Wikimedia CommonsOona ONeill in 1943.Oona ONeill had been a public figure all her life. The daughter of playwright Eugene ONeill, she was considered theater royalty. But in 1943, she made news for a different reason by marrying Charlie Chaplin. Oona and Chaplins marriage caused a scandal for a number of reasons. For one, Oona was Chaplins fourth wife. For another, she had just turned 18, and Chaplin was 54, the age of Oonas father. As if that werent enough, Chaplin was also deeply involved in a paternity lawsuit filed by another woman. But while many were confident that the marriage wouldnt last, the couple stayed together for the rest of Chaplins life. They were reportedly blissfully happy together, and had eight children. This is the story of Oona ONeill, Charlie Chaplins fourth and final wife. A Girl Born Into Theater RoyaltyOona Ella ONeill was born on May 14, 1925, in the British colony of Bermuda. She was the daughter of playwright Eugene ONeill, who had already won two Pulitzer Prizes for his plays Beyond the Horizon (1918) and Anna Christie (1921), and magazine writer Agnes Boulton. But her parents marriage wouldnt last when Oona was two, they split. PBS reports that Oona saw her father so rarely during her childhood that she kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings of him, so she wouldnt forget what he looked like. Public DomainEugene ONeill with his second wife, Oonas mother, Agnes Boulton, as well as their son Shane.Oona split her childhood between family homes in New Jersey and Bermuda but, as a teenager, attended the prestigious Brearley School, an all-girls private school in Manhattan. While there, she rubbed elbows with Gloria Vanderbilt, met Truman Capote, dated J.D. Salinger, and became known for her beauty and charm. Oona also dreamt of becoming an actress, to her fathers chagrin. He reportedly called her a a spoiled, lazy, vain little brat.But though she was accepted at Vassar College, Oona ONeill decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Shortly thereafter, she crossed paths with Charlie Chaplin. How Oona ONeill Met Charlie ChaplinThough Oona ONeill was well-known in Manhattan social circle, Charlie Chaplin was one of the most famous people on the planet. He was known across the world for movies like The Kid (1921), City Lights (1931), and The Great Dictator (1940). And Chaplin had also made news for his three marriages, all of which were to women much younger than him. Wikimedia CommonsCharlie Chaplin had a high-profile romance with his 19-year-old co-star, Edna Purviance, in 1916.In October 1942, he met Oona while looking for an actress for his next movie. Chaplin reportedly thought she was too inexperienced for the role, but he became quickly besotted with her. In his 1964 memoirs, My Autobiography, Chaplin deemed the day he met Oona the happiest event of my life.The two fell in love and, just after Oonas 18th birthday, they eloped on June 16, 1943. At the time, Chaplin was 54.It should have been a happy occasion, but Oonas father Eugene was furious. Not only had Oona defied his wishes and moved to Los Angeles, but Charlie Chaplin was his age. Eugene disowned her, and they never spoke again.Public DomainOona ONeill and Charlie Chaplin. She was 18 when they married, and he was 54.Eugene ONeill wasnt the only one scandalized by the elopement. Chaplin, after all, had already been married three times, and was currently facing a paternity suit filed by starlet Joan Barry. But though many predicted that his marriage to Oona ONeill would not last, they would remain married until the end of his life and had eight children together. For the last twenty years I have known what happiness means, Chaplin wrote about his marriage to Oona in his memoirs. I have the good fortune to be married to a wonderful wife As I live with Oona, the depth and beauty of her character are a continual revelation to me.The Happy Marriage Of Oona ONeill And Charlie ChaplinAfter their marriage in 1943, Oona ONeill and Charlie Chaplin had eight children: Geraldine, Michael, Josephine, Victoria, Eugene, Jane, Annette, and Christopher. Their eldest daughter Geraldine became an actress in her own right, and would would star in the 1992 Oscar-winning biopic Chaplin. Geraldines daughter, Oona Chaplin, also pursued an acting career.Wikimedia CommonsOona ONeill, Charlie Chaplin, and their eight children.Oona, meanwhile, had given up her own acting ambitions to be a wife and mother. She spent her life supporting Chaplin, even as he weathered a serious scandal a decade into the marriage. In 1952, Chaplins visa to the United States was revoked because of his support of political leftist causes. He and Oona settled instead in Switzerland, and Oona renounced her own citizenship, becoming an English citizen like her husband. The Chaplins procured a sprawling estate overlooking Lake Geneva, and focused on raising their children. He is my world, Oona said in of Chaplin in 1960. Ive never seen or lived anything else.They would only very rarely return to the United States. As The New York Times noted in Oonas obituary, Oona returned for her mothers death in 1967; Chaplin would not return for more than two decades, but traveled to the United States in the 1970s to receive an honorary Oscar. The couple remained married until 1977, when Charlie Chaplin died at the age of 88. They had been married for 34 years.Wikimedia CommonsThe graves of Oona ONeill and Charlie Chaplin in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland.In the aftermath of Chaplins death, Oona became increasingly reclusive. She began drinking heavily, and died of pancreatic cancer on Sept. 27, 1991 at the age of 66. Compared to her more famous husband, Oona ONeill is little remembered today. But to Charlie Chaplin, she was the center of the world. Even as she walks ahead of me along the narrow sidewalks with simple dignity, her neat little figure straight, her dark hair smoothed back showing a few silver threads, he wrote a sudden wave of love and admiration comes over me for all that she is and a lump comes into my throat.After learning about Oona ONeill, read about Argentinian model Cristina Invernizzi, who became the fourth wife of the Wolf of Wall Street. Then, learn about mob wife beauty queen Pupetta Maresca.The post Oona ONeill, The Fourth And Final Wife Of Movie Star Charlie Chaplin appeared first on All That's Interesting.