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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
December 20, 1869
Died
February 2, 1956
Place of Birth
Xenia, Ohio, USA
Also Known As
- Charles Ellsworth Grapewin
- Charles Grapewin
Charley Grapewin
0.7 Popularity
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Charles Ellsworth Grapewin (December 20, 1869 – February 2, 1956) was an American vaudeville performer, writer and a stage and silent and sound actor, and comedian who was best known for portraying Aunt Em's husband, Uncle Henry in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's The Wizard of Oz (1939) as well as Grandpa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Jeeter Lester in Tobacco Road (1941). He usually portrayed elderly folksy-type characters in a rustic setting, in all appearing in over 100 films. He was the oldest cast member of The Wizard of Oz. Born in Xenia, Ohio, Charles Ellsworth Grapewin ran away from home to be a circus acrobat which led him to work as an aerialist and trapeze artist in a traveling circus before turning to acting. He traveled all over the world with the famous P. T. Barnum circus. Grapewin also appeared in the original 1903 Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz, 36 years before he would appear in the famous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film version. After this he continued in theatre, on and offstage, for the next thirty years, starting with various stock companies, and wrote stage plays as a vehicle for himself. His sole Broadway theatre credit was the short-lived play It's Up to You John Henry in 1905. Grapewin married actress Anna Chance (1875–1943) in 1896, and they remained a devoted couple until her death some 47 years later. Two years after his first wife's death, Grapewin married Loretta McGowan Becker on Jan 10, 1945. Grapewin began in silent films at the turn of the twentieth century. His very first films were two "moving image shorts" made by Frederick S. Armitage and released in November 1900; Chimmie Hicks at the Races (also known as Above the Limit) and Chimmie Hicks and the Rum Omelet, both shot in September and October 1900 and released in November of that year. During his long career, Grapewin appeared in more than one hundred films, including The Good Earth, The Grapes of Wrath, Tobacco Road, and in what is probably his best-remembered role: Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz. He also had a recurring role as Inspector Queen in the Ellery Queen film series of the early 1940s. Grapewin died of natural causes in Corona, California at age 86, and his ashes are interred with his wife's in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, at the Great Mausoleum's Columbarium of Inspiration.
Known For
8.7
Uncle Henry (archive footage)
The Dark Side of the Rainbow
2000
10.0
(archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
6.9
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
6.3
Mr. Bane in 'Libeled Lady' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
6.5
Grandpa Reed
When I Grow Up
1951
4.5
Doug
Sand
1949
0.0
Grandpa
The Enchanted Valley
1948
5.6
Rancher Inskip
Gunfighters
1947
5.0
Jake Taylor
Atlantic City
1944
6.3
Benjamin L. Pidgeon, Bellboy
The Impatient Years
1944
Credits
The Dark Side of the Rainbow
as Uncle Henry (archive footage)
2000
8.7
Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage)
1984
10.0
That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)
1976
6.9
The Big Parade of Comedy
as Mr. Bane in 'Libeled Lady' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1964
6.3
When I Grow Up
as Grandpa Reed
1951
6.5
Sand
as Doug
1949
4.5
The Enchanted Valley
as Grandpa
1948
0.0
Gunfighters
as Rancher Inskip
1947
5.6
Atlantic City
as Jake Taylor
1944
5.0
The Impatient Years
as Benjamin L. Pidgeon, Bellboy
1944
6.3
Follow the Boys
as Nick West
1944
5.3
Crash Dive
as Pop
1943
6.3
Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen
as Inspector Richard Queen
1942
5.5
A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen
as Insp. Queen
1942
5.7
A Close Call for Ellery Queen
as Insp. Queen
1942
5.2
They Died with Their Boots On
as California Joe
1941
6.6
Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring
as Insp. Queen
1941
5.7
Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime
as Insp. Queen
1941
5.8
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
as Insp. Queen
1941
5.3
Tobacco Road
as Jeeter Lester
1941
6.6
The Texas Rangers Ride Again
as Ben Caldwalder
1940
5.5
Ellery Queen, Master Detective
as Insp. Queen
1940
5.5
Rhythm on the River
as Uncle Caleb
1940
6.8
Earthbound
as Mr. Whimser
1940
4.0
Johnny Apollo
as Judge Emmett T. Brennan
1940
6.8
The Grapes of Wrath
as Grandpa Joad
1940
7.8
Sabotage
as Major Matt Grayson
1939
7.0
Hero for a Day
as Uncle Frank "Lucky" Higgins
1939
0.0
Dust Be My Destiny
as Pop
1939
6.2
The Wizard of Oz
as Uncle Henry
1939
7.6
The Man Who Dared
as Ulysses Porterfield
1939
5.0
Sudden Money
as Grandpa Casey Patterson
1939
5.0
Burn 'Em Up O'Connor
as Doc Heath
1939
5.0
Stand Up and Fight
as 'Old Puff'
1939
5.8
Artists and Models Abroad
as James Harper
1938
4.2
Listen, Darling
as Joe Higgins
1938
6.3
Three Loves Has Nancy
as Grandpa Briggs
1938
3.8
Three Comrades
as Local Doctor
1938
7.2
The Girl of the Golden West
as Uncle Davy
1938
4.6
Of Human Hearts
as Jim Meeker
1938
5.8
The Bad Man of Brimstone
as Barney Lane
1937
6.0
Big City
as Robert, the Mayor
1937
7.4
Bad Guy
as Dan Gray
1937
6.0
Broadway Melody of 1938
as James K. Blakeley
1937
6.2
Between Two Women
as Dr. Webster
1937
5.5
Captains Courageous
as Uncle Salters
1937
7.5
The Good Earth
as Old Father
1937
6.2
A Family Affair
as Frank Redmond
1937
5.7
Breakdowns of 1936
as Self
1936
0.0
Sinner Take All
as Aaron Lampier
1936
4.3
Without Orders
as J.P. Kendrick
1936
6.0
Libeled Lady
as Hollis Bane
1936
7.3
Small Town Girl
as Dr. Ned Fabre
1936
5.9
The Voice of Bugle Ann
as Cal Royster
1936
5.0
The Petrified Forest
as Gramp Maple
1936
7.1
Ah, Wilderness!
as Dave McComber
1935
6.5
Rendezvous
as Prof. Martin
1935
4.3
King Solomon of Broadway
as Uncle Winchester
1935
0.0
Alice Adams
as J. A. Lamb
1935
6.6
Shanghai
as Truesdale
1935
6.5
One Frightened Night
as Jasper Whyte
1935
5.3
Party Wire
as Will Oliver
1935
8.0
Eight Bells
as Grayson
1935
6.0
In Spite of Danger
as Pop Sullivan
1935
1.0
Caravan
as Notary
1934
5.0
Anne of Green Gables
as Dr. Tatum
1934
5.5
The President Vanishes
as Richard Norton
1934
5.8
Judge Priest
as Sergeant Jimmy Bagby
1934
6.4
Return of the Terror
as Jessup
1934
6.0
The Loudspeaker
as Pop Calloway
1934
0.0
She Made Her Bed
as Joe Olesen
1934
2.7
The Quitter
as Ed Tilford
1934
0.0
Two Alone
as Sandy Roberts
1934
7.0
🎬
Hell and High Water
as Peck Wealin
1933
0.0
Female
as Drunk at Hamburger Stand (Uncredited)
1933
6.2
Wild Boys of the Road
as Mr. Cadman (uncredited)
1933
6.8
Torch Singer
as Andrew 'Juddy' Judson
1933
5.2
Beauty for Sale
as Freddy Gordon
1933
7.0
Turn Back the Clock
as Dr. Henderson (uncredited)
1933
4.9
Pilgrimage
as Dad Saunders
1933
6.9
Midnight Mary
as Clerk
1933
6.8
Don't Bet on Love
as Patrick McCaffrey
1933
0.0
Heroes for Sale
as Pa Dennis
1933
7.0
The Kiss Before the Mirror
as Schultz
1933
5.4
Hello, Everybody!
as Jed
1933
6.0
No Man of Her Own
as Clerk
1932
6.5
Wild Horse Mesa
as Sam Bass
1932
0.0
The Night of June 13
as "Grandpop" Strawn (as Charles Grapewin)
1932
7.0
American Madness
as Mr. Jones (uncredited)
1932
6.8
The Washington Masquerade
as Senator Simmons (uncredited)
1932
6.5
The Woman in Room 13
as Andy
1932
0.0
Huddle
as Doctor (uncredited)
1932
6.6
Are You Listening?
as Pierce
1932
5.0
The Big Timer
as Pop Baldwin
1932
3.7
Hell's House
as Henry Clark
1932
5.1
🎬
For the Love of Fanny
as Professor
1931
0.0
Heaven on Earth
as Doc Boax
1931
3.0
Gold Dust Gertie
as Nicholas Hautrey
1931
3.0
The Millionaire
as Ed Powers
1931
7.5
Only Saps Work
as Simeon Tanner
1930
5.5
The Shannons of Broadway
as Swanzey
1929
0.0
Above the Limit
as Chimmie Hicks
1900
4.3