--- name: "Charles McGraw" canonical: "https://film.one/person/charles-mcgraw" roles: ["Actor"] born: "10 May 1914" died: "29 July 1980" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 66 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-20T03:17:53.236812+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Charles McGraw Actor. Born 10 May 1914 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Died 29 July 1980. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 10 May 1914, Des Moines, Iowa, USA - **Died:** 29 July 1980 - **Active:** 1958–1960 - **Also known as:** Charles Butters, Charles Mc Graw, Чарльз Макгро, Charles Crisp Butters, チャールズ・マックグロー, チャールズ・マグロー - **Average Fi1m score:** 66, as actor, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 74 (1), 1960s 57 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_McGraw, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q330840, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0569902/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8233 ## Streaming the US now - **The Roku Channel:** [*The Defiant Ones*](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md) (74) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Charles McGraw > A gravel voice and a craggy, imposing face. Charles McGraw played cops, gangsters and officers who would not explain themselves, and for a few years at RKO he carried films alone. The state man in *The Defiant Ones* (1958) arrives with the dogs and would rather let them off the lead. Charles McGraw plays Capt. Frank Gibbons with almost nothing: a few lines, a level stare, a low grind of a voice. His argument with Theodore Bikel's sheriff runs alongside the chase, and he wins his half of it by saying less. That was McGraw's trade for thirty-five years. He stood at the edge of a scene, said the hard thing once, and left the other actors to look uneasy. He came to films from the stage, including Broadway in *Golden Boy*, and did bit parts from 1942 before *The Killers* (1946) cast him as Al, one of the two hitmen who open the film. RKO then gave him a short run of leads in lean noirs, *Armored Car Robbery* (1950) and *The Narrow Margin* (1952) among them. *The Narrow Margin* is the one people mean when they say his name: Det. Sgt. Walter Brown, a cop in a tight space with no time for speeches. From the mid-1950s he went back to supporting parts, in westerns, in epics and on television, usually as somebody in authority. Marcellus, the gladiator trainer in *Spartacus* (1960), is the one most often remembered from this stretch; *The Birds* (1963) and *In Cold Blood* (1967), where he plays Tex Smith, a stern father, followed. He kept working until 1977. Directors who wanted that flatness came back for it. Richard Fleischer and Anthony Mann each used him three times. In Mann's *Cimarron* (1960) he and Vic Morrow, as Bob Yountis and Wes Jennings, give the town the meanness it otherwise lacks; it is a small part in a slow film. What he could do was economy. What he could not do, or was never asked to do, was change his mind on screen. The face did not bend that way, and the parts he was given did not ask it to. Which is why *The Defiant Ones* stays with us. Kramer and his writers want us to side with Bikel's Sheriff Muller, and they say so plainly enough that we can feel the nudge. McGraw's Gibbons never asks for our agreement, and we caught ourselves half taking his side against the film's. That was uncomfortable. It is also, we suspect, why the argument feels like a real one rather than a lesson. His reputation rests on the character parts and not on any run as a star, and those who write about him tend to say so with regret. We are not sure regret is the right response. Start with *The Narrow Margin*, then watch him in *The Defiant Ones* and count how much of the film's second argument he carries without a single speech. ## Biography Charles McGraw (born Charles Crisp Butters) was an American actor. He appeared in stage, film and television roles from 1942 to 1977. McGraw was born on 10 May 1914 in Des Moines, Iowa, and died on 29 July 1980 in Los Angeles, California. His early film work included a supporting role in *The Killers* (1946). He later appeared in *Spartacus* (1960) as Marcellus, *Cimarron* (1960) as Bob Yountis, *The Birds* (1963) as Sebastian Sholes, *It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World* (1963) as Lt. Matthews, *In Cold Blood* (1967) as Tex Smith, *Hang 'em High* (1968) as Sheriff Ray Calhoun, and *A Boy and His Dog* (1975) as Preacher. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his television work. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, catalog.afi.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Cimarron* (1960), Fi1m 57, as Bob Yountis — [page](https://film.one/film/cimarron.md) - *The Defiant Ones* (1958), Fi1m 74, as Capt. Frank Gibbons — [page](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md) ## Complete filmography (117) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid* (1982), as (in "The Killers") (archive footage) - *The Horror Show* (1979), as (archive footage) - *Twilight's Last Gleaming* (1977), as Air Force Gen. Peter Crane - *The Killer Inside Me* (1976), as Howard Hendricks - *Perilous Voyage* (1976), as Capt. Humphreys - *A Boy and His Dog* (1975), as Preacher - *Money to Burn* (1973), as Neil Davis - *Police Story* (1973), series, Actor - *Hawkins* (1973), series, as Capt. Bates - *Banyon* (1972), series, Actor - *The Longest Night* (1972), as Father Chase - *Emergency!* (1972), series, as Police Sergeant - *The Night Stalker* (1972), as Police Chief Ed Masterson - *The Devil and Miss Sarah* (1971), as Marshal Duncan - *Chandler* (1971), as Bernie Oakman - *Monty Nash* (1971), series, as Jeffers - *Nichols* (1971), series, as Hansen, Luke - *Johnny Got His Gun* (1971), as Mike Burkeman - *O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra* (1971), as Agent Joe Flagg - *The Smith Family* (1971), series, as Captain Hughes - *The Andersonville Trial* (1970), as Board of Military Judges - *Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here* (1969), as Wilson - *Pendulum* (1969), as Deputy Chief John P. Hildebrand - *The Mod Squad* (1968), series, Actor - *The Outcasts* (1968), series, Actor - *Adam-12* (1968), series, as Lars Lowell, Rod Decker - *The Name of the Game* (1968), series, as Sheriff - *Hang 'em High* (1968), as Sheriff Ray Calhoun - *In Cold Blood* (1967), as Tex Smith - *Hondo* (1967), series, Actor - *Judd, for the Defense* (1967), series, as Jim Larkin, Warden MacDonald - *Ironside* (1967), series, as Marvin Greenleaf - *The Busy Body* (1967), as Fred Harwell - *Mission: Impossible* (1966), series, Actor — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/mission-impossible-1966.md) - *The Wild Wild West* (1965), series, Actor - *Run for Your Life* (1965), series, as Sam Bailey - *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (1964), series, as Jules Cutter - *Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea* (1964), series, Actor - *Nightmare in Chicago* (1964), as Harry Brockman - *It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World* (1963), as Lt. Matthews - *Kraft Suspense Theatre* (1963), series, as Harry Brockman, Nick Stacy - *Grindl* (1963), series, Actor - *The Lieutenant* (1963), series, Actor - *The Birds* (1963), as Sebastian Sholes - *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* (1962), series, as Simon Oliver - *The Virginian* (1962), series, as Big John Beldon - *The Horizontal Lieutenant* (1962), as Col. Charles Korotny - *The New Breed* (1961), series, as Dr. Cameron Hill - *Ben Casey* (1961), series, as Joe Creely - *Dr. Kildare* (1961), series, as Fred Rainey, Dr. Kenneth Hasker - *87th Precinct* (1961), series, as Douglas King - *Cain's Hundred* (1961), series, as Earl Klegg - *Cimarron* (1960), as Bob Yountis — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/cimarron.md) - *Spartacus* (1960), as Marcellus - *Route 66* (1960), series, Actor - *Thriller* (1960), series, as Sheriff Cliff Wrights - *The Wonderful Country* (1959), as Dr. Stovall - *The Detectives* (1959), series, Actor - *The Untouchables* (1959), series, as Johnny Torrio - *Bonanza* (1959), series, as Sheriff Gains - *Johnny Staccato* (1959), series, Actor - *The Man in the Net* (1959), as Sheriff Steve Ritter - *77 Sunset Strip* (1958), series, Actor - *The Defiant Ones* (1958), as Capt. Frank Gibbons — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-defiant-ones.md) - *Twilight for the Gods* (1958), as Yancy - *Saddle the Wind* (1958), as Larry Venables - *Joe Dakota* (1957), as Cal Moore - *Slaughter on 10th Avenue* (1957), as Lt. Anthony Vosnick - *Joe Butterfly* (1957), as Sgt. Jim McNulty - *The Cruel Tower* (1956), as Harry 'Stretch' Clay - *Toward the Unknown* (1956), as Col. 'Mickey' McKee - *Away All Boats* (1956), as Lieut. Mike O'Bannion - *Casablanca* (1955), series, Actor - *Gunsmoke* (1955), series, as Calvin, Dolen, Squawman - *The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp* (1955), series, Actor - *The Bridges at Toko-Ri* (1954), as Cmdr. Wayne Lee - *The Whistler* (1954), series, Actor - *Adventures Of The Falcon* (1954), series, Actor - *Loophole* (1954), as Gus Slavin - *Thunder Over the Plains* (1953), as Ben Westman - *War Paint* (1953), as Sgt. Clarke - *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, as Forel - *Mr. & Mrs. North* (1952), series, Actor - *Cavalcade of America* (1952), series, as Wilkie Bowman - *One Minute to Zero* (1952), as Sfc. Baker - *The Narrow Margin* (1952), as Det. Sgt. Walter Brown - *Roadblock* (1951), as Joe Peters - *His Kind of Woman* (1951), as Thompson / Narrator - *Double Crossbones* (1951), as Capt. Ben Wickett - *Armored Car Robbery* (1950), as Lt. Jim Cordell - *Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town* (1950), as Shotgun Mike Munger - *Side Street* (1950), as Det. Stan Simon - *The Threat* (1949), as Arnold 'Red' Kluger - *The Story of Molly X* (1949), as Police Capt. Breen - *Border Incident* (1949), as Jeff Amboy - *Reign of Terror* (1949), as Sergeant - *Once More, My Darling* (1949), as Herman Schmelz - *Blood on the Moon* (1948), as Milo Sweet - *Hazard* (1948), as Chick - *Berlin Express* (1948), as USET Col. Johns (uncredited) - *The Hunted* (1948), as Detective - *T-Men* (1947), as Moxie - *The Gangster* (1947), as Dugas - *Roses Are Red* (1947), as Duke Arno - *On the Old Spanish Trail* (1947), as Harry Blaisdell - *The Long Night* (1947), as Policeman Stevens - *The Big Fix* (1947), as Armiston - *The Farmer's Daughter* (1947), as Fisher - Finley's Henchman (uncredited) - *The Killers* (1946), as Al - *The Impostor* (1944), as Menessier - *The Mad Ghoul* (1943), as Detective Garrity - *Corvette K-225* (1943), as Chief Engineer - *Destroyer* (1943), as Assistant Chief Engineer (uncredited) - *Two Tickets to London* (1943), as Hendrik (uncredited) - *They Came to Blow Up America* (1943), as Zellerbach - *The Moon Is Down* (1943), as Ole (uncredited) - *The Undying Monster* (1942), as Strud Strudwick (uncredited) ## Gallery - ![Charles McGraw draws upon a checkered background of sailing, boxing, and acting for his role of Rick the rugged American expatriate hero of the "Casablanca," se (1955)](https://film.one/media/person/1224939/gallery-3fc50375eb4d.jpg) Charles McGraw draws upon a checkered background of sailing, boxing, and acting for his role of Rick the rugged American expatriate hero of the "Casablanca," se (1955) — ABC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Charles_McGraw_%22Casablanca%22_%281955_ABC_press_photo%29.JPG/1280px-Charles_McGraw_%22Casablanca%22_%281955_ABC_press_photo%29.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Charles McGraw](https://film.one/media/person/1224939/gallery-4aafec0784f3.jpg) Charles McGraw — Image via TMDB - ![Charles McGraw](https://film.one/media/person/1224939/gallery-14eb53640dea.jpg) Charles McGraw — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/charles-mcgraw