Charles Dudley (October 1, 1883 - March 9, 1952) was an American stage and

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

actor who later had a successful career as a film studio make-up artist.

Early life

Charles Dudley Heaslip was born on October 1, 1883, at Fort Grant, Arizona, the son of Irving Heaslip, a career soldier. His father was from St. Ann’s, Ontario, Canada, and served over twenty-five years in the U.S. Army, seeing action at the

Battle of Little Big Horn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

and later in the Philippine War of Independence. Nothing here is known of Dudley’s mother other than she may have died young.

Career

Before Dudley broke into film at around the age of thirty, he spent some twelve years performing on stage in

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

and

grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on o ...

s. His initial film work was under Milton H. Faroney, with Universal and later with such studios as Monopol, Keystone, Balboa and

Vitagraph Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907 ...

. During this period Dudley worked primarily in comedies as a character actor and later with Vitagraph in a number of movie serials. During his tenure with Balboa, Dudley played principal comedic roles under the direction of

Bertram Bracken Bertram Bracken (August 10, 1879 – November 1, 1952) was an American silent screen actor, scenarist, and director who worked on at least sixty-five films between 1910 and 1932. Biography Bertram “Bert” Bracken was born in San Antonio, Tex ...

. Dudley was remembered for his portrayal of the blind father in the 1913 feature film ''Will o' the Wisp'' and for the serials ''Neal of the Navy'', ''Who Pays'', ''Hidden Danger'', ''Fighting Fate'' and ''Purple Riders''. Sometime around 1925 Charles Dudley gave up acting to work as a studio

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions in ...

and went on to have a career that would span some twenty-five years or more, Dudley would rise to become head make-up artist at

Twentieth Century-Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

where he worked with Shirley Temple for the greater part of her career. He went on to fill out his career with

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

until his retirement in 1950."Charles Dudley", ''New York Times'', March 13, 1952; pg.. 29

Death

Charles Dudley Heaslip died on March 9, 1952, after an extended illness at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California. He was survived by his wife Frances and daughter Lucille.Obituary - ''Los Angeles Times'', March 13, 1952

Partial filmography

*'' Neal of the Navy'' (1915) *'' Pay Dirt'' (1916) *''

The Grip of Evil ''The Grip of Evil'' is a lost 1916 American silent film serial directed by W.A.S. Douglas and Harry Harvey. It was distributed through Pathé Exchange. The melodramatic film serial was unusual in its critique of everyday habits and society and w ...

'' (1916) *'' The Sultana'' (1916) *''

Sold at Auction ''Sold at Auction'' is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Sherwood MacDonald and starring Lois Meredith, William Conklin, and Marguerite Nichols. Cast * Lois Meredith as Nan * William Conklin as Richard Stanley * Marguerite Ni ...

'' (1917) *''

The Devil's Bait ''The Devil's Bait'' is an extant 1917 dramatic silent feature film starring Ruth Roland, an actress usually associated with serials. It was directed by Harry Harvey and produced by the Balboa Amusement Producing Company. General Film Company ha ...

'' (1917) *'' The Butcher Boy'' (1917) *'' The Secret of Black Mountain'' (1917) *'' The Bell Boy'' (1918) *''

Moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

'' (1918) * '' Where Men Are Men'' (1921) * ''

Steelheart Steelheart is an American glam metal band from Norwalk, Connecticut, that formed in 1989. At the time that their debut was recorded, the band's members consisted of vocalist Miljenko Matijevic, lead guitarist Chris Risola, rhythm guitarist Fran ...

'' (1921) * ''

No Defense No Defense may refer to: * No Defense (1929 film) ''No Defense'' is a 1929 American romantic drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Monte Blue. It was a silent film with part talking and sound-effects using the Vitaphone system. It was d ...

'' (1921) * ''

The Silent Vow ''The Silent Vow'' is a 1922 American silent Western film directed by William Duncan and starring Duncan, Edith Johnson and Dorothy Dwan.Rainey, p. 136. It is a Northern, following the activities of an officer of the Mounties. Cast * Willia ...

'' (1922) * '' When Danger Smiles'' (1922) * '' The Purple Riders'' (1922) * '' A Girl's Desire'' (1922) * '' The Fighting Guide'' (1922) *'' Wide Open Spaces'' (1924)

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Charles 1883 births 1952 deaths American male silent film actors American make-up artists 20th-century American male actors