Charles Tannen
Charles David Tannen was an American actor and screenwriter.
Career
A general purpose actor who worked primarily at 20th Century Fox, Tannen had mostly bit and/or supporting parts in movies, appearing in more than two hundred films, including Jesse James, The Return of Frank James, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Marilyn Monroe, There's No Business Like Show Business, The Fly, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
The director Preston Sturges once praised Tannen for his acting ability, being quoted as saying, If you have a middle-aged character part, either Gentile or Jewish, either comic or dramatic, I urge you to give it to Tannen, and I guarantee that you will be enchanted by his authority, his unction, his voice, his theatrical resource, and his profound ability.
Tannen also made many appearances on such television series as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Lassie, The Twilight Zone, Rawhide, The Rifleman, and Jefferson Drum. In 1957 Tannen appeared as Lonnie the Conductor in the TV western Cheyenne in the episode "The Iron Trail."
As a television screenwriter, Tannen wrote episodes for Petticoat Junction, I Dream Of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island, The Brady Bunch, All In The Family, and Maude.
Tannen's father, Julius Tannen, and his brother, William Tannen, were also actors.
Tannen died in 1980 in San Bernardino, California at the age of 65 of a heart attack.
Selected filmography
The Dark Angel – Man in Dormitory Fighting Youth – Radical Student Blazing Justice – Jones, Bank Clerk Love Before Breakfast – Clerk Educating Father – Jim CourtneySins of Man – Steamship Clerk Sing, Baby, Sing – Reporter / Radio Station Messenger Dimples – Box Office Man Love Is News – Reporter Fair Warning – Bellhop Sing and Be Happy – Clerk Wake Up and Live – Agent The Lady Escapes – Usher Think Fast, Mr. Moto – One of Bob's Friends Second Honeymoon – Reporter Big Town Girl – Radio Station Attendant Love and Hisses – Hotel Desk Clerk Happy Landing – Newspaper Reporter Walking Down Broadway – Hotel Clerk Kentucky Moonshine – Engineer Alexander's Ragtime Band – Dillingham's Secretary Always Goodbye – Hospital Interne I'll Give a Million – Radio Operator Gateway – Reporter My Lucky Star – SaierFive of a Kind – Reporter Submarine Patrol – Kelly Up the River – Trustie Jesse James – Charles FordThe Story of Alexander Graham Bell – Court Clerk The Return of the Cisco Kid – Clark – Bank Teller Rose of Washington Square – Newspaper Reporter Young Mr. Lincoln – Ninian Edwards The Jones Family in Hollywood Second Fiddle – Assistant Director Charlie Chan at Treasure Island – Plane Passenger Drums Along the Mohawk – Dr. Robert JohnsonBarricade – Opening Narrator The Honeymoon's Over – Newsreel Man Swanee River – Morrison FosterThe Man Who Wouldn't Talk – Reporter The Grapes of Wrath – JoeJohnny Apollo – Reporter Star Dust – Desk Clerk at Hotel Roosevelt Lillian Russell – Reporter Lucky Cisco Kid – Minor Role Sailor's Lady – Sailor The Return of Frank James – Charlie FordYoung People – Assistant Manager Public Deb No. 1 – Reporter Murder Over New York – Radio Announcer Jennie – Minor Role Tall, Dark and Handsome – Reporter Sleepers West – Ambulance Attendant Dead Men Tell – Sailor with Girl The Great American Broadcast – Usher The Cowboy and the Blonde – Assistant Director Moon Over Miami – Third Customer at Texas Tommy's Dive Bomber – Pilot Great Guns – Lieutenant Cadet Girl – Jimmy, a CadetMarry the Boss's Daughter – Chauffeur Benton The Perfect Snob – Chauffeur Remember the Day – Slicker Blue, White and Perfect – Ship's Ticket Agent To the Shores of Tripoli – Swifty Sundown Jim – Dan BarrMoontide – Radio Broadcaster My Gal Sal – Hotel Clerk The Magnificent Dope – Elevator Operator Little Tokyo, U.S.A. – MarstenFootlight Serenade – Charlie, Stage managerTales of Manhattan – Pilot Careful, Soft Shoulder – JoeJust Off Broadway – Radio Broadcaster Manila Calling – FillmoreThunder Birds – American Flyer / Opening Off-Screen Narrator Springtime in the Rockies – Backstage Call Boy Life Begins at Eight-Thirty – Radio Announcer Quiet Please, Murder – HollisCrash Dive – Seaman Hammond They Came to Blow Up America – Smitty – Craig's Deputy December 7th: The Movie – Mike – Landing Field Officer Resisting Enemy Interrogation – Sgt. Freulich – German Prison Plant Land and Live in the Jungle – Himself Leave Her to Heaven – Man Doll Face – Flo's AideThe Spider – Det. TontiShock – Hotel Clerk Behind Green Lights – Ames – ReporterJohnny Comes Flying Home – HarryThe Dark Corner – Second Cab Driver It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog – Glass If I'm Lucky – Secretary You Were Meant for Me – Harry Jarvis Sitting Pretty – Newsreel Director The Iron Curtain – Radio Commentator Green Grass of Wyoming – Dr. Kimgrough – VeterinarianGive My Regards to Broadway – Insurance Agent The Street with No Name – Cab Driver Cry of the City – Intern Unfaithfully Yours – Airport Information Man When My Baby Smiles at Me – Intern That Wonderful Urge – Benny Johnson A Letter to Three Wives – Radio Announcer for 'Confessions of Brenda' You're My Everything – Director Dancing in the Dark – Jack When Willie Comes Marching Home – Radio Announcer Mother Didn't Tell Me – Anaesthetist Where the Sidewalk Ends – Police Radio Dispatcher #79 I'll Get By – Director / Radio Announcer The Jackpot – Al Vogel Call Me Mister – Lieutenant You're in the Navy Now – Houlihan Follow the Sun – Golf Announcer The Day the Earth Stood Still – Radio Announcer Phone Call from a Stranger – Airport Intercom Announcer Red Skies of Montana – Charlie Deadline – U.S.A. – Sports Reporter The Pride of St. Louis – Larry Without Warning! – WolfNight Without Sleep – Steve Brooks Bloodhounds of Broadway – Bookie on Phone Angel Face – TV Broadcaster Down Among the Sheltering Palms – Radio Operator McGee Call Me Madam – Reporter The Girl Next Door – Reporter The Kid from Left Field – Fan Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – Ed – Malone's contact Vice Squad – Dutch Dangerous Crossing – Ship's Wine Steward A Blueprint for Murder – Detective Inferno – Police Radio Broadcaster City of Bad Men – Cashier Gorilla at Large – Owens Down Three Dark Streets – Masher in Car The Country Girl – First Photographer There's No Business Like Show Business – EmCee / Orchestra Leader The Steel Cage – Convict Patient The Bridges at Toko-Ri – Military Police Major Daddy Long Legs – Man in White Suit, Ballet Nightmare Sequence The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing – Court Clerk Trial – Bailiff I'll Cry Tomorrow – Audition Stage Manager The Benny Goodman Story – Mr. Stewart – Manager of Palomar Ballroom The Harder They Fall – Reporter The Proud Ones – 2nd Foreman The First Traveling Saleslady – Buyer These Wilder Years – Loafer The Rack – Ambulance Attendant at Airport Four Girls in Town – Hotel Manager The Monster That Challenged the World – Radioman Wyatt Official Detective – BallangerI Married a Woman – Young Cop The Return of Dracula – Mack Bryant, Dept. of Immigration The Fly – Doctor A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed – Charlie – Walkie Talkie Policeman Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! – TV Director The Wild and the Innocent – Bit Role But Not for Me – Caldwell – Theatre Manager Beloved Infidel – Radio Director The Rookie – Arnold – Bartender / Waiter The Gene Krupa Story – Kenny Lemay Ma Barker's Killer Brood – Sheriff #1Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea – CPO GleasonStagecoach to Dancers' Rock – SheriffKisses for My President – TV Crew Director