Acting

Charles Middleton

Born October 2, 1874 · Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA

Died April 22, 1949 · aged 74

Charles Brown 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, he appeared in nearly 200 films as well as numerous plays. Sometimes credited as Charles B. Middleton, he is perhaps best remembered for his role as the villainous emperor Ming the Merciless in the three Flash Gordon serials made bet…

Known For

Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind · 1939

Gone with the Wind

The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.

The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath · 1940

The Grapes of Wrath

Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.

Western Union

Western Union · 1941

When Edward Creighton leads the construction of the Western Union to unite East with West, he hires a Western reformed outlaw and a tenderfoot Eastern surveyor. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in 2000.

Jezebel

Jezebel · 1938

MovieDramaRomance

In 1850s Louisiana, the willfulness of a tempestuous Southern belle threatens to destroy all who care for her.

The Sign of the Cross

The Sign of the Cross · 1932

The Sign of the Cross

MovieDramaHistory

A Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.

Sergeant York

Sergeant York · 1941

Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.

The Shepherd of the Hills

The Shepherd of the Hills · 1941

The Shepherd of the Hills

MovieDramaWestern

Young Matt Matthews, an Ozark Mountains moonshiner, hates the father he has never seen, who apparently deserted Matt's mother and left her to die. His obsession contributes to the hatred rampant in the mountains. However, the arrival of a stranger, Daniel Howitt, begins to positively affect the mountain people, who learn to shed their hatred under his gentle influence.

The Killers

The Killers · 1946

MovieCrimeMystery

Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

Filmography

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Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind · 1939

Gone with the Wind

The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.

Man with Stove Pipe Hat in Charge of Convict Workers (uncredited)

The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath · 1940

The Grapes of Wrath

Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.

Leader

Western Union

Western Union · 1941

When Edward Creighton leads the construction of the Western Union to unite East with West, he hires a Western reformed outlaw and a tenderfoot Eastern surveyor. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in 2000.

Stagecoach Rider

Jezebel

Jezebel · 1938

MovieDramaRomance

In 1850s Louisiana, the willfulness of a tempestuous Southern belle threatens to destroy all who care for her.

Officer (uncredited)

The Sign of the Cross

The Sign of the Cross · 1932

The Sign of the Cross

MovieDramaHistory

A Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.

Tyros

Sergeant York

Sergeant York · 1941

Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.

Mountaineer (uncredited)

The Shepherd of the Hills

The Shepherd of the Hills · 1941

The Shepherd of the Hills

MovieDramaWestern

Young Matt Matthews, an Ozark Mountains moonshiner, hates the father he has never seen, who apparently deserted Matt's mother and left her to die. His obsession contributes to the hatred rampant in the mountains. However, the arrival of a stranger, Daniel Howitt, begins to positively affect the mountain people, who learn to shed their hatred under his gentle influence.

Blacksmith (uncredited)

The Killers

The Killers · 1946

MovieCrimeMystery

Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

Farmer (uncredited)

Jesse James

Jesse James · 1939

After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.

Doctor

Batman

MovieActionAdventure

Japanese master spy Daka operates a covert espionage-sabotage organization located in Gotham City's now-deserted Little Tokyo, which turns American scientists into pliable zombies. The great crime-fighters Batman and Robin, with the help of their allies, are in pursuit.

Ken Colton

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine · 1936

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine

MovieAdventureDrama

A well-established tale of a long-running feud between two mountain clans.

Blacksmith

Duck Soup

Duck Soup · 1933

Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.

Prosecutor

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang · 1932

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

A World War I veteran’s dreams of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Things get even worse when he’s falsely convicted of a crime and sent to work on a chain gang.

Train Conductor (uncredited)

Santa Fe Trail

Santa Fe Trail · 1940

As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.

Gentry

White Woman

White Woman · 1933

A nightclub singer marries the rich owner of a rubber plantation. When she returns with him to his estate in Malaysia, she finds out that he is cruel, vicious and insanely jealous. She and the plantation's overseer develop a mutual attraction, but are terrified at what will happen if her husband finds out.

Fenton

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars · 1938

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars

MovieScience FictionAction

When a deadly Nitron ray strikes Earth, Flash Gordon and his friends travel to Mars to battle Ming the Merciless and his new ally Queen Azura.

Emperor Ming

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House · 1948

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

An advertising executive dreams of getting out of the city and building a perfect home in the country, only to find the transition fraught with problems.

Wrecker (uncredited)

The Good Earth

The Good Earth · 1937

MovieDramaHistory

China, during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The arranged marriage between Wang Lung, a humble farmer, and O-Lan, a domestic slave, will endure the many hardships of life over the years; but the temptations of a fragile prosperity will endanger their love and the survival of their entire family.

Banker (uncredited)

The Oklahoma Kid

The Oklahoma Kid · 1939

The Oklahoma Kid

MovieWesternHistory

McCord's gang robs the stage carrying money to pay Indians for their land, and the notorious outlaw "The Oklahoma Kid" Jim Kincaid takes the money from McCord. McCord stakes a "sooner" claim on land which is to be used for a new town; in exchange for giving it up, he gets control of gambling and saloons. When Kincaid's father runs for mayor, McCord incites a mob to lynch the old man whom McCord has already framed for murder.

Alec Martin

Station West

Station West · 1948

When two US cavalrymen transporting a gold shipment get killed, US Army Intelligence investigator John Haven goes undercover to a mining and logging town to find the killers.

Sheriff

Steamboat Round the Bend

Steamboat Round the Bend · 1935

Steamboat Round the Bend

MovieComedyDrama

A Louisiana con man enters his steamboat into a winner-take-all race with a rival while trying to find a witness to free his nephew, about to be hanged for murder.

Fleety Belle's Father

Broadway Bill

Broadway Bill · 1934

MovieComedyDrama

Tycoon J.L. Higgins controls his whole family, but one of his sons-in-law, Dan Brooks, and his daughter Alice are fed up with that. Brooks quits his job as manager of J.L.'s paper box factory and devotes his life to his racing horse Broadway Bill, but his bankroll is thin and the luck is against him. He is arrested because of $150 he owes somebody for horse food, but suddenly a planned fraud by somebody else seems to offer him a chance...

Veterinarian (uncredited)

Wild Bill Hickok Rides

Wild Bill Hickok Rides · 1942

Wild Bill Hickok Rides

The Western hero takes on a ruthless land baron whose henchmen killed his best friend.

Claim Jumping Leader

Virginia City

Virginia City · 1940

MovieWesternRomance

Union officer Kerry Bradford escapes from a Confederate prison and races to intercept $5 million in gold destined for Confederate coffers. A Confederate sympathizer and a Mexican bandit, each with their own stake in the loot, stand in his way.

Jefferson Davis