Geraldine Chaplin

Geraldine Chaplin, who shared a successful professional collaboration with Spanish director Carlos Saura, started dating him in 1967. After 14 years of togetherness, the couple separated following the birth of their only child, when he left her and married their 17-year-old babysitter.

She gave birth to her son with Saura, Shane Saura Chaplin, in 1976. In 1978, her infant baby was threatened following an extortion plot by kidnappers, who stole the body of Charles Chaplin while his grave was opened after the death of her mother to bury them together.

She then began another long-term relationship with Chilean cinematographer Patricio Castilla, with whom she had a daughter named Oona Chaplin in 1986. The two later got married in 2006. Her daughter grew up to be an actress like her.

Geraldine Leigh Chaplin was born on July 31, 1944, in Santa Monica, California, to Charlie Chaplin and his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. She is the fourth child of her father, and the first of her mother, and has seven younger siblings.

From her father's side, she is the granddaughter of English singers Charles Chaplin, Sr. and Hannah Chaplin. From her mother's side, she is the granddaughter of Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright Eugene O'Neill and British writer Agnes Boulton.

She grew up in Hollywood till she was eight years old, thereafter her father decided to leave the country in order to avoid persecution by the US government for his political beliefs. The family went on a vacation to Britain and Europe, and later settled in a mansion overlooking Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

She has fond memories of growing up with her seven brothers and sisters in their Chaplin household, which, according to her, has been a place for children to live happily. They played, laughed and sang together all day long, and their parents didn't stop them while they made so much noise.

At the age of ten, her father, who was fanatic about discipline, sent her to a convent school in Switzerland, where she learnt to speak French and Spanish fluently. In 1961, she decided to skip college in favor of her passion for dancing and began a two-year ballet course at the Royal Ballet School in England.

Geraldine Chaplin started her career as a professional dancer, performing in Paris for about a year. She first appeared in a ballet called 'Cinderella', in which she had two short parts of a minute each.

Despite being good at dancing, she herself was unsatisfied and decided that she cannot excel at the art as she did not train from an early age. She struggled for work opportunities for a while, and then was offered a fashion modeling job by a photographer friend.

During this time she was discovered by renowned English film director and producer David Lean, who cast her in the role of Tonya, the wife of the protagonist, in his 1965 epic drama 'Doctor Zhivago'. While she admitted that she might have got the role because of her name, she showed her acting prowess and earned a 'Golden Globe Award' nomination in the category of 'Most Promising Female Newcomer'.

She made her Broadway debut two years later in 1967, in a production of 'The Little Foxes' by Lillian Hellman. Once again she was admired for her powerful performance, receiving praise from 'New York Times' writer and critic Clive Barnes.

In 1967, she also worked with Spanish director Carlos Saura in the psychological thriller 'Peppermint Frappé'. The film was one of Saura's first commercially successful ventures, and became the first of a number of memorable collaborations between the two.

Geraldine Chaplin impressed critics with her first major role as Tonya in David Lean's 'Doctor Zhivago'. Some of her later significant roles include Opal in 'Nashville', Hannah Chaplin in 'Chaplin', and Mother Teresa in 'Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor'.

The 2014 Dominican drama film 'Dólares de Arena' (Sand Dollars) has been one of her major performances in recent times, earning her awards and accolades internationally. The film was screened at the 2014 'Toronto International Film Festival' and was the Dominican entry for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' at the 88th 'Academy Awards'.