Charles Chaplin was neither a Jew, a Frenchman or a member of the Communist party. He was born to two lower-class English music hall entertainers, Charles and Hannah Chaplin and had an older brother, Sydney. He was in and out of London poorhouses as a child. He has a distinct Cockney accent in all of his talkies.
When he was quite young, he and his brother were members of the famous Karno Group, which included Stan Laurel. When they toured America, Chaplin, Laurel and Sydney Chaplin chose to remain in America.
Charlie was way too cheap to pay the dues necessary to be a member of the Communist party.
I knew he had an older brother, i've seen him in several of his movies. As far as his accent goes, that can be contrived. (He made two talking movies of which I am aware. "Limelight" and "The Great Dictator." (I own a copy of each.) I would point out that Hugh Laurie does an awesome job playing the role of an obnoxious American Jerk, and Anna Torv does an excellent job as an American FBI agent. I would say we would need something better than his accent as proof. So are you saying the story is incorrect?
When he was quite young, he and his brother were members of the famous Karno Group, which included Stan Laurel. When they toured America, Chaplin, Laurel and Sydney Chaplin chose to remain in America.
I recall reading in Groucho Marx's book "Groucho and Me", that He (Julius Henry Marx) ran across Charlie Chaplain on the Vaudeville circuit, and was quite impressed with him.
Charlie was way too cheap to pay the dues necessary to be a member of the Communist party.
Back in those days, Communism was not known to be the terror that we have since learned that it is. In those naive halcyon times, people actually saw it as an evolutionary improvement on the state of mankind, much as they saw the creation of the American Republic as a welcome break from the stagnant ideas of the past. (Monarchy.)
I can't blame a person for being a communist sympathizer in the 1920s and 1930s, but by the time the 50s rolled around, those people should have understood it to be the essence of pure evil.
While i'm a fan of Charlie Chaplain, I am not that knowledgeable about his history, though I had read of speculation as to whether or not he was Jewish. It doesn't matter to me worth a hill of beans if he is, (or not) he was a great comedian, and the world is a better place for his having been in it.