Birth Name: Kiera Victoria Chaplin
Place of Birth: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date of Birth: July 1, 1982
Ethnicity: English, Irish, Northern Irish
Kiera Chaplin is a British and Swiss actress and model.
Kiera was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland. She is the daughter of Bernadette (McCready) and actor Eugene Chaplin (born in Eugene Anthony Chaplin). Her father has English and Irish ancestry. Her mother is presumably Northern Irish. Among her first cousins are actresses Carmen Chaplin and Oona Chaplin, and circus performer and actor James Thiérrée.
Kiera’s maternal grandfather was actor Charlie Chaplin (born Charles Spencer Chaplin, the son of Charles Chaplin and Hannah Harriet Pedlingham Hill, both of whom were entertainers). Charlie was born in England. His documented ancestry was English and some Irish. Kiera’s great-grandfather Charles was the son of Spencer Chaplin and Ellen Elizabeth Smith. Hannah was the daughter of Charles Frederick Hill and Mary Ann Terry.
Kiera’s maternal grandmother was Oona O’Neill, an actress (the daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill [Eugene Gladstone O’Neill] and writer Agnes Boulton). Oona was born in Warwick Parish, Bermuda. Eugene was born in New York City, New York, the son of actor James O’Neill, who was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, and of Ella O’Neill (born Mary Ellen Quinlan), who was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Irish parents, Thomas Joseph Quinlan and Bridget Lundigan. Agnes was English, born in London, the daughter of Edward William Boulton, an artist, and of Cecil Maud/Maude Williams.
Charlie Chaplin is often stated to have had some degree of Romani (Gypsy) ancestry. It does not appear that this ancestral claim has ever been documented/verified. Charlie was sometimes believed to have been Jewish (especially during his lifetime), but his parents were not of Jewish heritage.
Sources: Genealogy of Kiera Chaplin (focusing on her father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Kiera’s father – http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Genealogy of Kiera’s maternal grandfather, Charlie Chaplin (Charles Spencer Chaplin) – http://www.wargs.com
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