Joan Barry (American actress)
Joan Barry | |
|---|---|
Detroit, Michigan , U.S. | |
| Died | October 1, 2007 (aged 87) New York City |
| Known for | Paternity suit with Charlie Chaplin |
| Spouse |
Russell Seck
(m. 1946; unknown 1952) |
| Partner | Charlie Chaplin (1941–1942) |
| Children | 3 |
Mary Louise Baker (
Early life
Born Mary Louise Gribble on May 24, 1920,
Chaplin affair and aftermath
Barry, 21 years old, began an affair with established director
FBI case files and other records recorded two terminated pregnancies during the affair.[8] After Barry gave birth to a girl, Carol Ann, on October 2, 1943,[2]: 205f her mother filed a paternity suit against Chaplin. The suit proceeded to trial, and despite blood tests which showed Chaplin was not the father, Barry's attorney, Joseph Scott, succeeded in arguing that the tests were inadmissible.[9] Chaplin was ordered to support the child until her 21st birthday.[10] Federal prosecutors brought Mann Act charges against Chaplin related to Barry in 1944, of which he was acquitted.[3]
Personal life
Barry married Russell Seck, a railway clerk, in 1946. The couple had two sons, Russell and Stephen.[11] The boys moved to Ohio with their father in 1952.[citation needed]
The following year, when she was 33, Time noted that Barry was "admitted to Patton State Hospital... after she was found walking the streets barefoot, carrying a pair of baby sandals and a child's ring, and murmuring: 'This is magic'."[12] After her mother was committed, Carol Ann went to live with a legally appointed guardian and changed her name.[citation needed] She continued to receive monthly payments from Chaplin until her 21st birthday.[citation needed]
In popular culture
In Richard Attenborough's film Chaplin (1992), she is played by Nancy Travis.[13][14]
She is featured as a character in Wieland Schwanebeck's play Slapstick (2021), a comedy based on the encounter between Orson Welles and Charlie Chaplin that led to the film Monsieur Verdoux (1947).[15]
References
- ^ "Joan's Happy in Role of Clerk's Wife" (PDF). Utica Daily Press. Utica, NY. 1947-01-20. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ ISBN 0-691-02860-5.
- ^ a b c "Mann & Woman". Time. April 3, 1944. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved August 21, 2007.
Auburn-haired Joan Barry, 24, who wandered from her native Detroit to New York to Hollywood in pursuit of a theatrical career, became a Chaplin protegee in the summer of 1941. She fitted into a familiar pattern. Chaplin signed her to a $75-a-week contract, began training her for a part in a projected picture. Two weeks after the contract was signed she became his mistress. Throughout the summer and autumn, Miss Barry testified last week, she visited the ardent actor five or six times a week. By midwinter her visits were down to "maybe three times a week". By late summer of 1942, Charlie Chaplin had decided that she was unsuited for his movie. Her contract ended.
- ^ Weissman, Steven (2008). "Fatal Attraction: Joan Barry". Chaplin: A Life. New York City: Arcade Publishing. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
- ISBN 0586085440.
- ISBN 9781475856941. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ISBN 9780786499960. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ Sweeting, Adam (16 February 2022). "The Real Charlie Chaplin review - not as revealing as its title suggests". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- blood groupwas B, Barry's was A, and Chaplin's was O. In California at this time, blood tests were not accepted as evidence in legal trials.
- ^ Chilton, Martin (25 July 2020). "'Perverted, degenerate and indecent acts': Charlie Chaplin and the original A-list divorce scandal". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- ^ "Joan Barry Rift Denied". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. 12 May 1948. p. 3. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ "Just Like the Movies". Time. August 17, 1953. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved August 21, 2007.
Another Chaplin ex-protegee, 33-year-old Joan Barry, who won a 1946 paternity suit against the comedian, was admitted to Patton State Hospital (for the mentally ill) after she was found walking the streets barefoot, carrying a pair of baby sandals and a child's ring, and murmuring: "This is magic".
- ISBN 9781552123164. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ISBN 9781317740629. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ Zittau, Haus (October 16, 2021). "Gerhart-Hauptmann-Theater Görlitz-Zittau: Charlie Chaplin trifft Orson Welles in der Uraufführung von Wieland Schwanebecks "Slapstick"". Theaterkompass (in German). Retrieved May 18, 2022.