Hetty Kelly

Short Biography

Hetty Kelly was Chaplin's "true" first love, a dancer with whom he "instantly" fell in love when she was fifteen and almost married when he was nineteen, in 1908. At the time Kelly was performing before him in a London music hall and Chaplin asked if she would meet him the following weekend; she agreed. It is said Chaplin fell madly in love with her and asked her to marry him. When she refused, Chaplin suggested it would be best if they did not see each other again; he was reportedly crushed when she agreed. Years later, her memory would remain a fetish with Chaplin. He was devastated in 1921 when he learned that she had died of influenza during the Great Flu Pandemic of 1918. There is a small controversy over whether or not Chaplin and Kelly had a child; if so, the child has yet to be brought to light.