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Oona, Living in the Shadows: A Biography of Oona O'Neill Chaplin Hardcover – January 1, 1998

by Jane Scovell (Author)

4.5 35 ratings

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Follows the life of the daughter of Eugene O'Neill and wife of Charlie Chaplin, describing her struggle with her father's alcoholism, her marriage to the much-older Chaplin, and her extraordinary friendships

Length

354
Pages
Language

EN
English
Publisher

Grand Central Pub
Publication date

1998
January 1
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.3 x 9.8
inches
ISBN-10

0446517305
ISBN-13

978-0446517300
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Like Jackie O, Oona O'Neill (1925-91) captured public attention for two reasons: her impressive familial/marital alliances (she was the sole daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill and the last wife of filmmaker Charlie Chaplin) and her elegant, raven-haired beauty. The two women also shared vitas that were filled with childhood disappointments, humiliating public attention during crises, and the wrenching deaths of loved ones. But as Jane Scovell's new biography clearly shows, Oona O'Neill Chaplin lacked both the stoicism and personal passion of Jackie Onassis. Hers was a spirit too tender--and fundamentally fragile--to assert itself fully or survive independently for any period of time. Hence the book's apt subtitle, "Living in the Shadows."

With information culled from press clips, interviews with Chaplin's friends and contemporaries, and previous biographies of Eugene O'Neill, Scovell's book paints an engaging portrait of a privileged, potentially fabulous life gone way wrong. Most fittingly for their subsequent tortured relationship, Oona's parents--Eugene O'Neill and writer Agnes Boulton--met in a Greenwich Village bar dubbed the Hellhole. Eight years into their marriage, in which they flitted between Greenwich Village, Bermuda, Provincetown, Maine, and New Jersey, O'Neill abandoned the family life for the erstwhile actress Carlotta Monterey (christened Hazel Neilson Tharsing). Oona was two at the time. O'Neill, a boorish father, saw her only a handful of times before she turned 18; at that point, he disinherited her because he wasn't happy with the oozy publicity she was earning as a New York debutante. That same year, Oona moved out to Hollywood (in the hopes of pursuing an acting career), and met and married Charlie Chaplin, who was facing a scandalous paternity suit at that moment. Chaplin was 54, Oona was 18. She never worked again, and he was at the end of his career. They had eight children (the last when Chaplin was 72), and she stood by him till his death in 1977, spending most of their years together exiled in Sweden, where Chaplin had gone to avoid a host of problems with the U.S. government. After Chaplin's death, Oona returned to the U.S., where she lived 14 depressed, alcoholic years before dying at age 66 of cancer.

There's a breezy, slightly superficial tone to this book, despite Scovell's attempt to elucidate fully the potholes and vistas of Oona's dramatic roadmap. None of Oona's eight children, or close family members, seems to have talked to Scovell, nor did Scovell have any significant access to Oona's correspondence or other writing. Though her dramatic fade is well captured here, Oona never completely blooms in this book. --Jean Lenihan

From Publishers Weekly

Scovell's moving, intelligent, perceptive biography of Oona O'Neill Chaplin, daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill and wife of film legend Charlie Chaplin, is told with sympathy and feminist insight. At age 17, Oona, a Manhattan debutante spurned by the neglectful, alcoholic, famous father who had abandoned her when she was two, went to Hollywood to become an actress. Instead, a year later, in 1943, she married Chaplin, then 54 and thrice-divorced, an English-born Casanova with a reputation for seducing young women. According to Scovell, who has collaborated on autobiographies with Elizabeth Taylor, Kitty Dukakis and Maureen Stapleton, Oona found in Chaplin a father surrogate, but also a genuine love match. And Chaplin found in Oona a steady, evenhanded companion who idolized him, and a caretaker for his dotage. Scovell paints a scathing picture of O'Neill pere as an aloof, mean-spirited parent who dumped Oona's eccentric, alcoholic mother, Agnes Boulton, in 1927 to marry actress Carlotta Monterey. It was Oona's mutually supportive union with Chaplin, Scovell contends, that saved her from the inner demons that led to the suicides of her drug-addicted brother, Shane, and her half-brother, Yale classicist Eugene O'Neill Jr. Oona and Chaplin moved to Switzerland in 1953 after Hollywood blacklisted the comic for leftist leanings; they had eight children, who gave Oona mixed, yet, on the whole, favorable reviews as a mother. After Chaplin's death in 1977, Oona, overwhelmed by grief and despair, descended into alcoholic dissolution; she died of cancer in 1991. As Scovell makes clear in this touching, bittersweet biography, Oona's tragedy was that she went directly from the specter of her awful father to Chaplin: "She never stood on her own."
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A best-selling biographer (e.g., Kitty Dukakis, Elizabeth Taylor) takes on Eugene O'Neill's daughter, Oona, who married Charlie Chaplin.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Devotion to genius characterizes the life of Eugene ONeills daughter and Charlie Chaplin's wife in this respectful overview. Drawing on extensive research, arts journalist Scovell (who has been co-author to Elizabeth Taylor and Kitty Dukakis) moves quickly from the proverbial family tree to chart the messier human trail left by mother Agnes Boulton O'Neill's flightiness and father Eugene's nearly lifelong absence and rejection of their daughter. Aside from a vivid fit of despair, Oona's youthful feelings are not deeply documented here. But her early actions are, as a beautiful New York society girl, Hollywood ingenue, and, at age 18, fourth wife to 54-year-old Chaplin. Though Scovell draws the requisite links between father O'Neill's neglect and Oona's need for Chaplin's adoration, the author doesnt dwell on them. She speculates that the mutual protection offered by the marriage somewhat diminished and compromised the couple's awareness of the world; Gold Rush co-star Georgia Hale even questions their unions perfection. But Scovell, like Oona's friends and family, largely accepts the idea that when a marriage lasts for four decades and produces eight children, one should stop seeking its flaws and instead celebrate its duration. As for whether Oona ever wanted more for herself, Scovells as clear as her research allows. She notes that Oona may have screamed, in her last days, ``What the f did I do with my life!'' but that she never sought artistic parity with Chaplin (and rejected invitations to write a memoir). Hardly a story of marital victimization, this tells instead of how Oona made a choice, lived her life afterward, and in Chaplin probably found exactly what she wanted: ``father, lover, provider and protector.'' Only upon his death did her drinking grow debilitating. Nevertheless, her dependent position and habitual self-effacement inevitably make Oona, however finely realized, a limited subject for a biography. A semi-hidden life of unbroken allegiance, compassionately rendered. (16 pages photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

Devotion to genius characterizes the life of Eugene O'Neill's daughter and Charlie Chaplin's wife in this respectful overview.

Drawing on extensive research, arts journalist Scovell (who has been co-author to Elizabeth Taylor and Kitty Dukakis) moves quickly from the proverbial family tree to chart the messier human trail left by mother Agnes Boulton O'Neill's flightiness and father Eugene's nearly lifelong absence and rejection of their daughter. Aside from a vivid fit of despair, Oona's youthful feelings are not deeply documented here. But her early actions are, as a beautiful New York society girl, Hollywood ingenue, and, at age 18, fourth wife to 54-year-old Chaplin. Though Scovell draws the requisite links between father O'Neill's neglect and Oona's need for Chaplin adoration, the author doesn't dwell on them. She speculates that the mutual protection offered by the marriage somewhat diminished and compromised the couple's awareness of the world; Gold Rush co-star Georgia Hale even questions their union's perfection. But Scovell, like Oona's friends and family, largely accepts the idea that when a marriage lasts for four decades and produces eight children, one should stop seeking its flaws and instead celebrate its duration. As for whether Oona ever wanted more for herself, Scovell's as clear as her research allows. She notes that Oona may have screamed, in her last days, "What the f-did I do with my life!" but that she never sought artistic parity with Chaplin (and rejected invitations to write a memoir). Hardly a story of marital victimization, this tells instead of how Oona made a choice, lived her life afterward, and in Chaplin probably found exactly what she wanted: "father, lover, provider and protector." Only upon his death did her drinking grow debilitating. Nevertheless, her dependent position and habitual self-effacement inevitably make Oona, however finally realized, a limited subject for a biography.

A semi-hidden life of unbroken allegiance, compassionately rendered. -- Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 1998

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grand Central Pub; First Edition (January 1, 1998)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 354 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0446517305
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0446517300
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.45 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.25 x 9.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,768,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13,802 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies
- #33,765 in Engineering (Books)

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4.5 35 ratings

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Jane Scovell

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I was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, a city which produced one heavyweight champion, Rocky Marciano, one middleweight champion, Marvin Hagler, and boxing's most prominent referee, Arthur Mercante. I could not hope to pursue a ring career so I decided to become an actress. After graduating from Wheaton College, I moved to New York City where I took classes at the Uta Hagen/Herbert Berghof Studio. I soon learned that boxing is a far gentler profession than acting and retired from the stage--before stepping one foot on it.

While attending graduate school at Columbia, I became a teacher, a more brutal profession, by the way, than the last two named. I taught, variously, at a yeshiva in Yonkers, a yeshiva in Dorchester, MA, Beaver Country Day School, and Newton College of the Sacred Heart. At Newton College, I taught the history and appreciation of opera and created another course, "Music in the Film." To this day, my twin passions remain opera and movies, and I usually can be found at the Met Opera in Lincoln Center or at the Film Forum on West Houston Street.

Eventually, I grew tired of grading papers, and began conducting extension courses for Pine Manor Junior College and Harvard University's Center for Lifelong Learning. While teaching, I began my writing career. At first, my articles appeared in the Boston underground press and Boston magazine; I wrote everything from movie, music, theatre, and restaurant reviews to interviews with local figures. Later, my articles were published in The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The New York Times, and in national magazines, including Redbook, Vogue, and Travel + Leisure. In the mid-1980s, I started writing "auto" biographies with, among others, Marilyn Horne, Elizabeth Taylor, Ginger Rogers, Kitty Dukakis, Maureen Stapleton, and QVC Host, Kathy Levine. Oona: Living in the Shadows was my first "bio"graphy and Samuel Ramey: American Bass is my latest.

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Patty

Highly recommend

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2023

Verified Purchase

This woman led an amazing life in the shadow of two famous men. The author delves into aspects of Oona's life that have been held secret for decades. This is well written and meticulously documented.
It is truly and enjoyable read.

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pam burgess

fascinating book about a remarkable woman

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2020

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great read, tough to put down

One person found this helpful

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sweetmolly

The Mystery That Wasn't

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2001

Oona O'Neill Chaplain was an occasional interest to me. Her name (which, I believe is pronounced Owna), her playwright father, Eugene; and her startling marriage to Charlie Chaplin, 38-years her senior made a curiously exotic package. Once that marriage took place, it seemed like she had fallen off the face of the earth occasionally emerging to be photographed with a flock of handsome children within a backdrop of the Swiss Alps.
Ms. Scovell has great respect for her subject, fairly objective but a little too much the apologist for the reclusive Oona to come to life. The book holds few surprises. It is not a shock to learn Oona had a fairly unhappy childhood with a distant mother and a hard-drinking, volcanic tempered, totally selfish father. I was mildly astonished that Oona was a determined, stubborn, even slightly wild teenager who went to the best schools and was actually Debutante of the Year. Her father disowned her when she married, never to speak to her again though she tried as long as he lived to make amends.
After her lively beginning, it is as if her life's goal had been reached by marrying Charlie, and she could now retreat into invisibility behind the enormous shield of Charlie's egoism. True, she had all those children but seems not so much a mother as a child producer. She enjoyed being pregnant, but didn't seem to take much interest after they arrived. There is a certain kind of woman, Ethel Kennedy comes to mind, that takes enormous pleasure in bringing children into the world as if this affirms their husband's masculinity. I think this was also the attraction for Oona Chaplin.
When Charlie died at a great age, Oona had left over life to live. She drank heavily and was dead of pancreatic cancer fourteen years later. I suspect the drinking was a problem before Charlie died, as he was invalided for many years preceding his death. This surely must have been difficult for Oona who had gone from child bride to caretaker without a serene maturity in between.
Ms. Scovell gets the most that she can out of the material available. Oona O'Neill Chaplin was what our computerized society would call a WYSIWIG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get). She drifted through life in the towering shadow of the fame and renown that only belonged to her father and husband.

12 people found this helpful

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Joan Ruffino

Oona-Living in the Shadows

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2010

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I have often wondered what happened to Oona after Charlie's death. This was a great idea for a book. The book was in excellent condition. I plan to teach a course on Chaplin and I needed this book for my research.

One person found this helpful

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vonne anne heninger

Great read

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2015

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Fascinating bio of Oona and the whole dysfunctional O'Neil family. Having Toured the Tao house made it even more interesting !

2 people found this helpful

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Phil Perry

Mrs. Chaplin

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2017

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Great biography! She was quite a lady!

One person found this helpful

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Elizabeth Seideman

I found Oona interesting but sad, and also the book

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2015

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I found Oona interesting but sad, and also the book. I came to hate Eugene O''Neill who turned out to be a sadistic, mean SOB. Her survival is amazing. That she loved him despite his awful personality is even more surprising. That might be because of her marriage to Chaplin, who obviously replace O"Neill as her father figure as someone to take care of and love , in place of her wretched father. I've seen most of his plays and they sure are as grim as he was!

6 people found this helpful

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rjf

Charlie's Wife

Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2012

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This book tells the love story between Oona and Charlie Chaplin. If you're a fan of Charlie, this book needs to be read as well as his autobiography.

One person found this helpful

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