Charles Coleman (actor)

Charles Coleman

Danielle Darrieux and Charles Coleman in The Rage of Paris (1938)
Born Charles Pearce Coleman
(1885-12-22)December 22, 1885
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died March 8, 1951(1951-03-08) (aged 65)
Woodland Hills, California, United States
Occupation Actor
Years active 1915–1949

Charles Coleman (December 22, 1885 – March 8, 1951) was an Australian-born American character actor of the silent and sound film eras.

Biography

Coleman began his film career in the 1915 silent film, The Mummy and the Humming Bird, which was also the screen debut of Charles Cherry, a noted stage actor.[1] In his over 200 performances in films, he would appear in over half of them as either a butler, doorman/concierge, valet, or waiter.[2] The 1930s would see Coleman appear in such notable films as Beyond Victory (1931), starring Bill Boyd and James Gleason,[3] the Wheeler & Woolsey comedy Diplomaniacs (1933),[4] 1934's Born to Be Bad which starred Loretta Young and Cary Grant,[5] the 1934 version of Of Human Bondage starring Bette Davis and Leslie Howard,[6] the first film to star the pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, The Gay Divorcee (1935),[7] the first feature-length film to be shot entirely in Technicolor, Becky Sharp,[8] 1936's Magnificent Obsession starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor,[9] the Spencer Tracy vehicle, Captains Courageous (1937),[10] The Prince and the Pauper (1937), starring Errol Flynn and Claude Rains,[11] and the Reginald Owen version of A Christmas Carol (1938).[12]

The 1940s would see Coleman's prolific career continue, including roles in many more notable films. Among these were: Buck Privates (1941), the first film starring the comedy duo of Abbott and Costello;[13] 1943's Du Barry Was a Lady, starring Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, and Gene Kelly;[14] Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine in the 1944 version of Jane Eyre;[15] the 1945 film The Picture of Dorian Gray, with George Sanders, Donna Reed, Angela Lansbury, and Peter Lawford;[16] and the 1949 comedy A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, starring Bing Crosby and Rhonda Fleming.[17]

The last film Coleman would work on was the Gene Autry vehicle, The Blazing Sun, which was released in November 1950.[18] Double Dynamite, starring Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, and Frank Sinatra, would be the final film released in which he would appear, which would premiere in New York City on Christmas Day 1951. Coleman had worked on the film in 1948, but it was shelved for several years by Howard Hughes, and not released until after Coleman's death.[19] Coleman died of a stroke on March 8, 1951,[20] and was cremated and interred at Chapel Of The Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.[21]

Filmography

(Per AFI database)[22]

References

  1. ↑ "The Mummy and the Humming Bird". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Charles Coleman: Complete Filmography". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Beyond Victory". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Diplomaniacs". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Born to Be Bad". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Of Human Bondage". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ "The Gay Divorcee". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Becky Sharp". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Magnificent Obsession". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Captains Courageous". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ "The Prince and the Pauper". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  12. ↑ "A Christmas Carol". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Buck Privates". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Du Barry Was a Lady". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Jane Eyre". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  16. ↑ "The Picture of Dorian Gray". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  17. ↑ "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  18. ↑ "The Blazing Sun". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Double Dynamite". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Charles Coleman". The Bazar Movie. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Charles Pearce Coleman". Find a Grave. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Charles Coleman". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
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