Charles Waldron

Katharine Cornell and Charles Waldron in the original Broadway production of The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1931)

He was born and grew up in Waterford, New York. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. George B. Waldron, were themselves actors of some note, but they did not want their son to follow in their profession and tried to steer him to a career in finance.[1] He worked in Philadelphia as a bank clerk.[2] However, he jumped at the chance to "play the juvenile lead in Kidnapped".[1]

Nine years of stock and a tour of Australia and New Zealand performing in The Virginian and The Squaw Man followed.[3] In 1905, he was praised for his performance in the leading role in the play The Eternal City at San Francisco's Alcazar Theatre.[4] He made his Broadway debut in 1907 in David Belasco's The Warrens of Virginia.[1] (His father and Belasco had been fellow actors in a Portland, Oregon company.[1]) From 1907 to 1946, he acted in more than 40 Broadway productions in New York City.[5] He played the title role in the original 1914 production of Daddy Long Legs, opposite future film star Ruth Chatterton; both he and Chatterton were highly praised.[6] He performed alongside his son, Charles Belasco Jr., in the latter's debut in Lucrece c. 1932.[1]

Over his long career, he appeared in more than 60 films, starting with the silent film Big Horse Hank (1911). He is perhaps best known for his final film role, that of General Sternwood in the opening scenes of The Big Sleep (1946), starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

He also played U.S. President James Monroe in The Monroe Doctrine, a short film released in 1939.

He died, aged 71, in Hollywood, California. He was survived by his wife Alice, son Charles and daughter Donnee.[7]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles Waldron.

• Charles Waldron at IMDb
• Charles Waldron at the Internet Broadway Database
• Charles Waldron at Find a Grave