Birth announcement for Norman Spencer Chaplin, born July 7, 1919

Los Angeles Times, July 8, 1919

When Mildred went into labor the night before, Chaplin wrapped her in a blanket and drove her to the hospital himself. He insisted on being present at the birth but eventually "passed away in a dead faint and had to be carried out."¹

Mildred had wanted to name the baby Charles Spencer Chaplin, Jr., but Charlie protested and chose the name Norman Spencer instead because he felt Charles was a name with which "liberties could be taken" and "Norman can't be shortened."²

Sadly, Norman was born with an intestinal deformity and died three days later. Mildred recalled years later that "Charlie took it hard. Funny thing, isn't it--that's the only thing I can remember about Charlie...that he cried when the baby died."<sup>3

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1</sup>Mildred Harris, "The Private Life of Charlie Chaplin,"Winnipeg Tribune, April 1936
²Los Angeles Times, July 10, 1919. Chaplin also protested 6 years later when Lita Grey wanted to name their first born son after him but he eventually acquiesced. 
³Lita Grey Chaplin, My Life With Chaplin, 1966.