Charles Dingle
Charles Dingle in Lady of Burlesque (1943)
Born(1887-12-28)December 28, 1887
Wabash, Indiana, U.S.
DiedJanuary 19, 1956(1956-01-19) (aged 68)
Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1928–1955
SpouseDorothea White
Children2

Charles Dingle (December 28, 1887 – January 19, 1956) was an American stage and film actor.

Early life

Dingle was born December 28, 1887,[1] in Wabash, Indiana.[2] His father was John Crockett Dingle, and he was said to be a descendant of Davy Crockett.[3]

Career

Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Dingle, Carl Benton Reid and Dan Duryea in the original Broadway production of The Little Foxes (1939)

Dingle's dramatic debut came in a production of Forgiven. At age 14 he portrayed a 65-year-old man. When he was 18, he became the Woodward Stock Company's leading man. In 1914 he was the Fosberg Players' leading man.[3]

He began selling real estate in New Jersey in 1927, but he made his Broadway debut in Killers in 1928. After that he again sold real estate, but decreasing sales led him back to acting.[3][2] Better roles followed including Duke Theseus in the 1932 revival of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Sheriff Cole in Let Freedom Ring in 1935. He made his musical debut in Irving Berlin's Miss Liberty in 1950.

A veteran of over 50 feature films, he was best known for portraying hard edged businessmen and villains, such as Ben Hubbard, the crafty eldest member of the Hubbard family in The Little Foxes on both stage and screen, and Senator Brockway in the film version of Call Me Madam.

Critic Bosley Crowther wrote of his performance in the film version of The Little Foxes in The New York Times that Dingle was a "perfect villain in respectable garb".[2]

His last stage appearance was in 1954's The Immoralist co-starring Louis Jourdan, Geraldine Page and James Dean; it was also Dean's last Broadway appearance.

Personal life and death

He was married to actress Dorothy L. White. He died on January 19, 1956, after a brief illness at age 68 in Worcester Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts.[2] He was cremated and his ashes scattered in Germany.

Partial filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Charles Dingle". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Charles Dingle, actor, dies at 68". The New York Times. January 20, 1956. p. 21. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Bacon, Irving R. (September 17, 1914). "Orpheum's leading man is a prodigy of make-up". Newark Evening Star. p. 14. Retrieved November 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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