Charley Grapewin

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  • group Other Names:
    Charles Ellsworth Grapewin, Charles Grapewin

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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. ​

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  • wc Gender: Male
  • calendar_month Birth Date: 1869-12-19
  • event Death Date 1956-02-02
  • school Known for: Acting
  • star Popularity: 4.4
  • info Birth Place Xenia, Ohio, USA
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smart_display Movies and TV shows by Charley Grapewin

7.9

The Grapes of Wrath

1940-03-15

7.6

The Wizard of Oz

1939-08-15

6.4

Judge Priest

1934-09-15

7.3

Libeled Lady

1936-10-09

6.1

Dust Be My Destiny

1939-09-16

5.2

Follow the Boys

1944-05-05

6.5

No Man of Her Own

1932-12-30

5.5

One Frightened Night

1935-05-01

4.6

The Girl of the Golden West

1938-03-18

6.3

Broadway Melody of 1938

1937-08-20

6.6

Alice Adams

1935-08-23

5.7

Anne of Green Gables

1934-11-23

6

Return of the Terror

1934-07-07

7.4

Captains Courageous

1937-06-25

6.6

They Died with Their Boots On

1941-11-20

7.1

The Petrified Forest

1936-02-08

6.6

Tobacco Road

1941-02-20

7

Heroes for Sale

1933-06-17

6.8

Johnny Apollo

1940-04-19

5.5

A Close Call for Ellery Queen

1942-01-29

5.7

A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen

1942-05-07

5.7

Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring

1941-11-18

5.8

Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime

1941-08-14

5.8

Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen

1942-07-30

5.7

Ellery Queen, Master Detective

1940-11-30

5.3

Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery

1941-03-24

6.8

Midnight Mary

1933-06-30

5.2

Torch Singer

1933-09-08

7.4

Big City

1937-09-03

4.8

Rendezvous

1935-10-25

6.5

Listen, Darling

1938-10-21

6.3

Ah, Wilderness!

1935-12-25

6.2

Small Town Girl

1936-04-10

5.8

Of Human Hearts

1938-02-11

5.1

Turn Back the Clock

1933-08-25

8

Party Wire

1935-04-27

7

Rhythm on the River

1940-08-28

5.7

A Family Affair

1937-03-12

5.8

Stand Up and Fight

1939-01-06

7

Shanghai

1935-07-19

5.3

Hell's House

1932-01-30

5

Are You Listening?

1932-03-21

6.3

The Impatient Years

1944-09-10

5.8

The Voice of Bugle Ann

1936-02-15

0

Don't Bet on Love

1933-06-30

6

Hello, Everybody!

1933-02-17

7

Beauty for Sale

1933-09-01

5

Atlantic City

1944-09-15

7.5

The Millionaire

1931-05-01

5.7

Between Two Women

1937-07-09

3

Gold Dust Gertie

1931-06-27

6

Bad Guy

1937-08-27

5

Burn 'Em Up O'Connor

1939-01-13

3

Artists and Models Abroad

1938-12-20

3.5

The Big Timer

1932-03-10

5

Sudden Money

1939-03-31

5.5

The Texas Rangers Ride Again

1940-12-13

4.5

Sand

1949-08-03

7

Two Alone

1934-01-26

4.2

Three Loves Has Nancy

1938-09-02

10

Going Hollywood: The '30s

1984-01-01

6

The Bad Man of Brimstone

1937-12-31

7

The Night of June 13

1932-09-17

6.5

The Washington Masquerade

1932-07-09

4.8

Earthbound

1940-06-06

5

The Man Who Dared

1939-06-03

7.1

American Madness

1932-08-15

7

The President Vanishes

1934-11-17

3

Heaven on Earth

1931-11-27

6

Without Orders

1936-10-22

4

Only Saps Work

1930-12-05

0

For the Love of Fanny

1931-12-27

6

Eight Bells

1935-04-10

0

Caravan

1934-12-30

5.3

The Kiss Before the Mirror

1933-05-04

7

Sabotage

1939-10-13

0

Hell and High Water

1933-12-16

0

The Quitter

1934-02-05

0

Breakdowns of 1936

1936-12-30

0

The Woman in Room 13

1932-05-15

5.3

Gunfighters

1947-07-15

6.6

Huddle

1932-05-14

6.3

The Good Earth

1937-06-02

0

The Loudspeaker

1934-06-01

0

King Solomon of Broadway

1935-09-30

0

The Legend Floyd: The Dark Side of the Rainbow

2000-07-01

4.6

Sinner Take All

1936-12-18

4.6

Above the Limit

1900-11-21

0

Wild Horse Mesa

1932-11-25

6.8

Wild Boys of the Road

1933-10-07

7.2

Three Comrades

1938-06-02

6

When I Grow Up

1951-04-19

6.3

Female

1933-11-11

6.8

That's Entertainment, Part II

1976-05-16

6.1

Crash Dive

1943-04-22

6.3

The Big Parade of Comedy

1964-09-02

0

The Enchanted Valley

1948-03-24

1

In Spite of Danger

1935-03-08

0

Hero for a Day

1939-10-06

3.5

She Made Her Bed

1934-04-26

6.5

Pilgrimage

1933-07-12