Background
Charles J. King was born in New York City on October 31, 1886 to Thomas and Ellen King, both of whom were born in Ireland and had immigrated to the United States. in 1883.
Charles J. King was born in New York City on October 31, 1886 to Thomas and Ellen King, both of whom were born in Ireland and had immigrated to the United States. in 1883.
Eleven children would be born to them, but only three were living by 1900: Charles, Nellie and Mary. Under the name of Mollie King, Mary would eventually pursue a film career between 1916 and 1924. By 1908, King had begun acting on the Broadway stage.
His first known role came in the revue The Mimic World.
King continued to appear in many major Broadway successes during the 1920s, including George White"s Scandals (1921 edition), Little Nellie Kelly, Keep Kool, Hit the Deck and Present Arms, before turning his attention to Hollywood and the nascent genre of film musicals. His feature-film debut, The Broadway Melody, was an immense hit for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1929 and featured him singing the title song and "You Were Meant for Maine", two significant song hits the same year.
King introduced such other hits as "Orange Blossom Time" in The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) and "Happy Days Are Here Again" in Chasing Rainbows (1930), but could not sustain the initial momentum of his film popularity as musicals oversaturated the market, many failed at the box office and studios ended their contracts with musical performers. By the end of 1930, he had returned to the Broadway stage where he would spend the remainder of his career.
According to IMDB, he had an uncredited roles as the anesthesiologist in the classic Three Stooges short "Men In Black"
Charles King died in London in 1944 from pneumonia, aged 57, while on a United Service Organizations tour.