Charles B. Middleton
| Charles Middleton | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
October 3, 1874 Elizabethtown, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | April 22, 1949 (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Film, stage actor |
| Years active | 1920-1949 |
| Spouse(s) | Leora Spellman |
Charles B. Middleton (October 3, 1874 – April 22, 1949) was an American stage and film actor. During a film career that began at age 46 and lasted almost 30 years, Charles Middleton appeared in nearly two hundred films as well as numerous plays. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as the villainous emperor Ming the Merciless in the three Flash Gordon series made between 1936 and 1940.
Born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Charles Middleton worked in a traveling circus, in vaudeville, and acted in live theatre before he turned to motion pictures in 1920.
Middleton's career as a character actor came into full flower with the advent of sound movies. His ominous baritone voice was perfect for villainous roles, and he became an excellent foil for comedy stars Harold Lloyd, Eddie Cantor, Wheeler & Woolsey, and Laurel and Hardy.
He was then cast in Warner Bros.' 1931 film Safe in Hell (directed by William Wellman), and in Warners' 1932 hit The Strange Love of Molly Louvain opposite Ann Dvorak and Richard Cromwell. In Pack Up Your Troubles, he was the villainous welfare association officer, the foil of Laurel & Hardy. Middleton also appeared as "the district attorney" in Cecil B. DeMille's 1933 film This Day and Age. He appeared opposite The Marx Brothers in Duck Soup (also 1933), as the stern prosecutor of Freedonia. He also played Sheriff Ike Vallon, the official who tries to arrest Julie La Verne (Helen Morgan) and her husband for being illegally married, in Universal Pictures' classic 1936 screen version of the musical Show Boat.
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