Chaplin had sons by his marriage to Lita Grey; Charles Spencer Jr, born in 1925, and Sydney Earl in 1926.

Chaplin's marriage to Paulette Goddard produced no offspring, but his final spouse, Oona O`neil, presented him with eight more: Geraldine born in 1944, Micheal born in 1946, Josephine born in 1949, Victoria born in 1951, Eugene born in 1953, Jane born in 1957, Annette born in 1959 and Christopher born in 1962.

Both Charles Jr and Sydney- named after Syd Chaplin but always called 'Tommy' by his mother - served in the Second World War.

Charles Jr's career was doubtless not helped by having the hardest act in the world to follow, a problem typified when he was once asked, brusquely, if he was as good as is father. His memoirs, My Father, Charlie Chaplin, were first published in 1960, eight years before his early death from a heart attack.

Sydney's acting work included roles in Limelight and A Countess From Hong Kong, on the stage, he was associated with the Circle Theater, and later drew praise on Broadway in Funny Girl.

Geraldine became an international film star, most notably in Dr. Zhivago (1967). In the 1992 film 'Chaplin'; she had the unusual experience of portraying her own grandmother, Hannah.

Geraldine, Michael and Victoria appear briefly in Limelight; Michael plays the child genius in A King In New York, and later acting work included a 1996 British comedy, 'The Sandwich Man'.

Reportedly something of a rebel in the 1960s, Michael wrote a book called I Couldn't Smoke the Grass on My Father's Lawn. His former wife, Patrice, has written a biography of Oona.

Each of the children has at some time ventured into the entertainment profession.

Victoria was intended as lead in her father's last film, The Freak, but left home to get married.

She and her husband, French comedian and illusionist Jean Baptiste Thierree, have toured the world in their shows Le Cirque Bonjour (1971-1974), Le cirque Imaginaire (1975-1990) and most recently, Le Crecle Invisible.

Those who attended the latter's season at London's Mermaid Theatre during November 1996 and January 1997 will probably conclude that, of the Chaplin offspring, Victoria's excellent work is the closest in style to her father's.