Charles Brown Middleton was born on October 7th, 1879, to a military father who instilled a strong sense of discipline, which clashed with Charles' own carefree outlook on life. At the tender age of 12, he made the bold decision to run away from home and join a circus, where he initially looked after the elephants before graduating to performing dramatic vignettes between traditional acts.
As he grew older, Charles continued to pursue his passion for acting, forming his own stock company at the age of 18, which toured the South, performing Shakespearean plays and self-penned melodramas. His talent and dedication earned him a reputation as a skilled actor, which ultimately led him to meet Stan Laurel, with whom he would go on to collaborate on numerous projects.
In the 1920s, Charles appeared in several silent films, but it was the advent of sound that truly catapulted his career to new heights. As a seasoned stage actor, he was in high demand, thanks to his exceptional vocal range and distinctive voice, which set him apart from his competitors.
Throughout his illustrious career, Charles had the privilege of working alongside three of the most iconic film comedy teams of the time: Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, and the Three Stooges. He often found himself cast as the heavy, and his versatility led him to appear in numerous serials, including the popular Dick Tracy, Batman, and Black Raven series.
One of his most memorable roles was that of Ming the Merciless in the 1930s Flash Gordon serials, a character that cemented his status as a beloved film icon. Charles' ability to choose his own roles, courtesy of his lack of contract, allowed him to take on a wide range of projects, although some of his later choices proved to be less successful, leading to a decline in his workload.
In his later years, Charles returned to his theatrical roots, touring theaters and sharing clips from his films, as well as stories about his experiences in the industry. On April 19th, 1949, he was admitted to the hospital, where he underwent an operation for gangrene on his right foot. Sadly, his condition worsened, and he passed away on April 22nd, with the official cause of death attributed to arteriosclerotic heart disease, a condition he had been battling for over two decades.
