Sydney Chaplin

For Sydney Chaplin's nephew, son of Charlie Chaplin, see Sydney Earle Chaplin

Sydney Chaplin
Sydney Chaplin
Born	Sidney John Hawkes March 16, 1885(1885-03-16) Cape Town, South Africa
Died	April 16, 1965 (aged 80) Nice, France
Spouse(s)	Minnie (d.1936) Henriette (Gypsy)

Sydney Chaplin (March 16, 1885 – April 16, 1965), born as Sidney John Hawkes, was the elder half-brother of Sir Charlie Chaplin and the half-uncle of the actor Sydney Earle Chaplin (1926-2009), who was named after him.

Early life

Chaplin was born in Cape Town, South Africa, where his parents were working temporarily. His mother was a music hall entertainer Hannah Hill and his father was Sydney Hawkes.^[1] There is no record of his parents being married and he began using the Chaplin surname following his mother's marriage to Charles Chaplin Sr., a year after his birth. While Syd and brother Charlie were in the Hanwell Schools, following his mother's mental demise, Syd was placed in the program designed to train young boys to become seaman, on the Exmouth training ship docked at Grays, Essex. He followed this training period with several years working on ships, receiving high marks from all of his employers. But his ambition was to get into the entertainment business and he left his final voyage with that in mind.

Charlie and Sydney worked briefly together in one of their first stage appearances, the play Sherlock Holmes in 1905. Syd was briefly cast as a villain in that play. In 1906, however, he landed a contract with Fred Karno, of Karno's London Comedians and was to fight hard to bring Charlie into the company two years later. Charlie never achieved the sort of fame Syd did as a principal comedian for that company, but that was to be the only time that Syd was able to outdo his brother—at least in front of an audience.

Career

As Charlie was negotiating his Keystone contract, he suggested Sydney be asked to join the company. Syd and Minnie Chaplin arrived in California, then, in October 1914 and he made a few comedies there, including the "Gussle" comedies and the feature-length A Submarine Pirate in 1915, which, second to Tillie's Punctured Romance, was the most financially successful comedy Keystone ever made.

Following this success, Syd decided to leave the screen to negotiate Charlie's Mutual contract. He was able to get Charlie his first million dollars in early 1916. Soon, he was handling the majority of Charlie's business affairs, including a failed sheet music business and a successful merchandising one, in addition to further contract negotiation. He also appeared in a few films during the First National era, such as Pay Day and The Pilgrim. Syd achieved his own million-dollar contract from Famous Players Lasky in 1919, but a series of problems resulted in only one failed film, King, Queen, Joker, and disappearance from the screen once again. Later films include The Perfect Flapper (1924) with Colleen Moore, A Christie Comedy, Charley's Aunt (1925) and five features for Warner Brothers, including The Man on the Box (1925), Oh, What a Nurse! (1926), The Missing Link (1927), The Fortune Hunter (1927), and The Better 'Ole (1926). The last is perhaps his most well-known film today because of his characterization of cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather's famous World War I character, Old Bill.

His film career ended in 1929 with a controversy on the set of Mumming Birds, which would have been his second feature for British International Pictures (Elstree Studios). His first film for that organization, released in 1928, A Little Bit of Fluff, proved to be his last ever film. In 1929, just before filming The Mumming Birds, Sydney Chaplin was involved in a sex scandal with actress Molly Wright in which he was accused of biting off her nipple in a sexual assault.^[2] International Pictures settled out of court, conceding the truth of Wright's claims.^[2] Following the scandal, he left England, leaving a string of unpaid tax demands.^[2] By 1930 he was declared bankrupt and never made another feature film. ^[2]

Personal life

In addition to his importance in launching and promoting brother Charlie's career over the years, perhaps Syd's most important contribution to history is in the field of aviation. In May 1919, he, along with pilot Emery Rogers, formulated the first privately owned domestic American airline, The Syd Chaplin Airline, Co., based in Santa Monica, California. Even though the corporation lasted only a year, in that time it accumulated many "firsts." Syd and partners had the first ever airplane showroom for their Curtiss airplanes. Emery Rogers conducted the first roundtrip Los Angeles to San Francisco flight in one 24-hour period. Charlie Chaplin took his first-ever airplane ride in one of Syd's planes, as did many other notable personages of the period. Syd Chaplin got out of the aviation business right after legislation began to pass regarding pilot licensing and the taxation of planes and flights.

Sydney Chaplin married twice and had no children. His first wife, Minnie, died in France in September 1936 following surgery for breast cancer.^[2] After World War II, Sydney lived most of his final years in Europe. His second wife, Henriette (called Gypsy) survived him. He died on April 16, 1965 in Nice, France. His death occurred on his brother Charlie's 76th birthday.

Syd is buried beside his wife Gypsy in Clarens-Montreux Cemetery, near Vevey.

References

External links

• Official Syd Chaplin site
• Sydney Chaplin at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography of Sydney Chaplin
• Sydney Chaplin: Charlie Chaplin's Brother