Charles Richman

Charles J. Richman (January 12, 1865 – December 1, 1940) was an American stage and film actor who appeared in more than 60 films between 1914 and 1939. Richman was born in the Kenwood Section of Chicago, Illinois. After receiving a public-school education, he attended the Chicago College of Law at night. His interest turned from law to theater after he began acting in amateur productions at the Carleton Club and a millionaire offered to sponsor a touring company headed by Richman. That project led Richman to New York. Long before entering films Richman acted in the legitimate theatre. His work on Broadway began with portraying Horst von Neuhoff in The Countess Gucki (1896) and ended with playing Grandfather Trenchard in And Stars Remain (1936). In 1906 he founded The Garrick Theatre Stock Company, a troupe in residence at Broadway's Garrick Theatre. Richman served as both star and director for the company's first play, David Gray's Gallops, which premiered on February 12, 1906. In Hollywood, Richman often played supporting roles as a dignified authoritarian figures like General Tufto in the first Technicolor film Becky Sharp (1935) and Judge Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938). Richman was married to the former Jane Grey for 40 years. They had a son and a daughter. On December 1, 1940, Richman died in the Brady Nursing Home in The Bronx, New York, aged 70.