Chaplin, ex-wife battle over sons

Aug. 27, 1932: In a legal battle with his former wife, actor Charlie Chaplin testified in Los Angeles County Superior Court why he didn’t want his two boys, Charles Spencer Jr., 7, and Sydney Earl, 6, to enter the film business.

“Well, it’s the spiritual aspect of the thing,” Chaplin told the court, The Times reported. “I want my children to enjoy youth, to romp, to be happy.”

The gray-haired actor, who was suffering from a bad cold and bundled in a heavy overcoat, testified how he made his first theater appearance at the tender age of 5.

“I had to suffer,” he recalled. “It would be another story if they had to work, but they are in a position where they don’t have to.”

But Lita Grey Chaplin, who had already signed the boys to a contract with Fox Film Corp., told the court that every accommodation would be made to ensure her children’s care when she and they began filming together.

Moreover, “she declared that since Sept. 1, 1929, until a few days ago, Chaplin had not seen or communicated with the children,” the newspaper said.

But Charlie Chaplin prevailed in his legal fight, despite two more court challenges.