Charles Drake

Acting

Charles Drake

Born 1917-10-02 · New York City, New York, USA

Charles Drake (October 2, 1917 – September 10, 1994) was an American actor.Drake was born as Charles Ruppert in New York City. He graduated from Nichols College and became a salesman. In 1939, he turned to acting and signed a contract with Warner Brothers. He wasn't immediately successful. World War II interrupted his career; soon after his military service was complete, Drake returned to Hollywood in 1945, his contract with Warner Brothers ended. In the 1940s, he did some freelance work, like A Night in Casablanca. In 1949 he moved to Universal Studios. In 1955, Drake turned to television as one of the stock-company players on Robert Montgomery Presents and three years later he became the host of the British TV espionage weekly Rendezvous. In 1959, he starred in the Western film, No Name on the Bullet, where he played a doctor dedicated to saving a small town from a dangerous assassin. In 1967 he played the part of Oliver Greer in The Fugitive episode The One That Got Away. He played in 83 films between 1939 and 1975, including Scream, Pretty Peggy. More than 50 were dramas, but he also acted in comedies, science fiction, horror and film noir. He died on September 10, 1994 in East Lyme, Connecticut, aged 76. Description above from the Wikipedia article  Charles Drake, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

The Maltese Falcon poster
7.7

A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

The Maltese Falcon

1941

Valley of the Dolls poster
6.0

Lured by their dreams of fame and fortune, three ambitious young women enter the world of show business and discover how easy it is to sink into a celebrity nightmare of ego, alcohol and pills — the beloved "dolls."

Valley of the Dolls

1967

The Hunchback of Notre Dame poster
7.3

Paris, France, 1482. Frollo, Chief Justice of benevolent King Louis XI, gets infatuated by the beauty of Esmeralda, a young Romani girl. The hunchback Quasimodo, Frollo's protege and bell-ringer of Notre Dame, lives in peace among the bells in the heights of the immense cathedral until he is involved by the twisted magistrate in his malicious plans to free himself from Esmeralda's alleged spell, which he believes to be the devil's work.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1939

Harvey poster
7.7

The story of Elwood P. Dowd who makes friends with a spirit taking the form of a human-sized rabbit named Harvey that only he sees (and a few privileged others on occasion also.) After his sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues. Elwood and Harvey become the catalysts for a family mending its wounds and for romance blossoming in unexpected places.

Harvey

1950

It Came from Outer Space poster
6.3

Author and amateur astronomer John Putnam and schoolteacher Ellen Fields witness an enormous meteorite come down near a small town in Arizona. Putnam becomes a local object of scorn when, after examining the object up close, he announces that it is a spacecraft, and that it is inhabited...

It Came from Outer Space

1953

Sergeant York poster
7.2

Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.

Sergeant York

1941

The Swimmer poster
7.4

A man spends a summer day swimming home via all the pools in his quiet suburban neighborhood.

The Swimmer

1968

Now, Voyager poster
7.4

A woman suffers a nervous breakdown and from an oppressive mother before being freed by the love of a man she meets on a cruise.

Now, Voyager

1942

All That Heaven Allows poster
7.3

Two different social classes collide when Cary Scott, a wealthy upper-class widow, falls in love with her much younger and down-to-earth gardener, prompting disapproval and criticism from her children and country club friends.

All That Heaven Allows

1955

Winchester '73 poster
7.3

Lin McAdam rides into town on the trail of Dutch Henry Brown, only to find himself in a shooting competition against him. McAdam wins the prize, a one-in-a-thousand Winchester rifle, but Dutch steals it and leaves town. McAdam follows, intent on settling his old quarrel, while the rifle keeps changing hands and touching a number of lives.

Winchester '73

1950

To Hell and Back poster
6.6

The true WWII story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. Based on the autobiography of Audie Murphy who stars as himself in the film.

To Hell and Back

1955

The Glenn Miller Story poster
7.0

A vibrant tribute to one of America's legendary bandleaders, charting Glenn Miller's rise from obscurity and poverty to fame and wealth in the early 1940s.

The Glenn Miller Story

1954

The Arrangement poster
6.5

An adman attempts to rebuild his shattered life after suffering a nervous breakdown.

The Arrangement

1969

The Red Ball Express poster
6.0

August 1944: proceeding with the invasion of France, Patton's Third Army has advanced so far toward Paris that it cannot be supplied. To keep up the momentum, Allied HQ establishes an elite military truck route.

The Red Ball Express

1952

A Night in Casablanca poster
6.8

The Marx Brothers are employed at a hotel in postwar Casablanca, where a ring of Nazis is trying to recover a cache of stolen treasure.

A Night in Casablanca

1946

The Playroom poster
NR

Three siblings return home when their mother wins a "Mother of the Year" award from a magazine.

The Playroom

1957

Air Force poster
6.5

The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.

Air Force

1943

Jeanne Eagels poster
6.2

Biographical film based loosely on the life of 1920s stage star Jeanne Eagels.

Jeanne Eagels

1957

The Pretender poster
5.8

Story of an investment agent who embezzles a large sum from an estate, hoping to cover his crime by marrying the estate's heiress. The girl is already engaged, so he arranges to have the fiance killed. A mix up involving the society section of the newspaper places him in the sights of his own hired gun.

The Pretender

1947

Back Street poster
5.6

Ambitious but thwarted, Rae Smith meets handsome U.S. Marine Paul Saxon, of the Saxon department store chain, as he passes through Lincoln, Nebraska, on his way home from World War II. There's a definite spark between them but circumstances intervene and he leaves town without her. Later she learns he's married. Determined to make it as a fashion designer, Rae moves to New York City and becomes a great success. One day she happens to meet Paul again and again there's that spark but he's still married so, as a form of escape, Rae moves to Rome to set up shop. Once again she meets Paul and finally they begin an actual affair since Paul's shrewish, drunken wife, Liz, won't give him a divorce. Time passes, the affair continues whenever time and place permit, but then, Paul's young son finds out about Rae and Rae's back-street world begins to crumble.

Back Street

1961

Until They Sail poster
6.3

Four sisters in New Zealand fall for soldiers en route to the Pacific theater in WWII.

Until They Sail

1957

War Arrow poster
5.8

A thrilling Cavalry-versus-Indians adventure starring Jeff Chandler as an Army official recruiting Seminole allies, against his superior's wishes, to stop a planned Kiowa attack.

War Arrow

1953

The Man Who Came to Dinner poster
7.0

An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in indefinitely with a Midwestern family.

The Man Who Came to Dinner

1941

No Name on the Bullet poster
6.6

When hired killer John Gant rides into Lordsburg, the town's folk become paranoid as each leading citizen has enemies capable of using the services of a professional killer for personal revenge.

No Name on the Bullet

1959