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

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized 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) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

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 Fort Grant is a Arizona State Prison, state prison and a former United States US Army, Army fortification in the U.S. state of Arizona. Fort Grant is located on the southwestern slope of Mount Graham in what is now Graham County, Arizona, Graham ...

, 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 commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Northe ...

and later in the

Philippine War of Independence The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

. 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 indicat ...

and

grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design and stage effects with plots normally 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 Prosthetic makeup, prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other simil ...

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., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film production and distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Com ...

where he worked with

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

for the greater part of her career. He went on to fill out his career with

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

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 The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as tempo ...

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'' (1916) *''

The Sultana ''The Sultana'' is a lost 1916 silent film crime drama directed by Sherwood MacDonald and starring Ruth Roland. It was produced by Balboa Amusement Producing Company and distributed by Pathé Exchange. Cast * Ruth Roland as Virginia Lowndes ...

'' (1916) *'' Sold at Auction'' (1917) *'' The Devil's Bait'' (1917) *'' The Butcher Boy'' (1917) *'' The Secret of Black Mountain'' (1917) *''

The Bell Boy ''The Bell Boy'' is a 1918 American Short film, two-reel Silent film, silent comedy film directed by Roscoe Arbuckle, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle for the Comique film company. The film stars Arbuckle and Buster Keaton as Bellhop, bellboys in the ...

'' (1918) *''

Moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

'' (1918) * ''

Where Men Are Men ''Where Men Are Men'' is a 1921 American silent Western film directed by William Duncan and starring Duncan, Edith Johnson and George Stanley. Plot Cast * William Duncan as Vic Foster * Edith Johnson as Eileen ''aka'' 'Princess' * George ...

'' (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 Fra ...

'' (1921) * '' No Defense'' (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 * Willi ...

'' (1922) * ''

When Danger Smiles ''When Danger Smiles'' is a 1922 American silent Western film directed by William Duncan and starring Duncan, Edith Johnson and James Farley.Langman, p. 503 Cast * William Duncan as Ray Chapman * Edith Johnson as Frania Caravelle * James F ...

'' (1922) * '' The Purple Riders'' (1922) * ''

A Girl's Desire ''A Girl's Desire'' is a 1922 American silent comedy film directed by David Smith and starring Alice Calhoun, Warner Baxter and Frank Hall Crane.Connelly p.354 Plot A wealthy and socially ambitious American woman plans to buy social position ...

'' (1922) * ''

The Fighting Guide ''The Fighting Guide'' is a 1922 American silent Western film directed by William Duncan and starring Duncan, Edith Johnson and Harry Lonsdale.Connelly, p. 347. Plot Cast * William Duncan as Ned Lightning * Edith Johnson as Ethel MacDon ...

'' (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 People from Graham County, Arizona