Charles Middleton

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Charles B. Middleton (born October 7, 1874 in Elizabethtown , Kentucky , † April 22, 1949 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actor .

Life

Charles Middleton, a millionaire's son, came to acting for sheer pleasure. He first worked in a traveling circus and as a stage actor before starting a career in Hollywood in the 1920s . With his dark voice he was the ideal counterpart to comedians such as Harold Lloyd , Eddie Cantor , Wheeler & Woolsey, Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers in the early sound films .

Middleton's most famous role was that of "Ming the Merciless" ( "Ming the Merciless") in the three multi-part Flash Gordon - serial mid-1930s with Buster Crabbe in the lead role. Because of his obviously Chinese appearance, his sneering grin and booming voice, he has been used in villain roles such as Over Zealous Preachers , Shyster Lawyers and The Town Leader Whippin . Middleton also made some low-budget westerns and occasionally played good characters, such as in the first Hoppy film Hopalong Cassidy (1935) with William Boyd . In Strangler of the Swamp (1946) by Frank Wisbar , the US remake of the German film Fährmann Maria by the same director, he was seen as a ghost.

Middleton starred in over 175 sound films , including 45 westerns , in his 30-year career . He lived with his wife, stage and film colleague Leora Spellman (1888–1945), until her death. He died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on April 22, 1949, and his grave is in Hollywood Forever Cemetery .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Middleton, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Middleton, Charles B.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Elizabethtown , Kentucky , USA
DATE OF DEATH April 22, 1949
Place of death Los Angeles , California , USA