ‘Chaplin,’ and Mother Teresa in ‘Mother Teresa: In the Name of God’s Poor,’ are just a few of her later notable performances.
‘Dólares de Arena’ (Sand Dollars), a Dominican drama film released in 2014, was one of her most notable recent performances, earning her honors and plaudits around the world.
The film was exhibited at the 2014 ‘Toronto International Film Festival’ and was the Dominican entry for the 88th ‘Academy Awards’ in the category of ‘Best Foreign Language Film.’
Achievements & Awards
Geraldine Chaplin has had three Golden Globe nominations, the first for the ‘Most Promising Newcomer award in 1965 for ‘Doctor Zhivago.’ It was followed by two ‘Best Supporting Actress’ wins, one in 1976 for ‘Nashville,’ and the other in 1993 for ‘Chaplin.’
She has won numerous honors and nominations for her work in English, Spanish, and French language films, including a Goya Award, a Silver Hugo Award, and awards from the Nashville Film Festival and the Havana Film Festival. She was also nominated for a BAFTA for ‘Welcome to L.A.’ in the category of ‘Best Supporting Actress.’
Personal History and Legacy
Geraldine Chaplin began dating Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura in 1967 after fruitful professional cooperation. Following the birth of their sole kid, the couple separated after 14 years of marriage, when he left her and married their 17-year-old babysitter.
Shane Saura Chaplin, her son with Saura, was born in 1976. Her baby was threatened in 1978 as a result of an extortion plot by kidnappers who stole Charles Chaplin’s body while his grave was opened after her mother’s death to bury them together.
She then had a long-term relationship with Patricio Castilla, a Chilean cinematographer, with whom she had a daughter named Oona Chaplin in 1986. Later, in 2006, the two married. Her daughter followed in her footsteps and became an actor as well.
Castilla gave up cinematography after the birth of their baby in order to support Geraldine’s acting career. He and Oona frequently followed the actress on her international shoots, which took them all over the world.
She eventually moved to Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, near Lake Geneva, with her family, where she grew up at her father’s mansion. She also has a residence in Miami, Florida.
Estimated Net worth
Geraldine Chaplin is an American actress who has a net worth of $20 million. Geraldine Chaplin was born in 1944 in Santa Monica, California, to Oona O’Neil and Charlie Chaplin. She is well remembered for her part in “Doctor Zhivago.” Chaplin grew up in Switzerland as Charlie Chaplin’s fourth kid.
Trivia
Geraldine Chaplin, who grew up under a lot of strain as the daughter of Charles Chaplin, said in an interview that she would not change her surname because she is proud of it. Furthermore, by the time she reached the age of twenty, everyone knew who she was, so changing her surname was meaningless.
She believes that her facial features easily reveal her identity: she looks a lot like her mother from the forehead to the nose and her father from the nose to the chin.
She also has three beauty spots, one above her mouth, one below her right eye, and one below her left eye, forming a triangle.
Her first film appearance was in her father’s 1952 film, ‘Limelight,’ in which she played a street urchin.
In 1966, she appeared in another of her father’s films, ‘A Countess from Hong Kong,’ in a dance sequence with him.