Michael Chaplin

Michael John Chaplin (born 7 March 1946) is an American actor born in Santa Monica, California. He is the second child and eldest son from Charlie Chaplin's fourth and final marriage, to Oona O'Neill. He was married firstly to the writer Patrice Chaplin, with whom he has two sons. He married secondly Patricia Betaudier, a painter and the daughter of Trinidian painter Patrick Betaudier. He has four children with his second wife, including actresses Carmen Chaplin and Dolores Chaplin. In the mid-1960s Chaplin signed a book contract with British publisher Leslie Frewin to publish his autobiography I Couldn't Smoke The Grass On My Father's Lawn, which was ghostwritten with Tom Merrin and Charles Hamblett. Prior to the book's release Chaplin filed an injunction against the book prior to its publication in the hopes of keeping it from releasing, arguing that the work would have a detrimental effect on himself and his family. This injunction was ultimately set aside by judges for the Court of Appeal, who argued that Chaplin's contract was binding because he stood to gain from the work's publication, as it launched his writing career.