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For Sydney Chaplin's nephew, son of Charlie Chaplin, see Sydney Earle Chaplin
Sydney Chaplin (
March 16 1885 –
April 16 1965), born as
Sidney John Hill, was the elder half-brother of
Sir Charlie Chaplin and the half-uncle of the actor Sydney Chaplin (born 1926), who was born as
Sydney Earle Chaplin. It is not known who Sydney's father was, although it has been said that it was a man called Hawkes, who never was married to Sydney's mother, Hannah Hill. After her marriage to Charles Chaplin Sr on June 22nd, 1885, Sydney became Sydney John Chaplin.
Sydney and Charlie shared another half-brother through their mother, British actor
Wheeler Dryden, whom they did not meet until the 1920s.
Charlie and Sydney Chaplin were very close and looked out for each other from their young days. Though younger, it was Charlie that got onto the stage first, in a play,
Sherlock Holmes, but it wasn't long before Syd joined the tour.
Fred Karno then signed up Sydney, and he then recommended Charlie, giving him his biggest break. After Charlie left
Keystone, he suggested Sydney as his replacement, and he made a few comedies there, including the "Gussle" comedies and the feature-length
A Submarine Pirate in 1915.
Soon, he was handling the majority of Charlie's business affairs, negotiating most of his big contracts and appearing in a few films during the
First National era. 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-regarded film today because of his characterization of cartoonist
Bruce Bairnsfather's famous
World War I character, Old Bill.
In addition to his inestimable 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&emdash;as did many other notable personages of the period. Ever the savvy businessman, Syd Chaplin also knew when to retreat from such a venture—right after legislation began to pass regarding pilot licensure and the taxation of planes, flights, and etc.
Sydney Chaplin married twice and had no children. His first wife, Minnie, died in
France in
September 1936. After
World War II, Sydney lived most of his final years in Europe. His second wife, Henriette (called Gypsy) died after Sydney's death. 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, Switzerland, overlooking the
Lac Leman.
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