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Charles Ellsworth Grapewin (December 20, 1869 – February 2, 1956) was an American vaudeville performer, writer and a stage and silent and sound actor, and comedian who was best known for portraying Aunt Em's husband, Uncle Henry in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's The Wizard of Oz (1939) as well as Grandpa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Jeeter Lester in Tobacco Road (1941). He usually portrayed elderly folksy-type characters in a rustic setting, in all appearing in over 100 films. He was the oldest cast member of The Wizard of Oz.
Born in Xenia, Ohio, Charles Ellsworth Grapewin ran away from home to be a circus acrobat which led him to work as an aerialist and trapeze artist in a traveling circus before turning to acting. He traveled all over the world with the famous P. T. Barnum circus. Grapewin also appeared in the original 1903 Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz, 36 years before he would appear in the famous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film version.
After this he continued in theatre, on and offstage, for the next thirty years, starting with various stock companies, and wrote stage plays as a vehicle for himself. His sole Broadway theatre credit was the short-lived play It's Up to You John Henry in 1905.
Grapewin married actress Anna Chance (1875–1943) in 1896, and they remained a devoted couple until her death some 47 years later. Two years after his first wife's death, Grapewin married Loretta McGowan Becker on Jan 10, 1945.
Grapewin began in silent films at the turn of the twentieth century. His very first films were two "moving image shorts" made by Frederick S. Armitage and released in November 1900; Chimmie Hicks at the Races (also known as Above the Limit) and Chimmie Hicks and the Rum Omelet, both shot in September and October 1900 and released in November of that year. During his long career, Grapewin appeared in more than one hundred films, including The Good Earth, The Grapes of Wrath, Tobacco Road, and in what is probably his best-remembered role: Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz. He also had a recurring role as Inspector Queen in the Ellery Queen film series of the early 1940s.
Grapewin died of natural causes in Corona, California at age 86, and his ashes are interred with his wife's in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, at the Great Mausoleum's Columbarium of Inspiration.
2000
as Uncle Henry (archive footage)
1995
as Uncle Henry (archive footage)
1984
as (archive footage)
1976
as (archive footage)
1964
as Mr. Bane in 'Libeled Lady' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1951
as Grandpa Reed
1949
as Doug
1948
as Grandpa
1947
as Rancher Inskip
1944
as Jake Taylor
1944
as Benjamin L. Pidgeon, Bellboy
1944
as Nick West
1943
as Pop
1942
as Inspector Richard Queen
1942
as Insp. Queen
1942
as Insp. Queen
1941
as California Joe
1941
as Insp. Queen
1941
as Insp. Queen
1941
as Insp. Queen
1941
as Jeeter Lester
1940
as Ben Caldwalder
1940
as Insp. Queen
1940
as Uncle Caleb
1940
as Mr. Whimser
1940
as Judge Emmett T. Brennan
1940
as Grandpa Joad
1939
as Major Matt Grayson
1939
as Uncle Frank "Lucky" Higgins
1939
as Pop
1939
as Uncle Henry
1939
as Ulysses Porterfield
1939
as Grandpa Casey Patterson
1939
as Doc Heath
1939
as 'Old Puff'
1938
as James Harper
1938
as Joe Higgins
1938
as Grandpa Briggs
1938
as Local Doctor
1938
as Uncle Davy
1938
as Jim Meeker
1937
as Barney Lane
1937
as Robert, the Mayor
1937
as Dan Gray
1937
as James K. Blakeley
1937
as Dr. Webster
1937
as Uncle Salters
1937
as Old Father
1937
as Frank Redmond
1936
as Self
1936
as Aaron Lampier
1936
as J.P. Kendrick
1936
as Hollis Bane
1936
as Dr. Ned Fabre
1936
as Cal Royster
1936
as Gramp Maple
1935
as Dave McComber
1935
as Prof. Martin
1935
as Uncle Winchester
1935
as J. A. Lamb
1935
as Truesdale
1935
as Jasper Whyte
1935
as Will Oliver
1935
as Grayson
1935
as Pop Sullivan
1934
as Notary
1934
as Dr. Tatum
1934
as Richard Norton
1934
as Sergeant Jimmy Bagby
1934
as Jessup
1934
as Pop Calloway
1934
as Joe Olesen
1934
as Ed Tilford
1934
as Sandy Roberts
1933
as Peck Wealin
1933
as Drunk at Hamburger Stand (Uncredited)
1933
as Mr. Cadman (uncredited)
1933
as Andrew 'Juddy' Judson
1933
as Freddy Gordon
1933
as Dr. Henderson (uncredited)
1933
as Dad Saunders
1933
as Clerk
1933
as Patrick McCaffrey
1933
as Pa Dennis
1933
as Schultz
1933
as Jed
1932
as George, a Concessions Clerk
1932
as Sam Bass
1932
as "Grandpop" Strawn (as Charles Grapewin)
1932
as Mr. Jones (uncredited)
1932
as Senator Simmons (uncredited)
1932
as Andy
1932
as Doctor (uncredited)
1932
as Pierce
1932
as Pop Baldwin
1932
as Henry Clark
1931
as Professor
1931
as Doc Boax
1931
as Nicholas Hautrey
1931
as Ed Powers
1930
as Simeon Tanner
1900
as Chimmie Hicks