Spencer Charters

Acting

Spencer Charters

Born — Died

1875-03-23 — 1943-01-25

Place of birth

Duncannon, Pennsylvania, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

60 titles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Spencer Charters (March 25, 1875 – January 25, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 220 films between 1920 and 1943, mostly in small supporting roles. Spencer Charters first stage work soon after leaving school was a walk on part, but it wasn't long before he was being given fair-sized roles. He played on Broadway between 1910 and 1929 and was a busy character actor in films during the 1930s and early 1940s. He often portrayed somewhat befuddeled judges, doctors, clerks, managers, and jailers. He died by suicide from a mix of sleeping pills and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Known for

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

Arsenic and Old Lace poster
7.6

Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!

Arsenic and Old Lace

1944

The Raven poster
6.6

A brilliant but deranged neurosurgeon becomes obsessively fixated on a judge's daughter. With the help of an escaped criminal whose face he has surgically deformed, the mad man lures her, her father, and her fiancé to his isolated, castle-like home.

The Raven

1935

Remember the Night poster
7.3

Unexpected love blossoms when an assistant district attorney agrees to take a recidivist shoplifter home so she doesn't have to spend Christmas alone in jail.

Remember the Night

1940

Vivacious Lady poster
7.0

College town life gets turned upside down after a button-down botany professor secretly weds a sizzling night-club singer.

Vivacious Lady

1938

Jesse James poster
6.6

After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.

Jesse James

1939

Film credits

1940s · 14 titles

Arsenic and Old Lace poster
7.6

Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!

Arsenic and Old Lace

1944

Remember the Night poster
7.3

Unexpected love blossoms when an assistant district attorney agrees to take a recidivist shoplifter home so she doesn't have to spend Christmas alone in jail.

Remember the Night

1940

They Died with Their Boots On poster
6.7

The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his death. He defies orders during the Civil War, trains the 7th Cavalry, appeases Chief Crazy Horse and later engages in bloody battle with the Sioux nation.

They Died with Their Boots On

1941

High Sierra poster
7.1

Given a pardon from jail, Roy Earle gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.

High Sierra

1941

The Pride of the Yankees poster
7.3

The story of the life and career of the baseball hall of famer, Lou Gehrig.

The Pride of the Yankees

1942

Santa Fe Trail poster
5.8

As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.

Santa Fe Trail

1940

Hold That Ghost poster
6.8

Two bumbling service station attendants are left as the sole beneficiaries in a gangster's will. Their trip to claim their fortune is sidetracked when they are stranded in a haunted house along with several other strangers.

Hold That Ghost

1941

Bad Men of Missouri poster
6.2

The Younger brothers return to Missouri after the Civil War with intent to avenge the misdeeds of William Merrick, a crooked banker who has been buying up warrants on back-taxes and dispossessing the farmers.

Bad Men of Missouri

1941

Three Faces West poster
5.7

Viennese surgeon Dr. Braun and his daughter Leni come to a small town in North Dakota as refugees from Hitler. When the winds of the Dust Bowl threaten the town, John Phillips leads the townsfolk in moving to greener pastures in Oregon. He falls for Leni, but she is betrothed to the man who helped her and her father escape from the Third Reich. She must decide between the two men.

Three Faces West

1940

He Married His Wife poster
5.6

Race horse owner pays so much attention to business he winds up divorced from his wife. His alimony payments are so steep he plots with his lawyer to get her married off.

He Married His Wife

1940

Virginia City poster
6.3

Union officer Kerry Bradford escapes from a Confederate prison and races to intercept $5 million in gold destined for Confederate coffers. A Confederate sympathizer and a Mexican bandit, each with their own stake in the loot, stand in his way.

Virginia City

1940

The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine poster
6.4

A New York radio personality travels to the small town of Fernville to oversee a contest to identify retired safecracker Jimmy Valentine, believed to be living there under an assumed name. The close-knit town of upstanding citizens is understandably upset by this venture, all the moreso when some of its citizens begin to be murdered. The radio personality and the local newspaper's young daughter collaborate on solving the murders while revealing Valentine, who has become one of the suspects.

The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine

1942

Our Town poster
5.9

Change comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century. We see birth, life and death in this small community.

Our Town

1940

Tobacco Road poster
6.8

Shiftless Jeeter Lester and his family of sharecroppers live in rural Georgia where their ancestors were once wealthy planters. Their slapstick existence is threatened by a bank's plans to take over the land for more profitable farming.

Tobacco Road

1941

1930s · 45 titles

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

The Raven poster
6.6

A brilliant but deranged neurosurgeon becomes obsessively fixated on a judge's daughter. With the help of an escaped criminal whose face he has surgically deformed, the mad man lures her, her father, and her fiancé to his isolated, castle-like home.

The Raven

1935

Vivacious Lady poster
7.0

College town life gets turned upside down after a button-down botany professor secretly weds a sizzling night-club singer.

Vivacious Lady

1938

Jesse James poster
6.6

After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.

Jesse James

1939

Dodge City poster
6.9

In this epic Western, Wade Hatton, a wagon master turned sheriff, tames a cow town at the end of a railroad line.

Dodge City

1939

Three Comrades poster
7.2

A love story centered on the lives of three young German soldiers in the years following World War I. Their close friendship is strengthened by their shared love for the same woman who is dying of tuberculosis.

Three Comrades

1938

The Ex-Mrs. Bradford poster
6.2

A doctor is driven into an investigation of sinister goings-on at a horse race track by his mystery writer ex-wife.

The Ex-Mrs. Bradford

1936

Young Mr. Lincoln poster
7.2

In this dramatized account of his early law career in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln is born into a modest log cabin, where he is encouraged by his first love, Ann Rutledge, to pursue law. Following her tragic death, Lincoln establishes a law practice in Springfield, where he meets a young Mary Todd. Lincoln's law skills are put to the test when he takes on the difficult task of defending two brothers who have been accused of murder.

Young Mr. Lincoln

1939

Libeled Lady poster
7.3

When a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury of being a home-wrecker, and she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit, the publication's frazzled head editor, Warren Haggerty, must find a way to turn the tables on her. Soon Haggerty's harried fiancée, Gladys Benton, and his dashing friend Bill Chandler are in on a scheme that aims to discredit Connie, with amusing and unexpected results.

Libeled Lady

1936

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town poster
7.5

Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life. When a relative dies and leaves Deeds a fortune, Longfellow moves to the big city where he becomes an instant target for everyone. Deeds outwits them all until Babe Bennett comes along. When small-town boy meets big-city girl anything can, and does, happen.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

1936

In Old Chicago poster
6.7

The O'Leary brothers -- honest Jack and roguish Dion -- become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire.

In Old Chicago

1938

20,000 Years in Sing Sing poster
6.4

Brash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.

20,000 Years in Sing Sing

1932

Topper Takes a Trip poster
6.6

Mrs. Topper's friend Mrs. Parkhurst has convinced Mrs Topper to file for a divorce from Cosmo due to the strange circumstances of his trip with ghost Marion Kirby. Marion comes back from heaven's door to help Cosmo again, this time only with dog Mr. Atlas. Due to a strange behavior of Cosmo, the judge refuses to divorce them, so Mrs. Parkhurst takes Mrs. Topper on a trip to France where she tries to arrange the final reasons for the divorce. With help of a gold-digging French baron, Marion takes Cosmo to the same hotel to bring them back together and to get her own final ticket to heaven, but the whole thing turns out to be not too easy.

Topper Takes a Trip

1938

Drums Along the Mohawk poster
6.5

Albany, New York, 1776. After marrying, Gil and Lana travel north to settle on a small farm in the Mohawk River Valley, but soon their growing prosperity and happiness are threatened by the sinister sound of drums that announce dark times of revolution and war.

Drums Along the Mohawk

1939

Four's a Crowd poster
5.6

A public relations man falls for his most difficult client's granddaughter.

Four's a Crowd

1938

Fashions of 1934 poster
6.6

When the Manhattan investment firm of Sherwood Nash goes broke, he joins forces with his partner Snap and fashion designer Lynn Mason to provide discount shops with cheap copies of Paris couture dresses.

Fashions of 1934

1934

Three on a Match poster
6.3

Although Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throws it away by descending into a life of debauchery and drugs.

Three on a Match

1932

Lady Killer poster
6.9

An ex-gang member tries to resist his old cohorts' criminal influence after he suddenly becomes a Hollywood movie star.

Lady Killer

1933

Murder on a Honeymoon poster
6.5

An amateur sleuth suspects foul play when a fellow passenger on a seaplane suddenly dies. The third and final film with Edna May Oliver and James Gleason as the astute schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers and the New York Police Inspector Oscar Piper busy solving crimes.

Murder on a Honeymoon

1935

The Front Page poster
6.4

Hildy Johnson is an investigative reporter looking for a bigger paycheck. When an accused murderer escapes from custody, Hildy sees an opportunity for the story of a lifetime. But when he finds the criminal, he learns that the man may not be guilty. With the help of his editor, Hildy attempts to hide the convict, uncover the conspiracy and write the scoop of his career.

The Front Page

1931

In Name Only poster
7.0

A wealthy man falls for a widow but is locked into a loveless marriage with a woman who has contrived to convince his parents she is the ideal wife.

In Name Only

1939

Danger – Love at Work poster
7.0

A New York City lawyer finds himself falling in love with the daughter of a screwball South Carolina family.

Danger – Love at Work

1937

The Texas Rangers poster
6.6

Two down-on-their-luck former outlaws volunteer to be Texas Rangers and find themselves assigned to bring in an old friend, now a notorious outlaw.

The Texas Rangers

1936

The Kennel Murder Case poster
6.1

Philo Vance, accompanied by his prize-losing Scottish terrier, investigates the locked-room murder of a prominent and much-hated collector whose broken Chinese vase provides an important clue.

The Kennel Murder Case

1933

Joy of Living poster
5.9

Falling in love with the voice of Broadway chanteuse Margaret Garret, cocksure young tycoon Daniel Brewster decides to rescue the star from her hectic lifestyle of frenzied fans and mooching relatives. When Margaret has her ardent suitor arrested, the judge appoints her as Daniel's probation officer, forcing the duo to spend time together. As Daniel teaches Margaret to let her hair down and enjoy life, she begins to fall for her fun-loving admirer.

Joy of Living

1938

So This Is Africa poster
6.2

Broke lion tamers travel to Africa to make a movie about Amazon women, from a distance.

So This Is Africa

1933

Wife, Doctor and Nurse poster
7.0

Social butterfly marries Park Avenue doctor and learns that his nurse is in love with him.

Wife, Doctor and Nurse

1937

Love on a Bet poster
7.0

An aspiring theater producer convinces his wealthy uncle to finance a play on the condition that he lives the play’s far-fetched plot: making a cross-country trip with no money.

Love on a Bet

1936

Yes, My Darling Daughter poster
4.5

Ellen is a free spirited young woman in love with Doug. Sadly he must leave America for a two year job in Belgium. Ellen and Doug decide to spend their last weekend together in a tourist cabin at a rural lake. Her family is shocked that a young unmarried woman would engage in such amoral activity. The comic plot develops as Ellen argues her case for women's freedom and independence, trying to win over her mother, grandmother, and other dubious relatives.

Yes, My Darling Daughter

1939

Stablemates poster
6.3

A boozy former veterinarian and a teenage orphan team together with dreams of entering a broken-down horse in the big race.

Stablemates

1938

The Hurricane poster
6.7

A Polynesian sailor is separated from his wife when he's unjustly imprisoned for defending himself against a colonial bully. Members of the community petition the governor for clemency but all pretense of law and order are soon shattered by an incoming tropical storm.

The Hurricane

1937

The Famous Ferguson Case poster
6.6

A foreword warns against the peril of yellow journalism, and the story illustrates it by following events in the upstate New York town of Cornwall after prominant financier George Ferguson is killed. Two types of New York City journalists descend on Cornwall, one interested in facts, the other in getting sensational "news". Mrs. Ferguson is known to have been friendly with a local banker. The Fergusons quarrel the evening he is killed (by "burglars", his wife tells the police later), and she is arrested, spurred on by the "bad" journalists, who also manage to badger the banker's wife into the hospital. Meanwhile, young Bruce Foster runs the Cornwall Courier, and shows the big city reporters how to dig out real news while they attempt to subvert justice for their own ends.

The Famous Ferguson Case

1932

Mr. Skitch poster
7.3

After losing their Missouri home during the Great Depression, the Skitch family pulls up stakes and heads west to California to begin life anew. Comedy, released in 1933.

Mr. Skitch

1933

It's a Gift poster
6.3

After he inherits some money, Harold Bissonette ("pronounced bis-on-ay") decides to give up the grocery business, move to California and run an orange grove. Despite his family's objections and the news that the land he bought is worthless, Bissonette packs up and drives out to California with his nagging wife Amelia and children.

It's a Gift

1934

Hotel Imperial poster
7.0

It is the fate of a small frontier town, adjoining the no-man's-land where the Russians and Austrians are fighting out one of the final campaigns of World War I, to be occupied one day by the Russians, the next by the Austrians, and the inhabitants soon acquire a complacent view of the changing allegiances. To the town comes Ann Warschaska, intent on avenging the suicide of her sister, who has killed herself after being betrayed by an Austrian officer. She knows no more about his identity than the number of his room at the "Hotel Imperial".

Hotel Imperial

1939

The Flying Irishman poster
5.0

This is the story of the historic 1938 flight of Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan. Mr. Corrigan starred in this film, which chronicled his infamous flight. On July 17, 1938, Mr. Corrigan loaded 320 gallons of gasoline (40 hours worth) into the tiny, single engine plane. While expressing his intent to fly west to Long Beach, CA, Mr. Corrigan flew out of Floyd Bennett Field heading east over the Atlantic. Instrumentation in the plane included two compasses (both malfunctioned) and a turn-and-bank indicator. The cabin door was held shut with baling wire. Nearly 29 hours later, he landed in Baldonnel near Dublin. He forever claimed to be surprised at arriving in Ireland rather than California. He returned to the US as a hero, with a ticker tape parade in New York and received numerous medals and awards.

The Flying Irishman

1939

The Goose and the Gander poster
4.7

When Georgiana Summers learns that the woman who stole and married her husband is planning a romantic tryst with a new love, she hatches a giddy plot to expose the rendezvous and pay her back.

The Goose and the Gander

1935

Star of Midnight poster
5.9

When a dancer disappears from a theater, Clay Dalzell is asked to investigate, leading him on a trail of murder and deception.

Star of Midnight

1935

The Emperor's Candlesticks poster
4.9

Spies on opposite sides fall in love in pre-revolutionary Russia.

The Emperor's Candlesticks

1937

Second Fiddle poster
5.1

Studio publicist discovers Minnesota skating teacher and takes her to Hollywood. She goes back to Minnesota but he follows her.

Second Fiddle

1939

Fugitive in the Sky poster
6.3

Reporter Terry Brewer goes to the Los Angeles airport to say goodbye to his sweetheart, airline hostess Rita Moore. He notices G-Man Mike Phelan among the passengers and assuming Phelan is on the trail of a criminal, decides to go along to get a story.

Fugitive in the Sky

1936

Crime School poster
6.4

In the slums, teenager Frankie Warren hangs out with a rowdy gang who one day knock him out in a fight. In court, the boys refuse to reveal who struck the knockout blow, and all are subsequently sentenced to a reformatory, cruelly run by two corrupt guards. New deputy commissioner Mark Braden arrives determined to change things, but despite the help of Frankie's sister, Mark's reform plans -- and Frankie's future -- may be sabotaged from within.

Crime School

1938

Five of a Kind poster
4.8

Rival reporters compete to sign the Wyatt Quintuplets to be guests on their radio shows.

Five of a Kind

1938

Jewel Robbery poster
6.5

Baroness Teri von Horhenfels deals with the tedium of her aristocratic Vienna life with a long line of lovers. Her rich husband, Franz, seems oblivious. As she's just about to end her latest affair, the baroness gets a much-needed dose of adrenaline when she becomes the target of a charismatic thief. After staging a daring robbery, he makes off with not only the baroness's ring but also her heart.

Jewel Robbery

1932

Dust Be My Destiny poster
6.5

Embittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail, on a prison farm. His love for the foreman's daughter leads to a fight between them, leading to the older man's death due to a weak heart. Joe and Mabel go on the run as he thinks no-one would believe a nobody like him.

Dust Be My Destiny

1939