Charley Grapewin
Acting
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.
Born: December 20, 1869
Place of Birth: Xenia, Ohio, USA
Known For
Filmography
as Uncle Henry (archive footage)
as (archive footage)
as (archive footage)
as Mr. Bane in 'Libeled Lady' (archive footage) (uncredited)
as Grandpa Reed
as Doug
as Grandpa
as Rancher Inskip
as Jake Taylor
as Benjamin L. Pidgeon, Bellboy
as Nick West
as Pop
as Inspector Richard Queen
as Insp. Queen
as Insp. Queen
as California Joe
as Insp. Queen
as Insp. Queen
as Insp. Queen
as Jeeter Lester
as Ben Caldwalder
as Insp. Queen
as Uncle Caleb
as Mr. Whimser
as Judge Emmett T. Brennan
as Grandpa Joad
as Major Matt Grayson
as Uncle Frank "Lucky" Higgins
as Pop
as Uncle Henry
as Ulysses Porterfield
as Grandpa Casey Patterson
as Doc Heath
as 'Old Puff'
as James Harper
as Joe Higgins
as Grandpa Briggs
as Local Doctor
as Uncle Davy
as Jim Meeker
as Barney Lane
as Robert, the Mayor
as Dan Gray
as James K. Blakeley
as Dr. Webster
as Uncle Salters
as Old Father
as Frank Redmond
as Self
as Aaron Lampier
as J.P. Kendrick
as Hollis Bane
as Dr. Ned Fabre
as Cal Royster
as Gramp Maple
as Dave McComber
as Prof. Martin
as Uncle Winchester
as J. A. Lamb
as Truesdale
as Jasper Whyte
as Will Oliver
as Grayson
as Pop Sullivan
as Notary
as Dr. Tatum
as Richard Norton
as Sergeant Jimmy Bagby
as Jessup
as Pop Calloway
as Joe Olesen
as Ed Tilford
as Sandy Roberts
as Drunk at Hamburger Stand (Uncredited)
as Mr. Cadman (uncredited)
as Andrew 'Juddy' Judson
as Freddy Gordon
as Dr. Henderson (uncredited)
as Dad Saunders
as Clerk
as Patrick McCaffrey
as Pa Dennis
as Schultz
as Jed
as Clerk
as Sam Bass
as "Grandpop" Strawn (as Charles Grapewin)
as Mr. Jones (uncredited)
as Senator Simmons (uncredited)
as Andy
as Doctor (uncredited)
as Pierce
as Pop Baldwin
as Henry Clark
as Doc Boax
as Nicholas Hautrey
as Ed Powers
as Simeon Tanner
as Chimmie Hicks