Britain’s MI5 intelligence agency investigated, without success, for almost six years to ascertain whether actor-director Charlie Chaplin was actually born in France or whether he was a Russian of Jewish origin named Israel Thornstein.
The US had been investigating Chaplin from the early 1920s, but MI5 only started in 1952, according to new records released Friday by the Security Service (MI5). The investigation was prompted by an inquiry from the FBI, which suspected Chaplin was using an alias and that his real name might be Israel Thornstein.
Chaplin claimed he was a Londoner born in Walworth on April 16, 1889.
However, the suspicion increased when MI5’s search of birth records at Somerset House drew a blank. MI5 concluded that Chaplin was not born in Britain or that his name at birth was other than those mentioned.
“Although his claim to have been born in London on 16 April, 1889 has been accepted by the Passport Office, at least since 16th September 1920 (when first issued passport), we cannot find particulars of his birth at Somerset House under Chaplin, Thornstein or Harley, the name of his mother, Hannah, known professionally as Lily Harvey,” MI5 wrote to the FBI. The French authorities had informed MI5 that there is no trace of Chaplin’s birth in either Fontainebleau or Melun area under the names attributed to the actor-director.