Joan Barry

Mary Louise Baker ( Gribble; May 24, 1920 – October 1, 2007), known professionally as Joan Barry, was an American woman who won a paternity suit in California in 1943 against Charlie Chaplin.

Early life Born Mary Louise Gribble on May 24, 1920,

Chaplin affair and aftermath Barry, 21 years old, began an affair with established director Charlie Chaplin, aged 52 years, in the summer of 1941; Chaplin had his studio sign Barry at $75 a week ($ today) with possibility of extension, Chaplin spoke highly of her acting abilities; Chaplin biographer David Robinson writes in Chaplin: A Life of "Chaplin's sincerity in believing that he could make Joan Barry into an actress.... [as] she had ‘all the qualities of a new Maude Adams' and told his sons, ‘She has a quality, an ethereal something that's truly marvelous…a talent as great as any I've seen in my whole life.” Other sources, including FBI case records and Chaplin autobiographical writings, indicate the young actress to have had talent at her craft, as well as emotional swings and periods of erratic behavior. According to Chaplin and some Chaplin biographers the relationship ended with Barry's harassing him and displaying signs of the mental illness which would, in later life, lead to her commitment. Barry was accused of stalking Chaplin, and had even broken into his home on several occasions. Other sources suggest that after a concerted effort by Chaplin and his studio to prepare Barry for the lead in Shadows, including orthodontic work and participation at the Max Reinhardt Workshop for acting, Chaplin lost his patience with Barry as an actress after she repeatedly missed classes and developed a drinking problem.

FBI case files and other records recorded two terminated pregnancies during the affair. After Barry gave birth to a girl, Carol Ann, on October 2, 1943, Chaplin was ordered to support the child until her 21st birthday. Federal prosecutors brought Mann Act charges against Chaplin related to Barry in 1944, of which he was acquitted. who moved to Ohio with their father in 1952.

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'." After her mother was committed, Carol Ann went to live with a legally appointed guardian and changed her name. She continued to receive monthly payments from Chaplin until her 21st birthday.

In popular culture In Richard Attenborough's film Chaplin (1992), she is played by Nancy Travis.

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).