Posted by Greg Throughton
Reich caravan taps owners may be interested to hear that silent movie star Charlie Chaplin started life in a caravan in the Midlands.
A letter, written to Chaplin in the 1970s, has come to light which claims he was born on the "black patch" near Birmingham rather than in London as previously thought.
It stated that the British actor's claim that he was born in London was wrong and instead claimed his birth, on April 16, 1889, was in a caravan in the town of Smethwick, in central England.
The letter was found after Chaplin's daughter had a locksmith open her father's desk drawer, which had remained locked since his death in 1977.
It was sent by Jack Hill, of Tamworth, who says that he knew about the British actor's real background from his aunt.
Mr Hill wrote: "The caravan belonged to the Gypsy Queen, who was my auntie. You were born on the Black Patch in Smethwick near Birmingham."
The letter will be included in a radio documentary about the actor's life and is currently kept in a bomb-proof vault in Switzerland, where his relatives live.
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