Charles Bennett (13 April 1891 – 15 February 1943) was an American actor who performed in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

and as an extra in Hollywood talkies.

Biography

Charles Joseph Bennett was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand, and died in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

. He grew up in Melbourne Australia, and arrived in North America in 1912 with the Pollard's Lilliputian Opera Company. After a long career on stage in vaudeville in the United States and Canada he appeared as a featured extra in talkies. Perhaps the most recognizable role of his later film career was as the entertainer in the ''Inquirer'' party sequence in '' Citizen Kane'' (1941), who performs the song "Oh, Mr. Kane!" He was the father of child star Mickey Bennett.

Partial filmography

*''Narcotic'' (1933) - Hand Wrestler *''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...

'' (1934) - Pirate of the Spanish Main *''

I Live My Life ''I Live My Life'' is a 1935 American comedy-drama film starring Joan Crawford, Brian Aherne, and Frank Morgan, and is based on the story "Claustrophobia" by A. Carter Goodloe. Plot summary Kay Bentley (Joan Crawford), a bored socialite seeks ...

'' (1935) - Stewart (uncredited) *''

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...

'' (1936) - Coster (uncredited) *'' Born to Dance'' (1936) - Quartet Member (uncredited) *''

Step Lively, Jeeves! ''Step Lively, Jeeves!'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Eugene Forde, written by Frank Fenton and Lynn Root, and starring Arthur Treacher as P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves alongside Patricia Ellis, Robert Kent, Alan Dinehart, George Gi ...

'' (1937) - Steward (uncredited) *'' The Road Back'' (1937) - Innkeeper (uncredited) *'' The Man Who Cried Wolf'' (1937) - Taxi Manager (uncredited) *'' A Damsel in Distress'' (1937) - Carnival Barker (uncredited) *''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Technicolor swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and stars Errol Flynn, Olivia d ...

'' (1938) - Peddler at tournament (uncredited) *''

Mysterious Mr. Moto ''Mysterious Mr. Moto'', produced in 1938 by Twentieth Century Fox, is the fifth in a series of eight films starring Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto. The film is based on the character of Mr. Moto created by John P. Marquand, from an original screenpl ...

'' (1938) - Cockney Singer (uncredited) *'' Gunga Din'' (1939) - Telegraph Operator (uncredited) *''

The Light That Failed ''The Light That Failed'' is the first novel by the Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling, first published in ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine'' in January 1891. Most of the novel is set in London, but many important events through ...

'' (1939) - Soldier (uncredited) *''

Adventure in Diamonds ''Adventure in Diamonds'' is a 1940 American crime film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring George Brent, Isa Miranda, John Loder and Nigel Bruce. It was also released under the alternative title of ''Diamonds are Dangerous''. Critics n ...

'' (1940) - Cockney Sailor (uncredited) *'' Citizen Kane'' (1941) - the Entertainer at the head of the chorus line in the ''Inquirer'' party sequence (uncredited) *'' Man Hunt'' (1941) - Costermonger (uncredited) *'' A Yank in the R.A.F.'' (1941) - Man on Stretcher (uncredited) *''

Mrs. Miniver ''Mrs. Miniver'' is a 1942 American romantic war drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Inspired by the 1940 novel '' Mrs. Miniver'' by Jan Struther, it shows how the life of an unassuming British h ...

'' (1942) - Milkman (uncredited) *''

Random Harvest ''Random Harvest'' is a novel written by James Hilton, first published in 1941. Like previous Hilton works, including '' Lost Horizon'' and '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'', the novel was immensely popular, placing second on ''Publishers Weekly'' li ...

'' (1942) - Porter (uncredited) *''

It Ain't Hay ''It Ain't Hay'' is a 1943 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. Plot Cab driver Wilbur Hoolihan accidentally kills a hack horse owned by King O'Hara and his daughter, Princess O’Hara, by feeding it candy. In hopes of raising ...

'' (1943) - SPCA Driver (uncredited) (final film role)

References

External links

* 1891 births 1943 deaths American male film actors American male silent film actors 20th-century American male actors New Zealand emigrants to the United States Actors from Dunedin {{US-film-actor-1880s-stub