Charlie Chaplin

- an Astroprofile

Charles Chaplin is one of the greatest entertainers of our times.  He is a legend and one of the icons of American Cinema. This was one of the compelling reasons to study his chart and see his life events from Astrological perspective. Since Moon occupies Lagna in his case, the effects of each house, planet and bhava karakas get amplified as they get the same reference from both the Lagna and the Moon. This reduces the complexity of the chart and renders it easier for the beginners to understand his chart better. Hence, it would be an interesting case to study and understand his life through an Astro-Lense.

Information about his life has been obtained from the following site:

http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Chaplin%2C_Charles

The above site gives his birth details taken from his biography. The birth time is given as 20:00 hrs., with a rating of ‘B’. This author has rectified the birth time to 19:51:05 hrs. using his own BTR technique. Exalted Sun has been taken as the strongest planet in the chart for the purpose of birth time rectification. As Sun is also the lord of 11^th house (of multiplicity), one could see prominent effects of multiplicity in the life of Charlie, in many spheres of his life.

First of all, this is a strong chart as three of the four kendras are occupied and Sun is in exaltation and Moon is more than 72 degrees away from the Sun. Both Sun and Moon occupy Kendras. Any chart with strong Sun and Moon can be considered as a strong chart. Because of this, most of the combinations or yogas will produce desired results for the native. Some of the important yogas seen in the chart are:

1.       Ruchaka Yoga: Mars occupies a Kendra sitting in its Moola Trikona sign. This makes the native a born leader, enterprising and bold

2.       Chandra Mangala Yoga: mutual aspect of Mars and Moon. This makes the native worldly wise and successful.

3.       Vidyut Yoga: Exalted 11^th lord with Venus in a Kendra. This makes the native wealthy and pleasure-loving.

4.       Raja Yoga: Conjunction of Lagna lord Venus and 7^th lord Mars. This makes the native successful and high achiever.

5.       Vipareeta Raja Yoga: 12^th lord Mercury in the 6^th house. This makes the native successful, possibly at the cost of others.

6.       Parijata Yoga: Lagna lord Venus, its dispositor Mars and Mar’s Rasi and Navamsha dispositors are all in exaltation or own signs. This makes the native a strong, prosperous and kind person.

Now, to some of the important events in his life. It is said that Charlie took to the stage for the first time at the age of five and that was the beginning of his long journey of entertainment and cinema.  At that age, he was running Jup-Jup period. It may be noted that Jupiter occupies 3H of entertainment in his chart. Jupiter is also the lord of 3^rd house. It is the same house from Moon also as Moon occupies lagna. As third house could indicate many other things, why did he take to acting alone? The clue comes from the fact  that Jupiter is in the nakshatra of Venus that represents fine arts. And, Jupiter disposits Rahu             (media/cinema) in its nakshatra. Thus Jupiter draws energy from both Venus and Rahu and launched  Charlie on to stage life and media glare.

It is also known that his father was a drunkard and didn’t take care of his family. Father can be seen both from the 9^th and the 10^th houses. It may be seen that both 9^th and 10^th houses host natural malefics Rahu and Saturn. Though Saturn is a yogakaraka in his chart, he will not do good to father as it is well know that he is an enemy of Sun, the karaka for father. Though Sun is exalted, it may be noted that Sun is in the nakshatra of Ketu thus having the relationship snapped. Moreover, 9^th lord Mercury is in the sign of debilitation though has crossed the deep debilitation point. Not only that the shadbala of Mercury is as low as 64! Mars the functional malefic in the chart is conjunct Sun (karaka for father), and aspects both 10^th house and 10^th lord Moon! Hence, it is a very strong indication that he did not have the pleasure of having the care and protection from his father. And, her mother’s health was not good for a long period of time. It may be noted that the functional malefic Mars aspects both 4^th lord Saturn and Karaka for Mother Moon. Moon is also in the nakshatra of Rahu.

He first went to USA during 1910 and lived there for a long 42 years of stage and cinema career! In 1910, he was running Sat-Sat period. Saturn occupies 10^th house of karma/profession and also sits in the constellation of 9^th lord (long journey) and 12^th lord (abroad) Mercury. As Saturn is also a Yogakara, he earned good name and fame during Saturn dasha. His media life continued during Mercury and Ketu periods. It may be noted that both Mercury and Ketu are disposited by Jupiter, during which period he came on to this profession.

His relationships and marriages need a special mention as he married as many as four times and to the girls who where much younger than him. He had a weakness for young beauties! That may be seen from the fact that both Venus and Mars occupy the seventh house. Conjunction of Mars and Venus also makes one a passionate lover. Following is a list of his four wives and their ages and their age difference with him at the time of their marriage:

Wife                    Married Year     Her age      His age     Age difference

Mildred Harris       1918                 16               29            13 years

Lita Gray               1924                 16               35            19 years

Paulette Goddard   1935                 19               46            27 years

Eugene O'Neil        1943                 18               54             36 years

His chart has the perfect combination for marriage with a big age difference with wife. It may be seen from the combined influence of Moon, Saturn and Rahu on his UL (Upapada Lagna), occupying the sign of Caner. For details of this combination, one may look into http://astrokrishna.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html. And, 7th house and 7^th lord Mars are aspected by Karaka of multiplicity Jupiter. Also, 11^th lord (of multiplicity) occupies 7^th house and conjunct 7^th lord Mars. To top this, the 7^th house in his navamsha chart (D9) has Jupiter, the karaka for multiplicity! Hence, there is a very strong indication of multiple marriages for him. Also, presence of Sun in the 7^th house is said to be detrimental to married life. That could be the reason for three broken marriages.

He had his first child during 1919, which was born with deformity and died just three days after birth.  This was during Sat-Sun period. In his Saptamsha chart (D7), first child can be seen from Taurus (5^th from Saptamsha lagna). D7 Taurus has both Saturn, Sun and they are afflicted by debilitated Rahu and Ketu! As his 5th house co-lord Rahu is in the nakshatra of karaka for multiplicity, Jupiter and occupies a mutable sign, he had as many as ten more children later, of them eight from his last wife alone!

In 1953, he bought an 18^th century mansion in Switzerland overlooking the Lake Geneva. This was during his Ven-Ven period. Venus is in own nakshatra and closely conjunct Mars (karaka for landed property). Mars disposits Venus in Rasi and Venus disposits Mars in the constellation. Hence, there is a very close sambandha between Venus and Mars. This Mars, Venus conjunction is closely aspected by yogakaraka Saturn who is also the lord of 4^th house (landed property). And, Saturn is in the nakshatra of 12 lord (foreign land) Mercury.

He died peacefully in his sleep around 4:00 am in the morning on December 25, 1977, at the age of 88 years. This date corresponds to vimshottari dasha period of Sun-Ven. Both Sun and Venus occupy the marakasthana, the 7^th house. Venus is also the 8^th lord of longevity. Most importantly, Venus is the lord of 64^th navamsha and Sun occupies the 64^th navamsha. It is well known that the planet associated with 64^th navamsha plays an important role in the longevity of the native.

© Krishnamurthy Seetharama