Charles Drake (actor)
Charles Drake was an American actor.
Biography
Drake was born in New York City. He graduated from Nichols College and became a salesman. In 1939, he turned to acting and signed a contract with Warner Bros., but he was not immediately successful. Drake served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Drake returned to Hollywood in 1945 and was cast in Conflict which starred Humphrey Bogart. His contract with Warner Brothers eventually ended. In the 1940s, he did some freelance film work, including A Night in Casablanca starring the Marx Brothers.
In 1949, he moved to Universal Studios, where he co-starred with James Stewart and Shelley Winters in Winchester '73 and again co-starred with Stewart in the film Harvey, a screen adaptation of the Broadway play. He co-starred in the Audie Murphy biopic To Hell and Back, as Murphy's close friend, "Brandon".
In 1955, Drake turned to television as one of the stock-company players on Montgomery's Summer Stock, a summer replacement for Robert Montgomery Presents, and from 1957 he hosted the syndicated TV espionage weekly Schilling Playhouse. In 1956 Drake appeared as Tom Sweeny with Murphy and Anne Bancroft in Walk the Proud Land.
Drake teamed again with Audie Murphy, for the Western film No Name on the Bullet, which featured Murphy in a rare villainous role as a hired assassin and Drake playing a small-town doctor trying to stop his reign of terror.
On November 14, 1961, Drake played state line boss Allen Winter in the episode "The Accusers" of NBC's Laramie Western series. On February 6, 1963, Drake played Hollister in the Wagon Train episode "The Hollister John Garrison Story". He also played Charles Maury in "The Charles Maury Story" in 1958, Season 1, episode 32.
Drake played the part of Oliver Greer in The Fugitive episode "The One That Got Away". He guest-starred in the fourth season of NBC's Daniel Boone as Simon Jarvis. In 1969, Drake appeared as Milo Cantrell on the TV series The Virginian in the episode titled "A Woman of Stone." In 1970, he appeared as Randolf in "The Men From Shiloh" in the episode titled "Jenny." He played in eighty-three films between 1939 and 1975, including Scream, Pretty Peggy. More than fifty were dramas, but he also acted in comedies, science fiction, horror, and film noir. In an episode of the original Star Trek series, Drake guest-starred as Commodore Stocker.
Drake died on September 10, 1994, in East Lyme, Connecticut, at the age of 76.
Selected filmography
Career - Rex ChaneyConspiracy - Police Guard The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Young Priest I Wanted Wings - Cadet Affectionately Yours - Hospital Intern Million Dollar Baby - Pamela's First Dance Partner Out of the Fog - Reporter Sergeant York - Scorer Dive Bomber - Pilot Navy Blues - Sea bag Inspection Officer Nine Lives Are Not Enough - 'Snappy' LucasOne Foot in Heaven - Second Bridegroom The Maltese Falcon - Reporter The Body Disappears - Arthur Dangerously They Live - Joe, Hospital Orderly with Dr. Murdock You're in the Army Now - Private The Man Who Came to Dinner - SandyBullet Scars - Harry a Reporter The Male Animal - Student Larceny, Inc. - R.V. Boyce - Driver in Accident Yankee Doodle Dandy - Wings for the Eagle - Customer The Gay Sisters - Man Entering Courtroom Busses Roar - Eddie SloanAcross the Pacific - Officer Now, Voyager - Leslie Trotter The Hard Way - Trailer Narrator Air Force - NavigatorConflict - Prof. Norman HolsworthYou Came Along - Lt. R. JanoschekWhistle Stop - ErnieWinter Wonderland - Steve KirkA Night in Casablanca - Lt. Pierre DelmarThe Pretender - Dr. Leonard G. KosterThe Tender Years - Bob WilsonThe Babe Ruth Story - Reporter Tarzan's Magic Fountain - Mr. DoddJohnny Stool Pigeon - Hotel Clerk Comanche Territory - Stacey HowardI Was a Shoplifter - Herb KlaxonLouisa - Voice of Radio Broadcaster Winchester '73 - Steve MillerPeggy - Tom FieldingDeported - Voice of Customs Official Mystery Submarine - Commodore Harvey - Dr. Raymond SandersonAir Cadet - Captain SullivanThe Fat Man - Radio Broadcaster at Racetrack Little Egypt - Oliver DoaneYou Never Can Tell - Perry CollinsThe Treasure of Lost Canyon - Jim AndersonRed Ball Express - Pvt. Ronald Partridge / NarratorBonzo Goes to College - Malcolm DrewGunsmoke - Johnny LakeThe Lone Hand - George HadleyIt Came from Outer Space - Sheriff Matt WarrenWar Arrow - Sgt. Luke SchermerhornThe Glenn Miller Story - Don HaynesTobor the Great - Dr. Ralph HarrisonFour Guns to the Border - Jim FlanneryTo Hell and Back - BrandonFemale on the Beach - Police Lieutenant GalleyAll That Heaven Allows - Mick AndersonThe Price of Fear - Police Sgt. Pete CarrollWalk the Proud Land - Tom SweenyJeanne Eagels - John DonahueUntil They Sail - Capt. Richard BatesStep Down to Terror - Johnny Williams WaltersNo Name on the Bullet - Luke CanfieldTammy Tell Me True - Buford WoodlyBack Street - Curt StantonShowdown - Bert PickettThe Lively Set - Paul ManningDear Heart - Frank TaylorThe Third Day - Lawrence ConwayThe Money Jungle - Harvey SheppardValley of the Dolls - Kevin GillmoreThe Counterfeit Killer - DolanThe Swimmer - Howard GrahamHail, Hero! - Senator MurchistonThe Arrangement - FinneganThe Seven Minutes - Sgt. KelloggThe Screaming Woman - Ken BronsonScream, Pretty Peggy - George ThorntonThe Lives of Jenny Dolan - Alan HardestyMy Brother's Wedding - Pastor #2