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.
104 movies · 1 shows
The Wizard of Oz at Sphere
2025·0.0
The Dark Side of the Rainbow
2000·8.7
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984·9.0
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976·7.0
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964·7.2
When I Grow Up
1951·7.3
Sand
1949·5.6
The Enchanted Valley
1948·10.0
Gunfighters
1947·5.7
Atlantic City
1944·6.3
The Impatient Years
1944·6.3
Follow the Boys
1944·5.7
Crash Dive
1943·6.4
Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen
1942·6.5
A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen
1942·6.3
A Close Call for Ellery Queen
1942·6.1
They Died with Their Boots On
1941·6.7
Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring
1941·5.6
Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime
1941·5.8
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
1941·6.5
Tobacco Road
1941·6.8
The Texas Rangers Ride Again
1940·5.6
Ellery Queen, Master Detective
1940·5.8
Rhythm on the River
1940·6.9
Earthbound
1940·4.9
Johnny Apollo
1940·6.8
The Grapes of Wrath
1940·7.8
Sabotage
1939·6.6
Hero for a Day
1939·6.5
Dust Be My Destiny
1939·6.5
The Wizard of Oz
1939·7.6
The Man Who Dared
1939·7.0
Sudden Money
1939·7.0
Burn 'Em Up O'Connor
1939·6.3
Stand Up and Fight
1939·6.0
Artists and Models Abroad
1938·4.8
Listen, Darling
1938·6.7
Three Loves Has Nancy
1938·4.2
Three Comrades
1938·7.3
The Girl of the Golden West
1938·5.3
Of Human Hearts
1938·5.9
The Bad Man of Brimstone
1937·6.7
Big City
1937·7.7
Bad Guy
1937·8.0
Broadway Melody of 1938
1937·6.6
Between Two Women
1937·6.0
Captains Courageous
1937·7.4
The Good Earth
1937·6.3
A Family Affair
1937·5.9
Breakdowns of 1936
1936·0.0
Sinner Take All
1936·4.9
Without Orders
1936·7.3
Libeled Lady
1936·7.3
Small Town Girl
1936·6.0
The Voice of Bugle Ann
1936·5.5
The Petrified Forest
1936·7.1
Ah, Wilderness!
1935·6.6
Super Speed
1935·7.0
Rendezvous
1935·4.9
King Solomon of Broadway
1935·10.0
Alice Adams
1935·6.7
Shanghai
1935·7.3
One Frightened Night
1935·5.6
Party Wire
1935·8.3
Eight Bells
1935·6.5
In Spite of Danger
1935·5.5
Caravan
1934·6.5
Anne of Green Gables
1934·5.7
The President Vanishes
1934·6.0
Judge Priest
1934·6.4
Return of the Terror
1934·6.5
The Loudspeaker
1934·8.0
She Made Her Bed
1934·4.5
The Quitter
1934·9.0
Two Alone
1934·7.3
Hell and High Water
1933·7.0
Female
1933·6.3
Wild Boys of the Road
1933·6.8
Torch Singer
1933·5.4
Beauty for Sale
1933·7.2
Turn Back the Clock
1933·5.4
Pilgrimage
1933·7.1
Midnight Mary
1933·6.8
Don't Bet on Love
1933·8.0
Heroes for Sale
1933·7.1
The Kiss Before the Mirror
1933·5.6
Hello, Everybody!
1933·7.0
No Man of Her Own
1932·6.6
Wild Horse Mesa
1932·10.0
The Night of June 13
1932·7.5
American Madness
1932·6.9
The Washington Masquerade
1932·6.8
The Woman in Room 13
1932·8.0
Huddle
1932·7.0
Are You Listening?
1932·5.6
The Big Timer
1932·4.6
Hell's House
1932·5.3
For the Love of Fanny
1931·10.0
Heaven on Earth
1931·5.3
Gold Dust Gertie
1931·6.0
The Millionaire
1931·7.9
Only Saps Work
1930·6.0
The Shannons of Broadway
1929·8.0
Above the Limit
1900·4.3