After Limelight, Charlie Chaplin took another vacation to England, wanting to show his new wife and children his native country. Upon leaving the territorial waters of the United States of America, Charlie Chaplin received a cable, informing him that the State Department had rescinded his reentry permit — effectively locking him out of the country as an undesirable alien. There were many reasons for this — Charlie Chaplin's unorthodox political views, the false accusation that he was a Communist, and not least of all, money.
There would have been an attempt by the federal government to seize Charlie Chaplin's assets, which were enormous. However, his wife Oona returned to the United States, and promptly took all of the liquid assets, as well as liquidating everything she could — leaving the government without a penny for its' trouble.Charlie Chaplin was not, however, a man without a country. He was still a citizen of Great Britain, but he did not desire to live there. After the stress of the situation had been dealt with, the Chaplins relocated to Vevey, Switzerland in 1953, where they lived for the remainder of their lives together.
After their death, it has been turned into an international Charlie Chaplin museum.
In 1954, Oona renounced her U.S. citizenship, casting her lot with her husband. And, ironically, Charlie Chaplin was awarded World Peace Council Prize in that same year. In the next year, he resumes doing what he does best — making comedies.In 1959, the Chaplin Revue was released, to worldwide acclaim. Charlie Chaplin continued his work in Switzerland, writing and composing, and raising his growing brood of children. In 1964 he published his autobiography, which he humbly titled 'My Autobiography.' It was an interesting look into the life of Charlie Chaplin, although incomplete — he mentioned his marriage to Lita Grey in only one sentence.
Again death in family
In 1965, death again intruded on Charlie Chaplin's family life, as his older brother Sidney died. This was a strong blow to Charlie Chaplin, second only to the loss of him mother in 1928. Sidney had been his brother, friend, companion, confidant and business manager all rolled into one. Charlie Charplin grieved deeply for the loss of his beloved brother.But Charlie Chaplin did not stop working. After dealing with his grief as best he could, in 1966 Charlie began work on his next, and final, movie, A Countess in Hong Kong.
It was a number of firsts for Charlie Chaplin — he did not star in the film, and only had a small, Hitchcock-esque walk-on scene as a porter. Instead, he directed two of Hollywood's largest stars of the day, Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren. Although an interesting idea, it was not a hit at the box office when released in 1967.In 1968, Charlie Chaplin was now 79 years old. It is not surprising that more and more of his friends and coworkers died — for example, his longtime cameraman and assistant Rollie Totheroh died the previous year.
However, Charlie Chaplin's oldest son, Charles Chaplin Jr., died. Again, Charlie Chaplin worked through his grief, and threw himself into his work. He was preparing a new film, 'The Freak', about a young girl who sprouts wings, as a vehicle for his daughter — but it never went past the planning stages.
In 1972, Charlie Chaplin did something he never thought he would do — he returned to the United States of America. He was returning to accept a lifetime achievement Academy Award. The foolishness of 20 years previous had been forgotten, and Charlie Chaplin was greeted by America with open arms. Correcting another old injustice, Charlie Chaplin's name was added again to the 'Walk of Fame' in Los Angeles. Charlie Chaplin was also awarded the Golden Lion at that year's Venice Film Festival .
In 1974, Charlie Chaplin published another book, 'My Life in Pictures.' The next year, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, and became In 1977, Charlie Chaplin passed away, on Christmas Day. He left behind grieving family and friends, and millions of fans worldwide.