Charles Barton (May 25, 1902December 5, 1981) was an American
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
and
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 ...
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...
and
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...
. He won an
Oscar for
best assistant director The Academy Award for Best Assistant Director was awarded from 1933 through 1937. In the first year of this award, it referred to no specific film.
* 1933:
** Charles Barton (Paramount) - winner
** Scott Beal (Universal) - winner
** Charles Dorian ...
in 1933.
His first film as a director was the
Zane Grey feature ''
Wagon Wheels'', starring
Randolph Scott
George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor whose career spanned the years from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of ...
, in 1934.
Barton worked in Hollywood
B-movie
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feat ...
units. From 1946, he was a principal director of the
Abbott and Costello
Abbott may refer to:
People
* Abbott (surname)
*Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849–1921), American painter and naturalist
* Abbott and Costello, famous American vaudeville act
Places Argentina
* Abbott, Buenos Aires United States
* Abbott, Arkansas ...
comedies, such as ''
The Time of Their Lives'', ''
Buck Privates Come Home,'' ''
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,'' and ''
Africa Screams
''Africa Screams'' is a 1949 American adventure comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring Abbott and Costello that parodies the safari genre. The title is a play on the title of the 1930 documentary ''Africa Speaks!'' The supporting ...
''. He later directed
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
films such as ''
The Shaggy Dog'' and ''
Toby Tyler
''Toby Tyler or 10 Weeks with a Circus'', also known simply as ''Toby Tyler'', is a 1960 American drama film directed by Charles Barton and starring Kevin Corcoran, Henry Calvin, Gene Sheldon, and Richard Eastham. It was produced by Walt Disney ...
''. His extensive work for television included every episode of ''
Amos 'n' Andy
''Amos 'n' Andy'' is an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago and later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio sho ...
'' in the 1950s, a total of 90 episodes of ''
Dennis the Menace'' in the 1960s, and 106 episodes of ''
Family Affair
''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attemp ...
'' from 1967 to 1971. One obituary said he directed 580 television episodes, 70 feature films and dozens of commercials.
Early Life and Career
Through an entirely paternal line Barton was a direct descendant of the Sheriff of London,
Henry Barton. Charles Barton began acting at the age of thirteen. He worked on stage and was signed to
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...
where he starred in ''
The County Fair'' (1921).
He grew to five foot two inches, and his height limited the amount of work he could get so in the mid 1920s Barton decided to move into directing.
In 1927, Barton worked as an assistant director on ''
Wings'' (1927), directed by
William Wellman; he also played a small role.
Barton was an assistant director for some years before directing ''
Wagon Wheels'' for
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
in 1934. In 1935, Paramount awarded him a long-term contract helming four pictures a year thereafter for the studio until 1937. During his time at Paramount, Barton returned to acting briefly for Wellman's ''
Beau Geste
''Beau Geste'' is an adventure novel by British writer P. C. Wren, which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a re ...
'' (1939).
In May 1939, he joined
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
who assigned him to direct ''
Behind Prison Gates
''Behind Prison Gates'' is a 1939 American crime film directed by Charles Barton and written by Arthur T. Horman and Leslie T. White. The film stars Brian Donlevy, Julie Bishop, Joseph Crehan, Paul Fix, George Lloyd and Dick Curtis. The film ...
'', starring Brian Donlevy. He directed a total of 34 features for Columbia through the first half of 1944, including comedian Joe Besser's first starring feature film with Ann Miller for Columbia, ''Hey Rookie'' (1944).
Joe Besser called him "one of the great comedy directors".
In August 1944, Barton was signed by
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
to a term deal as producer-director directing 14 features over the next eleven years, including the first of six feature-length Abbott and Costello comedies starting in 1946 with ''
The Time of Their Lives''.
In 1948, Barton directed Abbott and Costello in the first of two independently-produced features, ''
The Noose Hangs High'', for
Eagle-Lion, and then, in 1949, ''
Africa Screams
''Africa Screams'' is a 1949 American adventure comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring Abbott and Costello that parodies the safari genre. The title is a play on the title of the 1930 documentary ''Africa Speaks!'' The supporting ...
'' for
Nassour Studios
Metromedia Square (later known as Fox Television Center from 1986 to 1996) was a radio and television studio facility located at 5746 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California on the southeastern corner of Sunset and Van Ness Av ...
, marking the only film appearance of
Joe Besser and
Shemp Howard together in supporting roles, each of whom were at one time members of
The Three Stooges comedy team.
Overall, Barton directed nine Abbott and Costello films, including their last movie as a team, ''
Dance with Me, Henry
''Dance with Me, Henry'' is a 1956 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the final film that they starred in together, although Costello starred in one more film before his death, ''The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock''.
Plot
L ...
'', in 1956.
Personal
Barton's wife of seven years, Nancy, died at their home in 1951 after a two year illness.
In 1958, during divorce proceedings with his new wife Lee, Barton claimed he earned a net figure of $2,000 a month.
Barton was married to actress/singer
Julie Gibson
Julie Gibson (born Gladys Camille Soray; September 6, 1913 – October 2, 2019) was an American singer and radio, television and film actress who had a career in movies during the 1940s. Gibson, who retired from the industry in 1984, was known ...
from 1973 until his death from a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
in 1981. He died at the
Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center.
Selected filmography
Director
* ''
Car 99'' (1935)
* ''
Island of Doomed Men'' (1940)
* ''
Nobody's Children'' (1940)
* ''
Two Latins from Manhattan
''Two Latins from Manhattan'' is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring Joan Davis, Jinx Falkenburg, and Joan Woodbury.
Cast list
* Joan Davis as Joan Daley
* Jinx Falkenburg as Jinx Terry
* Joan Woodbury as Lois M ...
'' (1941)
* ''
The Big Boss'' (1941)
* ''
A Man's World'' (1942)
* ''
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp'' (1942)
* ''
Is Everybody Happy?'' (1943)
* ''
She Has What It Takes'' (1943)
* ''
Louisiana Hayride'' (1944)
* ''
Men in Her Diary'' (1945)
* ''
Smooth as Silk'' (1946)
* ''
White Tie and Tails'' (1946)
* ''
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'' (1948)
* ''
Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff'' (1949).
* ''
Free for All'' (1949)
* ''
Double Crossbones
''Double Crossbones'' is a 1951 American comedy adventure film distributed by Universal International, produced by Leonard Goldstein, directed by Charles Barton, and stars Donald O'Connor and Helena Carter. It was shot in Technicolor and was re ...
'' (1951)
* ''
Amos 'n' Andy
''Amos 'n' Andy'' is an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago and later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio sho ...
'' (78 episodes, 1951-1953)
* ''
Zorro'' (17 episodes, 1958-1959)
* ''
Dennis the Menace'' (90 episodes, 1960-1963)
* ''
Petticoat Junction'' (38 episodes, 1965-1967)
* ''
Family Affair
''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attemp ...
'' (106 episodes, 1967-1971)
Actor
* ''
The County Fair'' (1920) - Tim Vail
* ''
Wings'' (1927) - Soldier Flirting with Mary (uncredited)
* ''
Beau Geste
''Beau Geste'' is an adventure novel by British writer P. C. Wren, which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a re ...
'' (1939) - Buddy McMonigal (final film role)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Charles
1902 births
1981 deaths
Vaudeville performers
Best Assistant Director Academy Award winners
Male actors from San Francisco
Film directors from California
20th-century American male actors
Assistant directors
Comedy film directors
Parody film directors
American parodists