Charlie Chaplin Pickford, and D. W. Griffith to form a new distribution company – United Artists, established in January 1919. The arrangement was revolutionary in the film industry, as it enabled the four partners – all creative artists – to personally fund their pictures and have complete control. Chaplin was eager to start with the new company and offered to buy out his contract with First National. They refused and insisted that he complete the final six films owed. Before the creation of United Artists, Chaplin married for the first time. The 16-year-old actress Mildred Harris had revealed that she was pregnant
Geraldine Chaplin director Carlos Saura, who directed her in several films. They have a son, Shane Saura Chaplin. In 1978 the Chaplin family were the victims of a failed extortion plot by kidnappers who had stolen the body of Charlie Chaplin. Geraldine negotiated with the kidnappers, who had also threatened her infant son. Her second long-term relationship has been with Chilean cinematographer Patricio Castilla whom she married in 2006, and with whom she has a daughter, Oona. , Chaplin maintains a home in Miami, Florida. She also spends time in residences between Madrid, Spain, and Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland (the latter near the former