Mary Louise Baker (née Gribble; May 24, 1920 – October 1, 2007), known professionally as Joan Barry, was an American woman who won a paternity suit in California in 1943 against Charlie Chaplin.

[6] Other sources suggest that after a concerted effort by Chaplin and his studio to prepare Barry for the lead in Shadows, including orthodontic work and participation at the Max Reinhardt Workshop for acting, Chaplin lost his patience with Barry as an actress after she repeatedly missed classes and developed a drinking problem.

[8] After Barry gave birth to a girl, Carol Ann, on October 2, 1943,[2]: 205f  her mother filed a paternity suit against Chaplin.

[citation needed] The following year, when she was 33, Time noted that Barry was "admitted to Patton State Hospital... after she was found walking the streets barefoot, carrying a pair of baby sandals and a child's ring, and murmuring: 'This is magic'.

[13][14] She is featured as a character in Wieland Schwanebeck's play Slapstick (2021), a comedy based on the encounter between Orson Welles and Charlie Chaplin that led to the film Monsieur Verdoux (1947).