Edna Purviance (October 21, 1895 – January 11, 1958)

January 11, 2005 was the 48th anniversary of Enda Purviance’s death. Charlie Chaplin’s most perfect leading lady, Edna was so beautiful and so loveable that she was just as attractive on screen as the Tramp was, a hard feat to accomplish. Angelic and uncomplicated, hers was a style and allure that is timeless. She co-starred with Charlie in over 20 films, including the achingly romantic The Immigrant (1917), and the action-packed and heart-breaking The Vagabond (1916). She also starred in the Tramp’s first full-length feature film The Kid (1921), and then in her own feature (Chaplin’s dramatic piece, which he directed but did not star in) A Woman of Paris (1923).

Edna was also Charlie’s muse in real life for some time, and is often said to have been one of Chaplin’s three great loves. Unfortunately, upset by his addiction to his work, she attempted to gain his attention by flirting with other men, and this led to their breakup in 1917. By the time they may have patched up the relationship, he had already been forced into marriage with the reportedly (but falsely) pregnant starlet Mildred Harris. Edna retired from films in 1926 when problems with weight and an increasingly alarming drinking habit made it impossible for her to play the ingénue as she once did, but Chaplin kept her on the Studios payroll until her death, recognizing both her extreme value to him personally, but also her role in the creation of the Tramp as a romantic and heroic figure. It was Edna who inspired, as much as it was Chaplin who designed, the Tramp’s key character change in 1915’s The Tramp. Edna could have inspired just about anyone to romance and valour.