Charlie Chaplin’s 2,000-page Bureau file shows that, as a result of his left-wing beliefs, the FBI conducted lengthy investigations into his politics and his sex life, including pursuing leads offered by anonymous sources, clairvoyants and gossip columnists. Destroying Chaplin’s iconic status became an obsession for the Bureau, who reached out to MI5 for help trying to dig dirt, though the British found nothing indicating he was a Communist, let alone a Soviet spy. In September 1952, Chaplin and his family left the US to go on a European tour to promote his new film, and, after consulting with Hoover, the Attorney General revoked Chaplin’s re-entry permit, banning him from the country. Even though the Bureau’s files concede that they had no evidence that could be presented in court to justify barring him from re-entering the US, Chaplin decided not to contest the decision and lived the final 25 years of his life in Switzerland. He did not return to America until 20 years later. In short, the FBI quietly ended the career of the greatest comedian of all time on the false grounds that he was a Communist.

from National Security Cinema by Alford & Secker [PDF]