Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin, the most famous film star of his age, was twice in the hands of the American state. In 1944 he stood trial in Los Angeles on four federal charges, among them violations of the Mann Act, over his relationship with a young actress, Joan Barry. The jury acquitted him on 4 April 1944. In the same year a separate paternity suit declared him the father of her child, even though blood tests said otherwise, and he was ordered to pay support.

The FBI, under J. Edgar Hoover, had also been investigating his politics since the 1940s. On 18 September 1952 Chaplin sailed to London for the premiere of Limelight; the next day Attorney General James McGranery revoked his re entry permit and ordered him to submit to an inquiry into his political views and moral conduct. He settled in Switzerland instead. In April 1972 he returned to Los Angeles to accept an honorary Academy Award, and received a long standing ovation. He was knighted in 1975.