Charles Farrell
Encyclopedia
Charles Farrell was an American
film actor of the 1920s silent era and into the 1930s, and later a television actor. Farrell is probably best recalled for his onscreen romances with actress Janet Gaynor
in more than a dozen films, including Seventh Heaven, Street Angel, and Lucky Star.
, He began his career in Hollywood as a bit player for Paramount Pictures
. Farrell did extra work for films ranging from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
with Lon Chaney, Sr.
, Cecil B. DeMille
's The Ten Commandments
, and The Cheat with Pola Negri
.
Farrell continued to work throughout the next few years in relatively minor roles without much success until he was signed by Fox Studios and was paired with fellow newcomer Janet Gaynor in the romantic drama Seventh Heaven. The film was a public and critical success and Farrell and Gaynor would go on to star opposite one another in more than a dozen films throughout the late 1920s and into the talkie era of the early 1930s. Unlike many of his silent screen peers, Farrell had little difficulty with "voice troubles" and remained a publicly popular actor throughout the sound era.
, which aired on CBS
and NBC
between 1952 and 1955. He played the role of the widower Vern Albright, the father of a young woman, Margie Albright with a knack for getting into trouble, portrayed by Gale Storm
. In 1956, Farrell hosted his own television program, The Charles Farrell Show.
In the 1960s he also appeared on various British TV series such as Danger Man
.
on February 14, 1931, and the couple was married until Valli's death from a stroke
on September 24, 1968.
After retiring from his acting career, Farrell became a resident of the desert city of Palm Springs, California
. He opened the popular Palm Springs Racquet Club in the city with fellow actor Ralph Bellamy
.
A major factor in the prosperity of Palm Springs in the 1950s, Farrell was elected mayor
of the community in 1953, a position that he held for seven years. Farrell died from a heart attack
in 1990. He was interred at the Welwood Murray Cemetery there.
In the fall of 2009, silent film historian Sarah Baker's dual biography, Lucky Stars: Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, was published by Bear Manor Media.
in Hollywood at the following locations: 7021 Hollywood Blvd. (motion pictures), and 1617 Vine Street (television).
Short Subjects:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film actor of the 1920s silent era and into the 1930s, and later a television actor. Farrell is probably best recalled for his onscreen romances with actress Janet Gaynor
Janet Gaynor
Janet Gaynor was an American actress and painter.One of the most popular actresses of the silent film era, in 1928 Gaynor became the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: Seventh Heaven , Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and Street Angel...
in more than a dozen films, including Seventh Heaven, Street Angel, and Lucky Star.
Career
Born in Walpole, MassachusettsWalpole, Massachusetts
Walpole is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located about south of Boston and north of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 24,070 at the 2010 census. Walpole was first settled in 1659 and was considered a part of Dedham until officially incorporated in 1724...
, He began his career in Hollywood as a bit player for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. Farrell did extra work for films ranging from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American film directed by Wallace Worsley and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. It stars Lon Chaney, Sr., Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier, Brandon Hurst. The film is the second most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel,...
with Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
, Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
's The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (1923 film)
The Ten Commandments is a 1923 American epic silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Theodore Roberts as Moses, Charles de Rochefort as Pharaoh Ramesses, Estelle Taylor as Miriam the sister of Moses, and James Neill as Aaron, the brother of Moses...
, and The Cheat with Pola Negri
Pola Negri
Pola Negri was a Polish stage and film actress who achieved worldwide fame for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles from the 1910s through the 1940s during the Golden Era of Hollywood film. She was the first European film star to be invited to Hollywood, and became a great American star. She...
.
Farrell continued to work throughout the next few years in relatively minor roles without much success until he was signed by Fox Studios and was paired with fellow newcomer Janet Gaynor in the romantic drama Seventh Heaven. The film was a public and critical success and Farrell and Gaynor would go on to star opposite one another in more than a dozen films throughout the late 1920s and into the talkie era of the early 1930s. Unlike many of his silent screen peers, Farrell had little difficulty with "voice troubles" and remained a publicly popular actor throughout the sound era.
Early 1950s
During the early 1950s, after his career in motion pictures began to slow, Farrell began appearing on the television series My Little MargieMy Little Margie
My Little Margie is an American situation comedy that alternated between CBS and NBC from 1952 to 1955. The series was created by Frank Fox and produced in Los Angeles, California at Hal Roach Studios by Hal Roach, Jr. and Roland D...
, which aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
between 1952 and 1955. He played the role of the widower Vern Albright, the father of a young woman, Margie Albright with a knack for getting into trouble, portrayed by Gale Storm
Gale Storm
Gale Storm was an American actress and singer who starred in two popular television programs of the 1950s, My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show.-Early life:...
. In 1956, Farrell hosted his own television program, The Charles Farrell Show.
In the 1960s he also appeared on various British TV series such as Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
.
Personal life & retirement
Farrell married former actress Virginia ValliVirginia Valli
Virginia Valli was an American stage and film actress whose motion picture career started in the silent film era and lasted until the beginning of the sound film era of the 1930s....
on February 14, 1931, and the couple was married until Valli's death from a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
on September 24, 1968.
After retiring from his acting career, Farrell became a resident of the desert city of Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
. He opened the popular Palm Springs Racquet Club in the city with fellow actor Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy was an American actor whose career spanned sixty-two years.-Early life:He was born Ralph Rexford Bellamy in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Lilla Louise , a native of Canada, and Charles Rexford Bellamy. He ran away from home when he was fifteen and managed to get into a road show...
.
A major factor in the prosperity of Palm Springs in the 1950s, Farrell was elected mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of the community in 1953, a position that he held for seven years. Farrell died from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 1990. He was interred at the Welwood Murray Cemetery there.
In the fall of 2009, silent film historian Sarah Baker's dual biography, Lucky Stars: Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, was published by Bear Manor Media.
Awards
For his contribution to both motion pictures and television, Charles Farrell was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
in Hollywood at the following locations: 7021 Hollywood Blvd. (motion pictures), and 1617 Vine Street (television).
Filmography
Features:- The Cheat (19231923 in film-Events:*April 15 - Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm sound-on-film system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers.-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1923:U.S.A...
) - The Hunchback of Notre DameThe Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film)The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1923 American film directed by Wallace Worsley and produced by Carl Laemmle and Irving Thalberg. It stars Lon Chaney, Sr., Patsy Ruth Miller, Norman Kerry, Nigel de Brulier, Brandon Hurst. The film is the second most famous adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel,...
(1923) - RositaRosita (film)Rosita is a 1923 silent film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The film is based upon a 1872 opera Don César de Bazan.-Synopsis:The film takes place in Seville, in a period where the city has sunk into the depths of depravity and sin...
(1923) - A Woman of ParisA Woman of ParisA Woman of Paris is a feature-length silent film that debuted in 1923. The film, an atypical drama film for its creator, was written, directed, produced and later scored by Charlie Chaplin. It is also known as A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate....
(1923) - The Ten CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments (1923 film)The Ten Commandments is a 1923 American epic silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Theodore Roberts as Moses, Charles de Rochefort as Pharaoh Ramesses, Estelle Taylor as Miriam the sister of Moses, and James Neill as Aaron, the brother of Moses...
(1923) - The Golden BedThe Golden BedThe Golden Bed is a 1925 drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Prints of the film survive in the film archive at George Eastman House.-Cast:* Lillian Rich - Flora Lee Peake* Henry B...
(19251925 in film-Events:*November 5: The Big Parade holds its Grand Premier*December 30: premier of Ben-Hur the most expensive silent film ever made costing 4-6 million dollars -Top grossing films :...
) - Wings of Youth (1925)
- The Love Hour (1925)
- The FreshmanThe Freshman (1925 film)The Freshman is a 1925 comedy film that tells the story of a college freshman trying to become popular by joining the school football team. It stars Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Brooks Benedict and James Anderson. It remains one of Lloyd's most successful and enduring films.The movie was written...
(1925) - Clash of the WolvesClash of the WolvesClash of the Wolves was a 1925 animal movie featuring an early starring role Rin Tin Tin, a German Shepherd who appeared in many movies at the time, the film is distributed by Warner Bros....
(1925) - Sandy (19261926 in film-Events:*August - Warner Brothers debuts the first Vitaphone film, Don Juan. The Vitaphone system used multiple 33⅓ rpm disc records developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric to play back audio synchronized with film....
) - A Trip to ChinatownA Trip to Chinatown (film)A Trip to Chinatown is a 1926 silent film starring Margaret Livingston. The supporting cast includes Anna May Wong and Charles Farrell. The movie was scripted by Beatrice Van from Charles Hale Hoyt's hit Broadway musical of the same name and directed by Robert P. Kerr.Livingston played the "Woman...
(1926) - Old IronsidesOld Ironsides (1926 film)Old Ironsides is a silent film starring Charles Farrell, Esther Ralston, Wallace Beery, and George Bancroft.-Production background:The movie was directed by James Cruze in a widescreen process that Paramount promoted as "Magnascope"....
(1926) - Seventh Heaven (19271927 in film-Events:*January 10 - Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany.*April 7 - Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premiers at the Paris Opéra and would demonstrate techniques and equipment that would not be used for years to...
) - The Rough RidersThe Rough RidersThe Rough Riders is a silent film, released by Paramount Pictures, and starring Charles Farrell, Mary Astor and Noah Beery. This fictional account of Theodore Roosevelt's military unit in Cuba was directed by Victor Fleming.-Cast:...
(1927) - Street Angel (19281928 in film-Events:Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.* July 28 - Lights of New York is released by Warner Brothers. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film...
) - Fazil (1928)
- The Red Dance (1928)
- Lucky StarLucky Star (film)Lucky Star is a romantic drama film starring Janet Gaynor and directed by Frank Borzage. The plot involves the impact of World War I upon a farm girl and a returning soldier . The movie was produced by William Fox with cinematography by Chester A. Lyons and William Cooper Smith, and the...
(19291929 in film-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
) - Happy DaysHappy Days (1929 film)Happy Days is an 80 minute musical film, notable for being the first feature film shown entirely in widescreen anywhere in the world. Happy Days (1929) is an 80 minute musical film, notable for being the first feature film shown entirely in widescreen anywhere in the world. Happy Days (1929) is an...
(1929) - The RiverThe River (1929 film)The River is a 1929 drama film directed by Frank Borzage, and starring Charles Farrell and Mary Duncan. Much of the film has been lost. A reconstructed version, using still images and explanatory titlecards to bridge the missing scenes, was produced by the Munich Filmmuseum, in collaboration with...
(1929) - Sunny Side Up (1929)
- City GirlCity GirlCity Girl is an American 1930 silent film directed by F.W. Murnau. Along with Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, 4 Devils and Tabu, these mark Murnau's Hollywood productions. The director wanted the film to be called Our Daily Bread....
(19301930 in film-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...
) - High Society BluesHigh Society BluesHigh Society Blues is a film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. The movie was written by Howard J. Green from the story by Dana Burnett and directed by David Butler....
(1930) - Song of Soho (1930)
- LiliomLiliomLiliom is a 1909 play by the Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár. It was very famous in its own right during the early to mid-20th century, but is best known today as the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.- Plot :...
(1930) - Princess and the Plumber (1930)
- The Man Who Came BackThe Man Who Came BackThe Man Who Came Back is a 1931 American drama film directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. The movie was adapted to screen by Edwin J...
(19311931 in film-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:*Best Picture: Cimarron - MGM*Best Actor: Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul*Best Actor: Wallace Beery - The Champ*Best Actor: Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde...
) - Body and SoulBody and Soul (1931 film)Body and Soul is a film directed by Alfred Santell. The story is about Royal Air Force pilots and stars Charles Farrell, Elissa Landi, Humphrey Bogart, and Myrna Loy...
(1931) - Merely Mary AnnMerely Mary AnnMerely Mary Ann is a romantic comedy drama film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Gaynor and Farrell made almost a dozen films together, including Frank Borzage's classics Seventh Heaven , Street Angel , and Lucky Star ; Gaynor won the first Academy Award for Best Actress for the first...
(1931) - Heartbreak (1931)
- DeliciousDelicious (1931 film)Delicious is a Gershwin musical romantic comedy film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, directed by David Butler, with color sequences in Multicolor . The film featured music by George and Ira Gershwin, including the introduction of "New York Rhapsody" ; an imaginative and elaborate set...
(1931) - The Spare Room (19321932 in film-Events:*Cary Grant's film career begins*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*Disney released Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film.*Santa, first sound film made in Mexico released....
) - After Tomorrow (1932)
- The First YearThe First YearThe First Year is a film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. The movie was written by Lynn Starling from Frank Craven's play and directed by William K. Howard.-Cast:* Janet Gaynor as Grace Livingston* Charles Farrell as Tommy Tucker...
(1932) - Wild GirlWild Girl (film)Wild Girl is a 1932 film starring Charles Farrell, Joan Bennett, Ralph Bellamy, and Eugene Pallette. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh, based on a play by Paul Armstrong, Jr. which in turn was based on the story "Salomy Jane's Kiss" by Bret Harte....
(1932) - Tess of the Storm CountryTess of the Storm Country (1932 film)Tess of the Storm Country is an English-language remake of the 1922 silent film of the same name. The movie is an energetic film with Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, and Dudley Digges. Gaynor and Farrell made almost a dozen films together, including Frank Borzage's classics Seventh Heaven ,...
(1932) - The Stolen NecklaceThe Stolen NecklaceThe Stolen Necklace is a 1933 British crime film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Lester Matthews, Joan Marion and Mickey Brantford.-Cast:* Lester Matthews as Clive Wingate* Joan Marion as Diana Hunter* Mickey Brantford as Tom Hunter...
(19331933 in film-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....
) - Aggie Appleby Maker of Men (1933)
- Girl Without a RoomGirl Without a RoomGirl Without a Room is a 1933 musical comedy film starring Charles Farrell, Charles Ruggles, and Marguerite Churchill. This early light comedy farce set in Paris was written by Claude Binyon, Frank Butler, and Jack Lait, and directed by Ralph Murphy....
(1933) - The Big ShakedownThe Big ShakedownThe Big Shakedown is a 1934 American drama film starring Charles Farrell and Bette Davis and directed by John Francis Dillon. The screenplay by Rian James and Niven Busch is based on the story Cut Rate by Busch and Samuel G. Engel. The supporting cast includes Ricardo Cortez and Glenda...
(19341934 in film-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
) - Change of HeartChange of Heart (1934 film)Change of Heart is a 1934 American drama film starring Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, James Dunn, and Ginger Rogers. The movie, about a quartet of college chums who all move to 1934 New York City, was written by James Gleason and Sonya Levien from Kathleen Norris's novel, Manhattan Love Song and...
(1934) - Trouble Ahead (19351935 in film-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
) - Forbidden Heaven (1935)
- Fighting Youth (1935)
- The Flying Doctor (19361936 in filmThe year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
) - Moonlight Sonata (19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
) - Bombs Over London (1937)
- Flight to Fame (19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - Just Around the CornerJust Around the CornerJust Around the Corner is a 1938 American musical film directed by Irving Cummings. The screenplay by Ethel Hill, Darrell Ware, and J. P. McEvoy was based on the novel Lucky Penny by Paul Girard Smith. The film focuses on the tribulations of little Penny Hale and her architect father after he is...
(1938) - Tail SpinTail SpinTail Spin is a 1939 aviation film starring Alice Faye, Constance Bennett, Nancy Kelly, Joan Davis, Charles Farrell, and Jane Wyman. The movie was written by Frank Wead and directed by Roy Del Ruth.-Cast:* Alice Faye as Trixie Lee...
(19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
) - The Deadly GameThe Deadly GameThe Deadly Game is a thriller starring Charles Farrell. The film was written by Wellyn Tottman and directed by Phil Rosen, and was Farrell's fifty-third and final movie appearance; he would reemerge more than a decade later on television as the lead in My Little Margie.-External links:*...
(19411941 in filmThe year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
)
Short Subjects:
- The Gosh-Darn Mortgage (19261926 in film-Events:*August - Warner Brothers debuts the first Vitaphone film, Don Juan. The Vitaphone system used multiple 33⅓ rpm disc records developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric to play back audio synchronized with film....
) - Hollywood Hobbies (19351935 in film-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
) - Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 7 (19361936 in filmThe year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
)