Birth Name: Geraldine Leigh Chaplin
Place of Birth: Santa Monica, California, United States
Date of Birth: July 31, 1944
Ethnicity: English, Irish, 1/16th Scottish
Geraldine Chaplin is an American-born British actress. She is the daughter of actress Oona Chaplin (born Oona O’Neill) and actor Charlie Chaplin (born Charles Spencer Chaplin). Her daughter is actress Oona Chaplin, and among her nieces and nephews are actresses/actors Carmen Chaplin, Kiera Chaplin, Orson Chaplin, and circus performer and actor James Thiérrée. Her half-brother was actor Sydney Chaplin.
Geraldine’s paternal grandfather was Charles Chaplin, a singer (the son of Spencer Chaplin and Ellen Elizabeth Smith). Spencer was the son of Shadrach Chaplin and Sophia Hancock. Ellen was the daughter of William Smith and Emma Bristo.
Geraldine’s paternal grandmother was Hannah Harriet Hill, an actress and singer (the daughter of Charles Frederick Hill and Mary Ann Terry). Charles was the son of John Hill. Mary was the daughter of John Terry and Mary Ann Lake. It appears that both John Hill and John Terry were born in Ireland.
Geraldine’s maternal grandfather was Eugene O’Neill, a playwright (born Eugene Gladstone O’Neill, the son of actor James O’Neill and Mary Ellen “Ella” Quinlan). Eugene was born in New York City, New York. James was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, to Edmond O’Neill and Mary Ann Neill. Mary was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Irish parents, Thomas Joseph Quinlan and Bridget Lundigan.
Geraldine’s maternal grandmother was Agnes Boulton, a writer (born Agnes Ruby Boulton, the daughter of Edward William Boulton, an artist, and of Cecil/Cecille Maud/Maude Williams). Agnes was born in London, England. Edward was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to an English father, Edward W. Boulton, and an American mother of Scottish descent, Barbara Elizabeth Stevenson. Cecil was the daughter of Robert M. Williams and Florence Emily Harper.
Charlie is often stated to have had some degree of Romani (Gypsy) ancestry. It does not appear that this ancestral claim has ever been documented/verified. Charlie was sometimes believed to have been Jewish (especially during his lifetime), but his parents were not of Jewish heritage.
Sources: Genealogies of Geraldine Chaplin – https://www.geni.com/
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
Genealogy of Geraldine’s father – http://www.wargs.com/other/chaplin.html
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