Lillita McMurray was born in 1908, in Hollywood, California.
Lillita used the name “Lita Grey” while pursuing her acting career in Hollywood. She had a small role in Charlie Chaplin film ‘The Gold Rush’ in 1924.
She married Charles Chaplin Sr. when she was 16 years old on 26 November 1924 in Empalme, Mexico. In May 1925, she had her first child, Charles Jr. By March 1926, she had her second child, Sydney. They divorced in 1927.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/McMurray-236
The Beverly Hillbillies, but did you know that the series idea was based off an actual family who lived in Beverly Hills? They didn’t live in the house that you saw in the series, but they did live in a huge mansion. And the pretty young daughter wasn’t named Elly Mae; her real name was Lita.
The family was the McMurray’s and they moved in and set up housekeeping, much to the horror of the rest of the community. They were complete with the rust-bucket truck, the mouthy bossy mother-in-law, the drunken uncle, and all the rest that generally makes for a house of horrible neighbors. The television series cleaned up the family considerably so the audience would love them, and we did. Jed, Granny, Jethro, Elly Mae, all became household names in America.
But the originals, the McMurray’s that the series idea came from; well, they were anything but loveable. Why did Hollywood put up with such a rowdy dirty bunch? Well, because they pretty much had to.
You see, It’s a Little Known Fact that one of Hollywood’s greatest performers and richest men had a short one night tryst with the daughter Lita, who was an extra on the set of one of his movies. Three months later it was learned that she was pregnant. That’s when the star learned two things for the first time. One, he was about to be a father, and two, Lita was only 16 and underage.
The star tried to get out of it with a bribe of nearly $1 million dollars, rather than go to jail for statutory rape, but the girl’s mother insisted on him doing the honorable thing, and sure enough he did. The marriage only lasted two years, but during that time, The Beverly Hillbillies were a reality, right down to the cranky banker who lived next door.
Later, the wild tales of that family became the idea for the famed television series.
The only thing left out of the series was the star himself, the man that married little Elly Mae’s real life inspiration, Lita, and that man was Charlie Chaplin.
https://edmondlifeandleisure.com/the-real-life-beverly-hillbillies-p6315-83.htm
