- Charles McGraw
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Charles McGraw 
Promotional PortraitBorn Charles Butters
May 10, 1914
Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.Died July 30, 1980 (aged 66)
Studio City, California, U.S.Occupation Actor Years active 1942–77 Spouse Freda Choy Kitt (1938-1967) 1 child Charles Butters (May 10, 1914 – July 30, 1980), best known by his stage name Charles McGraw, was an American actor, who made his first film in 1942, albeit in a small, uncredited role. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa.
Contents
Career
McGraw developed into a leading man, especially in film noir classics during the late 1940s and 1950s. His gravelly voice and rugged looks enhanced his appeal in the noir stylistic genre, and provided him many roles as cop or gunman.[1]
Introduced with fellow "heavy" William Conrad as the two hitmen terrorizing a small town diner in the start of the 1946 film The Killers, McGraw's notable roles include: "Honest Joe" insurance investigator turned thief by love interest in the noir classic Roadblock (1951); playing the grumpy cop hired to protect Marie Windsor in the noir B-movie The Narrow Margin (1952); Kirk Douglas' gladiator trainer in the epic Spartacus; righteous cop Lt. Jim Cordell in the Armored Car Robbery (1950); and "The Preacher" in the science fiction cult classic A Boy and His Dog (1975).
McGraw is recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6927 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.[2]
Television
He also starred in the television version of Casablanca (1955) taking over Humphrey Bogart's role as Rick.
McGraw biography
In late 2007 Alan K. Rode wrote a biography of McGraw: Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy. The book provides a behind-the-scenes look and anecdotes about his life, including: his long marriage to a Eurasian woman, his World War II military service, his film career, and the story of his death.[3]
Death
Charles McGraw died, aged 66, after slipping and falling through a glass shower door in his Studio City, California home in 1980.
Filmography
- The Undying Monster (1942)
- The Mad Ghoul (1943)
- Corvette K-225 (1943)
- Destroyer (1943)
- Mechanized Patrolling (1943)
- Two Tickets to London (1943)
- They Came to Blow Up America (1943)
- Tonight We Raid Calais (1943)
- The Moon Is Down (1943)
- The Seventh Cross (1944)
- The Impostor (1944)
- The Killers (1946)
- T-Men (1947)
- The Gangster (1947)
- Roses Are Red (1947)
- On the Old Spanish Trail (1947)
- Brute Force (1947)
- The Long Night (1947)
- The Big Fix (1947)
- The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
- Blood on the Moon (1948)
- Hazard (1948)
- Berlin Express (1948)
- The Hunted (1948)
- The Threat (1949)
- The Story of Molly X (1949)
- Border Incident (1949)
- Reign of Terror (1949)
- Once More, My Darling (1949)
- Armored Car Robbery (1950)
- I Was a Shoplifter (1950)
- Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950)
- Side Street (1950)
- Roadblock (1951)
- His Kind of Woman (1951)
- Double Crossbones (1951)
- One Minute to Zero (1952)
- The Narrow Margin (1952)
- Thunder Over the Plains (1953)
- War Paint (1953)
- Loophole (1954)
- The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955)
- The Cruel Tower (1956)
- Toward the Unknown (1956)
- Away All Boats (1956)
- Joe Dakota (1957)
- Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957)
- Joe Butterfly (1957)
- Twilight for the Gods (1958)
- The Defiant Ones (1958)
- Saddle the Wind (1958)
- The Wonderful Country (1959)
- The Man in the Net (1959)
- Cimarron (1960)
- Spartacus (1960)
- The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962)
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
- The Birds (1963)
- In Cold Blood (1967)
- The Busy Body (1967)
- Hang 'Em High (1968)
- Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969)
- Pendulum (1969)
- Chandler (1971)
- Johnny Got His Gun (1971)
- A Boy and His Dog (1975)
- The Killer Inside Me (1976)
- Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)
References
- ^ Baxter, John. The Gangster Film, p. 80.; A.S. Barnes & Co: New York (1970)
- ^ Hollywood Walk of Fame web site. Last accessed: December 11, 2007.
- ^ Smith, Richard Harland. "Movie Morlocks", a Turner Classic Movies website, February 23, 2007. Last accessed: December 10, 2007.
External links
- Charles McGraw at the Internet Movie Database
- Charles McGraw at AllRovi
- Charles McGraw at the Internet Broadway Database
- Charles McGraw at Movie Morlocks (TCM web site)
- Charles McGraw at Find a Grave
- Charles McGraw's Television schedule at LocateTV
Categories:- 1914 births
- 1980 deaths
- Actors from Iowa
- American film actors
- American television actors
- People from Des Moines, Iowa
- People from the Greater Los Angeles Area
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