Charley Grapewin

Charley Grapewin
In the New York Clipper, December 22, 1900
Born	Charley Ellsworth Grapewin December 20, 1869(1869-12-20) Xenia, Ohio, U.S.
Died	February 2, 1956(1956-02-02) (aged 86) Corona, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1900–51
Spouse	Anna Chance (m. 1896–1943) «start: (1896)–end+1: (1944)»"Marriage: Anna Chance to Charley Grapewin" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Grapewin)

Grapewin in the 1902 silent film Chimmie Hicks at the races.

Charley Ellsworth Grapewin (December 20, 1869 – February 2, 1956) was an American vaudeville performer and a stage and film actor, who portrayed Uncle Henry in MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Grandpa Joad in the film The Grapes of Wrath (1940).

Biography

Born in Xenia, Ohio, Charley 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.

After this he went on and off of stage 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 began in silent films at the turn of the 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.^[1][2][3] During his long career, Grapewin appeared in more than one hundred films, including The Good Earth, The Grapes of Wrath, Tobacco Road and also for what is probably his most well-remembered role as Uncle Henry in the MGM Technicolor extravaganza The Wizard of Oz, after which he had garnered a recurring role as Inspector Queen in the Ellery Queen film series of the early 1940s,.

Grapewin married actress Anna Chance (1875–1943) in 1896 and they remained a devoted couple until her death some 47 years later.^[4]

Grapewin died 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.^[5]

Partial filmography

• The Millionaire (1931)
• Hell's House (1932)
• The Big Timer (1932)
• Are You Listening? (1932)
• Lady and Gent (1932)
• No Man of Her Own (1932)
• The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933)
• Heroes for Sale (1933)
• Midnight Mary (1933)
• Pilgrimage (1933)
• Beauty for Sale (1933)
• Torch Singer (1933)
• Judge Priest (1934)
• Caravan (1934)
• The President Vanishes (1934)
• Anne of Green Gables (1934)
• Party Wire (1935)
• Shanghai (1935)
• Alice Adams (1935)
• Rendezvous (1935)
• Ah, Wilderness! (1935)
• The Petrified Forest (1936)
• Small Town Girl (1936)
• Libeled Lady (1936)
• The Good Earth (1937)
• A Family Affair (1937)
• Captains Courageous (1937)
• Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)
• The Bad Man of Brimstone (1937)
• Of Human Hearts (1938)
• The Girl of the Golden West (1938)
• Three Comrades (1938)
• Three Loves Has Nancy (1938)
• Listen, Darling (1938)
• Stand Up and Fight (1939)
• The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• Dust Be My Destiny (1939)
• The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
• Johnny Apollo (1940)
• Rhythm on the River (1940)
• Tobacco Road (1941)
• They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
• Follow the Boys (1944)

Trivia

Prior to The Wizard of Oz Grapewin appeared in MGM's Broadway Melody of 1938 with both Judy Garland (Oz's Dorothy) and Buddy Ebsen (Oz's original Tin Man).

References

1. ^ Complete Index to World Film, Chimmie Hicks at the Races, accessed 02-19-2009
2. ^ sinema.com (Turkish), Chimmie Hicks and the Rum Omelet, accessed 02-19-2009
3. ^ Chimmie Hicks at the Races Library of Congress Moving Image Collection, "Chimmie Hicks at the races / American Mutoscope and Biograph Company", accessed 02-19-2009
4. ^ "Mrs. Charles Grapewin". New York Times. September 12, 1943. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B16FF3F5C167B93C0A81782D85F478485F9. Retrieved 2007-08-21. "Mrs. Anna Chance Grapewin, wife of the character actor, Charles Grapewin, died yesterday in the ..." 
5. ^ "Charles Grapewin Is Dead at 86; Stage Comedian Scored in Movies; Portrayed Jeeter Lester in Film 'Tobacco Road,' Grampa in 'Grapes of Wrath' Was "Pop" in Three Pictures". New York Times. February 3, 1956, Friday. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10A10F9395A16738FDDAA0894DA405B8689F1D3. Retrieved 2007-08-21. "Charles Grapewin, who acted the roles of Jeeter Lester in "Tobacco Road" and of Grampa in "Grapes of Wrath" in the movies, died today at his home in Corona. His age was 86." 

External links

Biography portal

• Charley Grapewin at the Internet Movie Database
• Charley Grapewin at the Internet Broadway Database
• "Charley Grapewin". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3046. Retrieved August 10, 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Grapewin, Charles
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 20, 1869
Place of birth	Xenia, Ohio, U.S.
Date of death	February 2, 1956
Place of death	Corona, California, U.S.