Image of Charles McGraw

Charles McGraw

Charles Butters (May 10, 1914 – July 30, 1980), best known by his stage name Charles McGraw, was an American actor, who made his first film in 1942, albeit in a small, uncredited cameo role. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa. McGraw developed into a leading man, especially in film noir classics during the late 1940s and 1950s. His gravelly voice and rugged looks enhanced his appeal in the noir stylistic genre, and provided him many roles as cop or gunman. Introduced with fellow "heavy" William Conrad as the two hitmen terrorizing a small town diner in the start of the 1946 film The Killers, McGraw's notable roles include: "Honest Joe" insurance investigator turned thief by love interest in the noir classic Roadblock (1951); playing the grumpy cop hired to protect Marie Windsor in the noir B-movie The Narrow Margin (1952); Kirk Douglas' gladiator trainer in the epic Spartacus; righteous cop Lt. Jim Cordell in the Armored Car Robbery (1950); and "The Preacher" in the science fiction cult classic A Boy and His Dog (1975). McGraw is recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6927 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. He also starred in the television version of Casablanca (1955) taking over Humphrey Bogart's role as Rick. Charles McGraw died, aged 66, after slipping and falling through a glass shower door in his Studio City, California home in 1980.


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Born:
May 10, 1914 In Des Moines, Iowa, USA
Movie/TV Credits:
74
First Appeared:
In the movie The Undying Monster 1942-11-27
Latest Project:
Movie Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid 1982-05-21
Known For
Filmography
Movie Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (in "The Killers") (archive footage) 1982-05-21
Movie The Horror Show (archive footage) 1979-02-06
Movie Twilight's Last Gleaming Air Force Gen. Peter Crane 1977-02-09
Movie Perilous Voyage Capt. Humphreys 1976-06-29
Movie The Killer Inside Me Howard Hendricks 1976-10-01
Movie A Boy and His Dog Preacher 1975-03-23
Movie Money to Burn Neil Davis 1973-10-27
Movie The Night Stalker Police Chief Ed Masterson 1972-01-11
Movie The Longest Night Father Chase 1972-09-12
Movie Johnny Got His Gun Mike Burkeman 1971-08-04
Series The Smith Family Captain Hughes 1971-01-20
Movie The Devil and Miss Sarah Marshal Duncan 1971-12-04
Movie Chandler Bernie Oakman 1971-12-01
Movie The Andersonville Trial Board of Military Judges 1970-05-17
Movie Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here Wilson 1969-10-31
Movie Pendulum Deputy Chief John P. Hildebrand 1969-02-14
Movie Hang 'em High Sheriff Ray Calhoun 1968-04-12
Movie The Busy Body Fred Harwell 1967-03-12
Movie In Cold Blood Tex Smith 1967-12-15
Movie Nightmare in Chicago Harry Brockman 1964-04-02
Movie The Birds Sebastian Sholes 1963-03-28
Movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Lt. Matthews 1963-11-07
Movie The Horizontal Lieutenant Col. Charles Korotny 1962-04-18
Movie Cimarron Bob Yountis 1960-12-01
Movie Spartacus Marcellus 1960-10-13
Movie The Man in the Net Sheriff Steve Ritter 1959-06-10
Movie The Wonderful Country Dr. Stovall 1959-10-21
Movie Saddle the Wind Larry Venables 1958-03-20
Movie The Defiant Ones Capt. Frank Gibbons 1958-08-14
Movie Twilight for the Gods Yancy 1958-08-04
Movie Slaughter on 10th Avenue Lt. Anthony Vosnick 1957-09-01
Movie Joe Butterfly Sgt. Jim McNulty 1957-05-29
Movie Joe Dakota Cal Moore 1957-10-27
Movie Away All Boats Lieut. Mike O'Bannion 1956-08-16
Movie Toward the Unknown Col. 'Mickey' McKee 1956-09-27
Movie The Cruel Tower Harry 'Stretch' Clay 1956-10-28
Movie Loophole Gus Slavin 1954-03-28
Movie The Bridges at Toko-Ri Cmdr. Wayne Lee 1954-12-01
Series Adventures Of The Falcon 1954-06-24
Movie War Paint Sgt. Clarke 1953-08-28
Movie Thunder Over the Plains Ben Westman 1953-10-27
Movie The Narrow Margin Det. Sgt. Walter Brown 1952-05-03
Movie One Minute to Zero Sfc. Baker 1952-09-19
Movie Double Crossbones Capt. Ben Wickett 1951-04-26
Movie His Kind of Woman Thompson / Narrator 1951-08-15
Movie Roadblock Joe Peters 1951-09-17
Movie Side Street Det. Stan Simon 1950-03-23
Movie Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town Shotgun Mike Munger 1950-04-01
Movie I Was a Shoplifter Detective 1950-05-13
Movie Armored Car Robbery Lt. Jim Cordell 1950-06-08
Movie Once More, My Darling Herman Schmelz 1949-09-10
Movie Reign of Terror Sergeant 1949-10-15
Movie Border Incident Jeff Amboy 1949-10-28
Movie The Threat Arnold 'Red' Kluger 1949-12-01
Movie The Story of Molly X Police Capt. Breen 1949-11-01
Movie The Hunted Detective 1948-04-07
Movie Berlin Express Colonel Johns 1948-05-01
Movie Blood on the Moon Milo Sweet 1948-11-11
Movie Hazard Chick 1948-05-28
Movie The Long Night Policeman Stevens 1947-05-28
Movie The Farmer's Daughter Fisher - Finley's Henchman (uncredited) 1947-03-26
Movie On the Old Spanish Trail Harry Blaisdell 1947-10-15
Movie Roses Are Red Duke Arno 1947-11-10
Movie T-Men Moxie 1947-12-15
Movie The Gangster Dugas 1947-11-25
Movie The Killers Al 1946-08-30
Movie The Impostor Menessier 1944-02-10
Movie They Came to Blow Up America Zellerbach 1943-05-07
Movie The Moon Is Down Ole (uncredited) 1943-03-14
Movie Two Tickets to London Hendrik (uncredited) 1943-06-14
Movie Destroyer Assistant Chief Engineer (uncredited) 1943-08-19
Movie Corvette K-225 Chief Engineer 1943-09-29
Movie The Mad Ghoul Detective Garrity 1943-11-12
Movie The Undying Monster Strud Strudwick (uncredited) 1942-11-27