Wife of the life of the party

by Lita Grey Chaplin

Wife of the Life of the Party is the memoir of the late Lita Grey Chaplin (1908-1995), the last surviving wife of Charles Chaplin and the only one of Chaplin's wives to have written an account of life with him. Born Lillita Louise MacMurray in Hollywood, she began her career at age twelve with the Charlie Chaplin Film Company, when Chaplin selected her to appear with him as the flirting angel in The Kid. When she was fifteen, Chaplin signed her as the leading lady in The Gold Rush and changed her name to Lita Grey. She was forced to leave the production when, at the age of sixteen, she became pregnant with Chaplin's child. She married Chaplin in Empalme, Mexico, in November 1924. The Chaplins were to stay together for two years. Lita bore Chaplin two sons: Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sydney Chaplin. In November 1926, after she discovered that Chaplin was having an affair with Merna Kennedy (Lita's best friend, whom she had persuaded Chaplin to hire as the leading lady in The Circus), Lita