Charles Dana Gibson (1867 - 1944)

Artist. Born the son of an amateur artist in Roxbury, Massachusetts, he learned silhouette cutting from his father at an early age. He attended the Art Students League School in Manhattan for two years before he started plying his trade as a freelance artist, selling sketches to Life Magazine. Harper’s Weekly, Scribners and Colliers Magazine. […]

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

Charles Robert Darwin, (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors, and in a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern […]

Charles de Gaulle (1890 - 1970)

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was the dominant military and political leader of France for much of the period from 1940 to 1969. As an army colonel, in 1940 he bravely had some success against the Nazis, when other French units were suffering losses. Refusing to accept […]

Charles Demuth (1883 - 1935)

Painter. An outstanding watercolorist, he later pioneered abstract art in the United States with a style called Precisionism. His most famous painting, “The Figure 5 in Gold” (1928), was a forerunner of the Pop Art movement and greatly influenced such figures as Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns. Demuth was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he […]

Charles Denner (1926 - 1995)

Denner was born in 1926 in the city of Tarnów in south-eastern Poland, before emigrating with his family to France at the age of four. During World War II, his family took refuge in Brive-la-Gaillarde, where they were helped by Rabbi David Feuerwerker. During WWII Charles Denner was a Free French partisan in the Vercors […]

Charles DeWolf Brownell (1822 - 1909)

Artist.  He was raised in Connecticut and became an attorney in 1843.  In the early 1850s an illness led Brownell to give up practicing law for a career as a painter.  In 1854 he received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Hartford’s Trinity College.  After several years of study, in 1860 Brownell established a […]

Charles Dickson (1970 - 1927)

Actor, he sometimes is credited as Charles Doblin. He appeared in the original stage productions of “The Wife” (1887), “The Vanderbilt Cup” (1906), “Mistakes Will Happen” (1906), “The Hundredth Man” (1913) and “The Great Gatsby” (1926), as well as others. His film work includes performing in “The Little Miss Brown” (1915), “The Siren’s Song” (1915), […]

Charles Dingle (1887 - 1956)

Actor. He began is career in the 1930s, on the Broadway stage and made his film debut in “Double Talk” (1937), followed by “Du Barry Did All Right” (1937). A veteran of over 50 feature films, he was best noted for portraying nasties and villains. Some of his most memorable roles were as Ben Hubbard […]

Charles Drake (1917 - 1994)

Drake was born as Charles Ruppert in New York City. He graduated from Nichols College and became a salesman. In 1939, he turned to acting and signed a contract with Warner Brothers. He was not immediately successful. During World War II Drake served in the United States Army. Drake returned to Hollywood in 1945, his […]

Charles Dubin (1919 - 2011)

Charles Dubin (February 1, 1919 – September 5, 2011) was an American film and television director. From the early 1950s to 1991, Dubin worked in television, directing episodes of Tales of Tomorrow, Omnibus, The Defenders, The Big Valley, The Virginian, Hawaii Five-O, M*A*S*H, Matlock, The Rockford Files, Murder, She Wrote and among other notable series. […]

Charles Dullin (1885 - 1949)

Actor. Born Charles Edouard François Marie Dullin in Yenne, France, he began his career in the French theatre as a performer and producer. In 1919, he made his big screen debut in the silent film “Ames d’orient”, followed by “The Secret of Rosette Lambert” (1920). A veteran of many films, his credits include “Misdeal” (1928), […]

Charles Durning (1923 - 2012)

Durning was born in Highland Falls, New York, the ninth of ten children. His three brothers and sister, James (Roger) (1915–2000), Clifford (1916–1994), Frances (born 1919) and Gerald (born 1926), survived to adulthood but five sisters lost their lives to scarlet fever and smallpox as children. He was the son of Louise (née Leonard; 1894–1982), […]

Charles E. Fredericks (1918 - 1970)

American motion picture and television actor of the 1950s and 60s. Appeared in the 1962 classic film drama “To Kill a Mockingbird.” (bio by: A.J. Marik) Cause of death: Heart attack

Charles E. Mack (1887 - 1934)

Stage, screen, vaudeville and radio actor. He was in the “Moran and Mack” comedy team with George Moran. They were usually referred to as the “Two Black Crows.”

Charles E. Scripps (1920 - 2007)

Media Mogul. He was known as the newspaperman’s newspaperman. He was the grandson of E.W. Scripps who founded in 1878, the newspaper that grew into the Cincinnati based media enterprise, The E.W. Scripps Company. As board chairman from 1953 to 1994, he presided over the company’s growth as a newspaper publisher into other forms of […]

Charles Eaton (1910 - 2004)

With his sister Doris Eaton Travis, Eaton made his Broadway debut in the 1918 version of Mother Carey’s Chickens. In a 1928 Broadway production called Skidding, which ran for 472 performances, Eaton created the role of Andy Hardy. Eaton acted in ten Broadway shows in total, including The Awakening and The Ziegfeld Follies of 1921, […]

Charles Edward Ashburner (1870 - 1932)

Pioneering City Manager. When he, a civil engineer, became “general manager” for Staunton, Virginia, he became the first city manager in the first city with a fully defined city manager system. He served as city manager of Staunton from 1908 to 1911, Springfield, Ohio in 1914, Norfolk, Virginia in 1918; and Stockton, California in 1923. […]

Charles Edward Bull (1881 - 1971)

Actor. A real-life Judge working for the Justice of the Peace in Reno, Nevada, he appeared in “Abe Lincoln” 1927, “Heart of Maryland” and “The Iron Horse”.  Family links:  Parents:  Samuel Middleton Bull (1853 – 1938)  Spouse:  Ada Grace Bull (1889 – 1964)  Siblings:  Infant Daughter Bull (1878 – 1878)*  Charles Edward Bull (1881 – […]

Charles Elwood Brown (1834 - 1904)

Charles Elwood Brown (July 4, 1834 – May 22, 1904) was a U.S. Representative from Ohio. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Brown attended the common schools and Greenfield Academy, He was graduated from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1854. He went south and, while serving as tutor at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, studied law. He was admitted to […]

Charles Emile Heil (1870 - 1950)

Artist. Specialized on painting and etching of birds. Today his work can be seen in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Art in Washington DC. (bio by: Laurie)

Charles Emmett Mack (1900 - 1927)

Actor. He was discovered by director D. W. Griffith, who cast him in his films “Dream Street” (1921), “One Exciting Night” (1922), “The White Rose” (1923), and “America” (1924). Mack later joined Warner Bros. and seemed destined for stardom when he was killed in a car crash while filming “The First Auto” (1927). He is […]

Charles Esdale (1970 - 1937)

Actor. He appeared in the films “Carry On Sergeant” (1928), “Summer Bachelors” (1926), and “Soul-Fire” (1925).

Charles Eyton (1871 - 1941)

Charles Eyton was the son of Henry and Eleanor Eyton. His sisters were singer/actress Vera (Veronica) Doria and writer Alice Eyton, who died of burns in 1929 after her masquerade costume was accidentally set alight. In 1900 Charles Eyton married Anna S. Cole. They were divorced in May 1901. On 3 September 1908, Charles Eyton married actress […]

Charles Feltman (1841 - 1910)

Businessman. A German immigrant, he was a catalyst in the development of Brooklyn, New York City’s Coney Island as an entertainment resort and an amusement park. Among his enduring innovations was the creation of the classic American “hot dog”, as he was the first to sell the popular sausages on a bun.

Charles Fenton Mercer “Pete Whetstone” Noland (1970 - 1858)

Western Literary Figure. Born on August 23, 1810, in Aldie, Virginia, he was an orator most noted for writing yarns of rural frontier life under the pen name “Pete Whetstone”. After some time at West point, he studied law and became a lawyer in 1825. He entered into Arkansas politics, but after he killed Governor […]

Charles Fernley Fawcett (1915 - 2008)

Actor, Filmmaker, Soldier. Co-founder of the International Medical Corps (IMC). The orphaned Fawcett, younger brother and two sisters, were raised by two aunts in Greenville, South Carolina. As a free-spirited young teenager, he began his life as an adventurer by working on steamships and traveling to the Far East. After a brief return to the […]

Charles Francis Adams, Sr (1807 - 1886)

US Congressman, US Diplomat.  The son of 6th United States President John Quincy Adams and grandson of 2nd United States President John Adams, he spent much of his early life traveling with his parents in Europe.  He returned in his adolescence to attend school in Boston, Massachusetts, graduating from Harvard University in 1825. He was […]

Charles Francis Blair, Jr (1909 - 1978)

United States Army Officer, Author. He served first in the the United States Army Air Corps, then the United States Air Force, rising to the rank of Brigadier General. His long career in military and commerical aviation was highlighted by his making the first solo crossing of the North Pole in a single engine plane. […]

Charles Fraser (1782 - 1860)

Artist. When a small child of nine Fraser’s parents died and he was raised by his older brother Frederick. In childhood his desire was to become a painter and it became his passion in life. But the profession, at that time was considered unworthy of a gentleman and no doubt his guardians felt it a […]

Charles Frederick Gunther (1837 - 1920)

Businessman. He was a confectionery manufacturing magnate who created the “Cracker Jacks” confection, and is credited with introducing caramel to the American populace. A native of Germany, he founded a candy business in Chicago, Illinois that was completely destroyed by the 1871 Chicago Fire. He rebuilt the business with an even larger candy factory, which […]