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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Charles Ellsworth Grapewin (December 20, 1869 – February 2, 1956) was an American vaudeville performer, writer and a stage and silent and sound actor, and comedian who was best known for portraying Aunt Em's husband, Uncle Henry in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's The Wizard of Oz (1939) as well as Grandpa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Jeeter Lester in Tobacco Road (1941). He usually portrayed elderly folksy-type characters in a rustic setting, in all appearing in over 100 films. He was the oldest cast member of The Wizard of Oz. Born in Xenia, Ohio, Charles Ellsworth Grapewin ran away from home to be a circus acrobat which led him to work as an aerialist and trapeze artist in a traveling circus before turning to acting. He traveled all over the world with the famous P. T. Barnum circus. Grapewin also appeared in the original 1903 Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz, 36 years before he would appear in the famous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film version. After this he continued in theatre, on and offstage, for the next thirty years, starting with various stock companies, and wrote stage plays as a vehicle for himself. His sole Broadway theatre credit was the short-lived play It's Up to You John Henry in 1905. Grapewin married actress Anna Chance (1875–1943) in 1896, and they remained a devoted couple until her death some 47 years later. Two years after his first wife's death, Grapewin married Loretta McGowan Becker on Jan 10, 1945. Grapewin began in silent films at the turn of the twentieth century. His very first films were two "moving image shorts" made by Frederick S. Armitage and released in November 1900; Chimmie Hicks at the Races (also known as Above the Limit) and Chimmie Hicks and the Rum Omelet, both shot in September and October 1900 and released in November of that year. During his long career, Grapewin appeared in more than one hundred films, including The Good Earth, The Grapes of Wrath, Tobacco Road, and in what is probably his best-remembered role: Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz. He also had a recurring role as Inspector Queen in the Ellery Queen film series of the early 1940s. Grapewin died of natural causes in Corona, California at age 86, and his ashes are interred with his wife's in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California, at the Great Mausoleum's Columbarium of Inspiration.

The Wizard of Oz at Sphere
as Uncle Henry (archive footage)

The Dark Side of the Rainbow
as Uncle Henry (archive footage)

Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage)

That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)

The Big Parade of Comedy
as Mr. Bane in 'Libeled Lady' (archive footage) (uncredited)

MGM Parade
as self

When I Grow Up
as Grandpa Reed

Sand
as Doug

The Enchanted Valley
as Grandpa

Gunfighters
as Rancher Inskip

Atlantic City
as Jake Taylor

The Impatient Years
as Benjamin L. Pidgeon, Bellboy

Follow the Boys
as Nick West

Crash Dive
as Pop

Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen
as Inspector Richard Queen

A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen
as Insp. Queen

A Close Call for Ellery Queen
as Insp. Queen

They Died with Their Boots On
as California Joe

Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring
as Insp. Queen

Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime
as Insp. Queen

Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
as Insp. Queen

Tobacco Road
as Jeeter Lester

The Texas Rangers Ride Again
as Ben Caldwalder

Ellery Queen, Master Detective
as Insp. Queen

Rhythm on the River
as Uncle Caleb

Earthbound
as Mr. Whimser

Johnny Apollo
as Judge Emmett T. Brennan

The Grapes of Wrath
as Grandpa Joad

Sabotage
as Major Matt Grayson

Hero for a Day
as Uncle Frank "Lucky" Higgins

Dust Be My Destiny
as Pop

The Wizard of Oz
as Uncle Henry

The Man Who Dared
as Ulysses Porterfield

Sudden Money
as Grandpa Casey Patterson

Burn 'Em Up O'Connor
as Doc Heath

Stand Up and Fight
as 'Old Puff'

Artists and Models Abroad
as James Harper

Listen, Darling
as Joe Higgins

Three Loves Has Nancy
as Grandpa Briggs

Three Comrades
as Local Doctor

The Girl of the Golden West
as Uncle Davy

Of Human Hearts
as Jim Meeker

The Bad Man of Brimstone
as Barney Lane

Big City
as Robert, the Mayor

Bad Guy
as Dan Gray

Broadway Melody of 1938
as James K. Blakeley

Between Two Women
as Dr. Webster

Captains Courageous
as Uncle Salters

The Good Earth
as Old Father

A Family Affair
as Frank Redmond

Breakdowns of 1936
as Self

Sinner Take All
as Aaron Lampier

Without Orders
as J.P. Kendrick

Libeled Lady
as Hollis Bane

Small Town Girl
as Dr. Ned Fabre

The Voice of Bugle Ann
as Cal Royster

The Petrified Forest
as Gramp Maple

Ah, Wilderness!
as Dave McComber

Super Speed
as Terry Devlin

Rendezvous
as Prof. Martin