About Charley Grapewin
Charles Ellsworth Grapewin (December 20, 1869 – February 2, 1956) was an American vaudeville and circus performer, writer, and stage and film actor. As a character actor, he worked in over one-hundred motion pictures during the silent and sound eras, mostly as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player during the 1930s and is best known to modern audiences for portraying Uncle Henry in MGM's film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz (1939), "Grandpa" William James Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Jeeter Lester in Tobacco Road (1941), Uncle Salters in Captains Courageous (1937), Gramp Maple in The Petrified Forest (1936), Wang's Father in The Good Earth (1937), and California Joe in They Died With Their Boots On (1941). Grapewin also appeared in the original 1903 Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz, 36 years before he would be featured in the famous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film version. After this, Grapewin continued in theatre, on and.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.