My name is Jack Stanley, I have studied history for many years. This blog is about history in a more raw view, not over done. I often use original materials to bring a historic event or story to life or an interview I may have done with the person mentioned. If you cook a vegetable too long it loses much. The same can be said of many histories. They are the history of the history written before it. Over done history. THIS IS HISTORY IN THE RAW. Comments send to phonograph78@hotmail.com
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Charlie Chaplin where are you? The story of how Charlie Chaplin's body was stolen!
The unknown Chaplin at the height of his powers...This is what he looked like...We don't usually see him looking like this
Chaplin in a colorized picture as.."The little tramp"
The was a picture from Chaplin's movie "The Great Dictator"...A movie making fun of Adolph Hitler....Hitler was outraged and put Chaplin on a list of people the Third Reich needed to kill
One of the last pictures taken of Chaplin in 1977
The grave of Charlie Chaplin
This was one of the strangest cases of grave robbery ever. Charlie Chaplin breathed his last on December 25, 1977. He was buried near his home in Vevey, Swizerland. He lived in Switzerland as he had been kicked out of the United States in 1952 for his values and political views.
On March 2, 1978 his grave was robbed and his very heavy oak casket was stolen with old Charlie in it. The world was in shock.
Oona Chaplin, Charlie's widow received ransom demands from all over the world from various crazies... It was not till a ransom note with a photo of the dirty coffin was received that the true criminals showed their face.
They demanded 600,000 dollars for the return of the body. Oona Chaplin replied through her lawyers that her husband was dead and she didn't need his body or care where it was.
THE PRICE WAS LOWERED QUITE A BIT AFTER THAT
The ransom was now 250,000 dollars.
Soon they gave up and buried his casket in a farmers cornfield...They tried all kinds of ransoms and they even tried to imply that they would kidnap their children...
After many calls they gave up ...They were all mad cause no one wanted the body back..and they had gone through so much work to secure old Charlie for money...
They tried a few more times for less money..
But the police were monitoring their calls and watching over 200 phone booths in the area.. and they were caught and convicted. A 24 year old Pole and a older Bulgarian. They received 7 years for their dirty and not too smart work.
Charlie was found in the farmers cornfield and returned to his grave and buried in cement....It was comedy that old Charlie might have even found funny.
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