# Mildred Harris
**Mildred Harris** (born Mildred Leontine Anna Harris; November 29, 1901 – July 20, 1944) was an American film actress whose career ran from child roles in the early 1910s through silent-era leading parts to uncredited bit roles in the 1940s. She is also remembered as the first wife of [Charlie Chaplin](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-chaplin), whom she married in 1918 when she was a teenager and he was 29.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365121/bio/) • [2](https://www.variety.silentera.com/people/actresses/Harris-Mildred.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | November 29, 1901, Cheyenne, Wyoming; July 20, 1944, Hollywood, California, of pneumonia[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365121/bio/) |
| Birth name | Mildred Leontine Anna Harris; also billed as Mildred Harris Chaplin[2](https://www.variety.silentera.com/people/actresses/Harris-Mildred.html) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/113107-Mildred-Harris) |
| Early fame | Child roles from 1912; Dorothy in *The Patchwork Girl of Oz*, Fluff in *The Magic Cloak of Oz*, and Button-Bright in *His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz* (all 1914)[4](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/113107-Mildred-Harris) |
| Marriage to Chaplin | Married October 23, 1918; son Norman Spencer Chaplin born July 7, 1919 and died three days later; divorced 1920 or April 4, 1921 (sources differ)[2](https://www.variety.silentera.com/people/actresses/Harris-Mildred.html) |
| Sound-era work | Appeared in Universal's first all-talking picture, *Melody of Love* (1928); praised for *No, No, Nanette* (1930)[5](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/mildred-harris/) • [4](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/) |
| Output | Appeared as a juvenile, ingenue, or bit player in over 40 films, six of them directed by Lois Weber[6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/harris-mildred-1901-1944) |
| Honors | Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6307 Hollywood Blvd., ceremony February 8, 1960[4](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/) |
## Early career
Harris was born in [Cheyenne, Wyoming](https://www.edgepedia.org/cheyenne-wyoming). Her first screen appearance came at age eleven in the 1912 Western short *The Post Telegrapher*, directed by Francis Ford and [Thomas H. Ince](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-h-ince), and she followed it with juvenile roles, often appearing opposite the child actor Paul Willis.[4](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/) Other accounts place her debut at age nine, or say she began at age ten and became a child star.[6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/harris-mildred-1901-1944) • [5](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/mildred-harris/)
In 1914 the Oz Film Manufacturing Company hired her for three Oz pictures: she played Fluff of the Golden Hair in *The Magic Cloak of Oz*, Button-Bright in *His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz*, and Dorothy in *The Patchwork Girl of Oz*.[4](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/) • [3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/113107-Mildred-Harris) In 1916 she appeared as a harem girl, credited as "Favorite of the Harem," in [D. W. Griffith](https://www.edgepedia.org/d-w-griffith)'s epic *Intolerance*.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/113107-Mildred-Harris)
## Silent-era leading roles
Through the 1920s Harris played leading ladies opposite performers including Conrad Nagel, Milton Sills, Lionel Barrymore, Rod La Rocque, and the Moore brothers, Owen and Tom.[4](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/) Her credits from the period include *The Price of a Good Time* (1917), *For Husbands Only* (1918), and *The Doctor and the Woman* (1918), all directed by Lois Weber, one of the few women directing features at the time; Encyclopedia.com counts six Weber films among her more than 40 appearances.[6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/harris-mildred-1901-1944) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365121/bio/) She also appeared in [Frank Capra](https://www.edgepedia.org/frank-capra)'s silent drama *The Power of the Press* (1928) with [Douglas Fairbanks](https://www.edgepedia.org/douglas-fairbanks), Jr. and Jobyna Ralston.[4](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/)
After her divorce she was billed as Mildred Harris Chaplin in several films, including *The Inferior Sex* (1920), *Old Dad* (1920), and *Polly of the Storm Country* (1920).[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/113107-Mildred-Harris)
## Marriage to Charlie Chaplin
Harris met Charlie Chaplin, then the most famous movie star in the world, at a party at [Samuel Goldwyn](https://www.edgepedia.org/samuel-goldwyn)'s beach house in the fall of 1917, when she was an aspiring teenage actress.[7](https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/comedy/split-personalities) • [8](https://www.chaplinalife.com/photo_essays/07.html) They married on October 23, 1918 after she believed she was pregnant; the pregnancy proved a false alarm, though she did later bear Chaplin's first child.[2](https://www.variety.silentera.com/people/actresses/Harris-Mildred.html) • [9](https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/articles/220) Sources differ on her age at the wedding: the Silent Era site calls her a 16-year-old bride, IMDb states she was not yet 17, and the Charlie Chaplin Archive describes her as 17.[2](https://www.variety.silentera.com/people/actresses/Harris-Mildred.html) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365121/bio/) • [9](https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/articles/220)
Her son, Norman Spencer Chaplin, was born on July 7, 1919 with severe disabilities and died three days later.[2](https://www.variety.silentera.com/people/actresses/Harris-Mildred.html) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365121/bio/) The marriage deteriorated, and Harris sued for divorce at about nineteen. The divorce was acrimonious; her petition reportedly recounted Chaplin's affairs in detail, and she obtained a settlement reported at $200,000.[7](https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/comedy/split-personalities) • [10](https://discover.hubpages.com/literature/Interview-with-Charlie-Chaplin) The divorce decree date is itself disputed: Silent Era and IMDb give April 4, 1921, while Encyclopedia.com and the Chaplin fan site date the divorce to 1920.[2](https://www.variety.silentera.com/people/actresses/Harris-Mildred.html) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365121/bio/) • [6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/harris-mildred-1901-1944) • [9](https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/articles/220)
The episode fed directly into Chaplin's work. Ten days after the child's burial he was auditioning babies at his studio, and the experience fed into *[The Kid](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-kid-1921-film)* (1921), in which the Tramp becomes surrogate father to an abandoned child.[11](https://charliechaplin.com/en/films/4-The-Circus/articles/3-Filming-The-Kid) Harris is listed in the film's history credits under her married name, Mildred Harris Chaplin.[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/113107-Mildred-Harris)
## Later life and sound-era work
Harris's career slowed with the arrival of sound films, though she appeared in Universal's first all-talking picture, *Melody of Love*, released in 1928, and was critically praised for *No, No, Nanette* in 1930.[5](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/mildred-harris/) • [4](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/) She married twice more: Everett Terrence McGovern from 1924 to 1930, with one child, and William Peter Fleckenstein from March 10, 1934 until her death.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365121/bio/) • [2](https://www.variety.silentera.com/people/actresses/Harris-Mildred.html)
In the early 1940s she took small, often uncredited parts, including a dancing lady in [Cecil B. DeMille](https://www.edgepedia.org/cecil-b-demille)'s *Reap the Wild Wind* (1942), a Dutch nurse in *[The Story of Dr. Wassell](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-story-of-dr-wassell)* (1944), and the wife of a Marine colonel in *Hail the Conquering Hero* (1944).[3](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/113107-Mildred-Harris) • [12](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365121/) Her last appearance was in *Having Wonderful Crime*, released posthumously in 1945.[4](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/)
She died of pneumonia in Hollywood on July 20, 1944, at age 42, following abdominal surgery.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365121/bio/) • [6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/harris-mildred-1901-1944) The Los Angeles Times obituary of July 21, 1944 described her as one of Hollywood's most publicized figures of the silent days and one of its highest paid stars.[5](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/mildred-harris/)
## Legacy
Harris received a motion pictures star on the [Hollywood Walk of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-walk-of-fame) at 6307 [Hollywood Boulevard](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-boulevard), dedicated on February 8, 1960.[4](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/) In 1992 she was portrayed by [Milla Jovovich](https://www.edgepedia.org/milla-jovovich) in Richard Attenborough's biographical film *Chaplin*, in which her marriage and divorce figure in the story of *The Kid*'s creation.[4](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/) • [13](https://escholarship.org/content/qt6xr6r3nd/qt6xr6r3nd_noSplash_d51080e4636d1f0f03a48d8ce1fc08b9.pdf?t=oeisnt)
## References
1. [Mildred Harris – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365121/bio/)
2. [Mildred Harris, Silent Era: People](https://www.variety.silentera.com/people/actresses/Harris-Mildred.html)
3. [Mildred Harris, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Person/113107-Mildred-Harris)
4. [Mildred Harris, Hollywood Walk of Fame](https://walkoffame.com/mildred-harris/)
5. [Mildred Harris, Hollywood Star Walk, Los Angeles Times](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/mildred-harris/)
6. [Harris, Mildred (1901–1944), Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/harris-mildred-1901-1944)
7. [Split Personalities, Lapham's Quarterly](https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/comedy/split-personalities)
8. [Chaplin: A Life – Photo Essay: Mildred Harris](https://www.chaplinalife.com/photo_essays/07.html)
9. [Charlie Chaplin's Wives, CharlieChaplin.com](https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/articles/220)
10. [Interview with Charlie Chaplin, Discover HubPages](https://discover.hubpages.com/literature/Interview-with-Charlie-Chaplin)
11. [Filming The Kid, CharlieChaplin.com](https://charliechaplin.com/en/films/4-The-Circus/articles/3-Filming-The-Kid)
12. [Mildred Harris, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0365121/)
13. [Portrayal of Chaplin's wives in Chaplin (1992), eScholarship](https://escholarship.org/content/qt6xr6r3nd/qt6xr6r3nd_noSplash_d51080e4636d1f0f03a48d8ce1fc08b9.pdf?t=oeisnt)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Silent-era and early-cinema performers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license