People active in the silent era and people who keep the silent era alive. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Photograph: Silent Era image collection.

Charles King
(same Charles L. King, Charles Lafayette King)

Born 21 February 1895 in Hillsboro, Texas, USA, as Charles Lafayette King Jr.
Died 7 May 1957 in Hollywood, California, USA, of cirrhosis of the liver.

Married Lila [?] ?, 1913; three children.
Married Pauline Dorothy Nelson, 14 December 1919; divorced 1927;
son, actor Charles King III (screen name Charles King Jr.), born 30 December 1920; one other child.
Married Dorothy G. Klauber, 5 April 1927; one child.

Charles King is a different performer than song and dance specialist Charles King. King began film work as an extra in The Birth of a Nation (1915), did work in the 1920s as a comedian in short films, and continued acting in more than 400 films through the late 1950s. He is best remembered for numerous villain roles in the golden era during which he acquired the nickname “Blackie.”

References: ClasIm-204 pp. 45, 62 : Website-IMDb.