Born: July 31, 1944
Age: 80
Birthplace: Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born 31 July 1944) is an American-born British actress and the daughter of Charlie Chaplin and Oona O'Neill.
She came to prominence for her Golden Globe-nominated role of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago (1965). She received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville (1975). She also appeared in his other pictures, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) and A Wedding (1978). She received a BAFTA nomination for her role in Welcome to L.A. (1976). She then appeared in Roseland (1977) and Remember My Name (1978). She played her grandmother Hannah Chaplin in the biopic, Chaplin (1992) for which she received her third Golden Globe nomination. She also appeared in The Age of Innocence (1993), Jane Eyre (1996), Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor (1997) and The Wolfman (2010).
Chaplin has also appeared in several Spanish and French films. She starred in Claude Lelouch's Les Uns et les Autres (1981), the Alain Resnais comedy, Life Is a Bed of Roses (1983) and the Jacques Rivette experimental film, Love on the Ground (1984). She has, arguably, enjoyed her greatest critical success collaborating with Carlos Saura: she starred in several notable films by the director, such as Ana and the Wolves (1973), Cría cuervos (1976), Elisa, vida mía (1977), and Mamá cumple cien años (1979). She collaborated with Pedro Almodóvar in Talk to Her (2002). She was awarded a Goya Award for her role in En la ciudad sin límites (2002) and was nominated again for The Orphanage (2007). Her contribution to Spanish cinema culminated in her being awarded the Gold medal by the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences in 2006.
Geraldine Chaplin was born in Santa Monica, California, the fourth child of filmmaker Charlie Chaplin. She was the first of his eight children with his fourth and last wife, Oona O'Neill. Her paternal grandparents were English singers Charles Chaplin, Sr. and Hannah Harriet Pedlingham Hill and her maternal grandparents were Nobel- and Pulitzer-Prize-winning American playwright Eugene O'Neill and English-born writer Agnes Boulton. When Geraldine was eight years old, the family moved to Switzerland, since her father was a victim of USΑ's anti-communist campaign, where she attended boarding school and became fluent in French and Spanish. In 1967 she began what would become a twelve-year relationship with Carlos Saura, who directed her in several films between 1967 and 1979.
In 1978 the Chaplin family were the victims of a failed extortion plot by kidnappers who had stolen the body of Charlie Chaplin. Geraldine negotiated with the kidnappers, who threatened to shoot her infant son in the knees. In addition to her home in Miami, she also lives alternately between Madrid and Switzerland.
When Chaplin was eight years old, she appeared uncredited in her father's film Limelight. She attended the Royal Ballet School but, when her dream of becoming a ballet dancer ended, she followed her father into the acting profession. David Lean chose her to play Tonya, the main character's wife, in his film Doctor Zhivago, (1965) for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. In an interview to publicise the film, she explained, "Because of my name, the right doors opened."
In 1967, she made her Broadway debut in Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. Her performance was praised by Clive Barnes in a review published in The New York Times. Barnes noted that Chaplin "acts with spirit and force," all the while "acting with a magnificently raw-voiced sincerity" in what was a performance of "surprising power."
In the same year, she also began what would become a significant collaboration when she starred in Spanish film director Carlos Saura's psychological thriller Peppermint Frappé (1967). She later starred in (and occasionally co-wrote scripts for) later Saura films such as Ana and the Wolves (1973), Cría cuervos (1976), Elisa, vida mía (1977) and Mamá cumple cien años (1979). Cría cuervos is regarded as their finest collaboration, winning the Special Jury Prize Award at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. Vincent Canby praised Chaplin's "superb" performance.
She starred alongside Charlton Heston in the American historical film The Hawaiians (1970) and in The Three Musketeers (1974), as well as the sequel a year later, The Four Musketeers. Chaplin was cast as the obnoxious BBC reporter Opal in Robert Altman's Nashville (1975), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She later starred in the Altman films Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) and A Wedding (1978).
In an interview with The New York Times in 1977, Chaplin cited that her career was going more successfully in Europe than in the United States. She complained that "I only seem to work with Altman here ... I don't have any offers in this country, none. Not even an interesting script to read. The only person who ever asks me is Altman - and James Ivory."
She starred in several films produced by Altman and directed by Alan Rudolph, with a BAFTA-nominated role in Welcome to L.A. (1976), in which she played a housewife addicted to cab rides. She received critical acclaim for her role in Remember My Name (1978), in which she played Anthony Perkins' murderous estranged wife. She also starred in Rudolph's 1920s set film The Moderns (1988). She has also starred in several French-language roles, including Jacques Rivette's Love on the Ground (1984) and the Alain Resnais films Life Is a Bed of Roses (1983) and I Want to Go Home (1989). In the biographical film about her father, Chaplin (1992), she played her grandmother Hannah Chaplin. For this part, she was nominated for another Golden Globe award. Following this film, she was directed by Martin Scorsese in The Age of Innocence (1993) and appeared in Franco Zeffirelli's version of Jane Eyre (1996)
Chaplin received a Goya Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Spanish-Argentine thriller In the City Without Limits (2001). Other notable Spanish films she appeared in include Pedro Almodóvar's Talk to Her (2002) and José Antonio Bayona's The Orphanage (2007), for which she received a Goya Award nomination. She also recently starred in the Catalan drama, The Mosquito Net (2010), for which she was awarded the Crystal Globe. In 2006 Chaplin was awarded the Gold medal by the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España for her contribution to cinema.
In Americano, she appeared with Salma Hayek, and featured with Jane Fonda in All Together (both 2011). She reunited with Juan Antonio Bayona for the film The Impossible (2012). For her role as an old lesbian in the Dominican Republic film Sand Dollars (2014), she received the Best Actress Award at the Havana Film Festival.
Year | Film | Role | Director, Country, Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1952 | Limelight | Little Girl in Opening Scene (uncredited) | Director: Charles Chaplin Country: USA |
1965 | Par un beau matin d'été (Crime on a Summer Morning) |
Zelda | Director: Jacques Deray Countries: France - Spain - Italy |
Doctor Zhivago | Tonya Gromeko | Director: David Lean; Countries: USA - Italy - UK Golden Globe Awards Nomination: New Star of the Year - Actress |
|
1966 | Andremo in città | Lenka | Director: Nelo Risi; Countries: Italy - Yugoslavia |
1967 | A Countess from Hong Kong | Girl at dance | Director: Charlie Chaplin; Country: UK |
Casino Royale | Keystone Kop (uncredited) | Directors: Ken Hughes, John Huston, Joseph McGrath, Robert Parrish, Richard Talmadge Countries: UK - USA |
|
J'ai tué Raspoutine (I Killed Rasputin) |
Mounia Golovine | Director: Robert Hossein Countries: France - Italy |
|
Stranger in the House | Angela Sawyer | Director: Pierre Rouve; Country: UK | |
Peppermint Frappé | Elena/Ana | Director: Carlos Saura; Country: Spain | |
1968 | Stress-es tres-tres (Stress Is Three) |
Teresa | Director: Carlos Saura Country: Spain |
1969 | La madriguera (Honeycomb) |
Teresa | Director: Carlos Saura; Country: Spain G. Chaplin also co-wrote the screenplay and contributed to the story. Film entered into the 19th Berlin International Film Festival |
1970 | The Hawaiians | Purity Hoxworth | Director: Tom Gries; Country: USA |
El jardín de las delicias (The Garden of Delights) |
Actress (uncredited) | Director: Carlos Saura Country: Spain |
|
1971 | Perched on a Tree | Mme Muller | (as Géraldine Chaplin) |
Carlos | Lisa | ||
1972 | Innocent Bystanders | Miriam Loman | |
Z.P.G. | Carol McNeil | Winner: Medalla Sitges en Plata del Ley: Best Actress | |
A House Without Boundaries | Actress | Film entered into the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival | |
1973 | Ana y los lobos | Ana | Director: Carlos Saura |
The Three Musketeers | Anna of Austria | Director: Richard Lester | |
Marriage a la Mode | Actress | ||
Yankee Dudler | Kate Elder | ||
1974 | The Four Musketeers | Queen Anne of Austria | Director: Richard Lester |
¿...Y el prójimo? | Luisa | ||
Sommerfuglene | Anne Zimmler | ||
1975 | Cría cuervos | Ana The Mother | Director: Carlos Saura Winner: Premios ACE: Best Actress Film received the Special Jury Prize Award at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. |
Nashville | Opal | Director: Robert Altman Golden Globe Awards Nomination:Best Supporting Actress |
|
1976 | Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson | Annie Oakley | Director: Robert Altman |
Welcome to L.A. | Karen Hood | Director: Alan Rudolph BAFTA Awards Nomination:Best Supporting Actress |
|
Scrim | Actress | ||
Noroît | Morag | by Jacques Rivette; episode from an intended four part series "Scenes from a Parallel Life" | |
1977 | Roseland | Marilyn | Director: James Ivory |
Elisa, vida mía | Elisa Santamaria/Elisa's Mother | Director: Carlos Saura | |
In Memoriam | Paulina Arevalo | Director: Enrique Brasó | |
1978 | Remember My Name | Emily | Director: Alan Rudolph Winner: Miami Film Festival: Best Actress Paris Film Festival: Best Actress |
A Wedding | Rita Billingsley | Director: Robert Altman | |
One Page of Love | Lise | ||
Blindfolded Eyes | Actress | Director: Carlos Saura | |
1979 | L'Adoption | Catherine | Director: Marc Grunebaum; Country: France |
Mama Turns 100 | Ana | Director: Carlos Saura | |
La viuda de Montiel | Adelaida | Entered into the 30th Berlin International Film Festival | |
Mais où et donc Ornicar | Isabelle | Director: Bertrand Van Effenterre | |
1980 | Le Voyage en douce | Lucie | Entered into the 30th Berlin International Film Festival |
The Mirror Crack'd | Ella Zielinsky | ||
1981 | Les Uns et les Autres | Suzan/Sara Glenn | Director: Claude Lelouch |
The House of Mirth | Lily Bart | Television film | |
1982 | Casting | Actress | |
1983 | Life Is a Bed of Roses | Nora Winkle | Director: Alain Resnais |
My Cousin Rachel | Contessa Rachel Sangalletti | Television miniseries | |
1984 | Love on the Ground | Charlotte | Director: Jacques Rivette |
1987 | White Mischief | Nina Soames | Director: Michael Radford |
1988 | The Moderns | Nathalie de Ville | Director: Alan Rudolph |
1989 | The Return of the Musketeers | Queen Anne | Director: Richard Lester |
I Want to Go Home | Terry Armstrong | Director: Alain Resnais | |
1990 | Gentille Alouette | Angela Duverger | |
The Children | Joyce Wheater | ||
1991 | Buster's Bedroom | Diana Daniels | Director: Rebecca Horn |
Duel of Hearts | Mrs. Miller | Television film | |
1992 | Chaplin | Hannah Chaplin | Director: Richard Attenborough Golden Globe Awards Nomination: Best Supporting Actress |
Hors Saison | Anarchist | by Daniel Schmid | |
1993 | A Foreign Field | Beverly | |
The Age of Innocence | Mrs. Welland | Director: Martin Scorsese | |
1994 | Words Upon the Window Pane | Miss McKenna | |
1995 | Para recibir el canto de los pájaros | Catherine | Director: Jorge Sanjinés; Country: Bolivia |
Home for the Holidays | Aunt Gladys | Director: Jodie Foster | |
1996 | Jane Eyre | Miss Scatcherd | Director: Franco Zeffirelli |
Gulliver's Travels | Empress Munodi | Television miniseries | |
Os Olhos da Ásia | Jane Powell | ||
Crimetime | Thelma | ||
1997 | Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor | Mother Teresa | |
1998 | Cousin Bette | Adeline Hulot | |
Finisterre, donde termina el mundo | Madre/Mother | ||
1999 | To Walk with Lions | Victoria Anrecelli | |
Beresina oder Die letzten Tage der Schweiz | Charlotte De | Director: Daniel Schmid | |
2000 | In the Beginning | Yocheved | Television film |
2001 | Just Run! | Madre | |
The Faces of the Moon | Joan Turner | ||
2002 | Dinotopia | Grandmother | Television miniseries |
En la ciudad sin límites | Marie | Goya Awards Best Supporting Actress |
|
Talk to Her | Katerina Bilova | Director: Pedro Almodóvar | |
2004 | The Bridge of San Luis Rey | The Abbess | |
2005 | Heidi | Rottenmeier | |
Oculto | Adela | ||
Melissa P. | Nonna Elvira | Director: Luca Guadagnino | |
BloodRayne | Fortune Teller | ||
2006 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Mrs. Fane | Television series Episode: Sleeping Murder |
Les aventuriers des mers du Sud | Maggie | Television film | |
2007 | The Orphanage | Aurora | Director: Juan Antonio Bayona Goya Awards Nomination: Best Supporting Actress |
Teresa, el cuerpo de Cristo | Priora del convento | ||
Miguel and William | La dueña | ||
Los Totenwackers | Salgado | ||
Boxes | Maman | Director: Jane Birkin | |
2008 | Inconceivable | Frances Church-Chappel | |
Parlami d'Amore | Amelie | ||
Parc | La mère de Marteau | ||
Ramírez | Galerist | ||
Diario de una Ninfómana | Abuela de Valére/Valeré's grandmother | ||
Brontë | Aunt Elizabeth | ||
2009 | The Island Inside | Victoria | |
Imago Mortis | Contessa Orsini | ||
2010 | Hostias | Jean | |
The Making of Plus One | Geri, the casting director | ||
The Wolfman | Maleva | Director: Joe Johnston | |
There Be Dragons | Abileyza | Director: Roland Joffé | |
The Mosquito Net | María | ||
The Trick in the Sheet | Alma | Director: Alfonso Arau | |
2011 | ¿Para qué sirve un oso? | Josephine | Winner: Málaga Spanish Film Festival: Best Supporting Actress |
The Monk | L'abbesse | Director: Dominik Moll | |
Americano | Linda | ||
All Together | Annie | ||
Memoria de mis putas tristes | Rosa Cabarcas | Director: Henning Carlsen | |
2012 | O Apóstolo | Dosinda | Voice |
The Impossible | Old woman | ||
The Hollow Crown | Alice | 1 episode: Henry V | |
2013 | The Return | Coco Chanel | Short film Director: Karl Lagerfeld |
Another Me | Mrs. Brennan | Director: Isabel Coixet | |
2014 | Amapola | Memé | Director: Eugenio Zanetti |
Sand Dollars | Anne | Directors: Israel Cárdenas, Laura Amelia Guzmán | |
2015 | Marguerite and Julien | Lefebvre's mother | |
Valentin Valentin | Jane | ||
2016 | A Monster Calls | Post-production |