Charles McGraw

Charles McGraw

Birth : 1914-05-10, Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Death : 1980-07-30

History

Charles McGraw (born Charles Butters) was an American stage, screen, and television actor. He developed into a leading man, especially in film noir classics during the late 1940s and early 1950s. His gravelly voice and rugged looks enhanced his appeal in the noir stylistic genre and provided him many roles as cops, military officers, and the such.

Profile

Charles McGraw
Charles McGraw

Movies

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(in "The Killers") (archive footage)
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'.
Twilight's Last Gleaming
Air Force Gen. Peter Crane
A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell, escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana and threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the President reveals details of a secret meeting held just after the start of the Vietnam War between Dell and the then President's most trusted advisors.
The Killer Inside Me
Howard Hendricks
Haunted by visions from his abusive childhood, Montana deputy sheriff Lou Ford gradually exhibits the signs of a homicidal schizophrenic.
Perilous Voyage
Capt. Humphreys
A South American guerrilla, whose revolution is faltering, hijacks a ship carrying arms and holds all of the passengers hostage.
A Boy and His Dog
Preacher
Set in the year 2024 in post-apocalyptic America, 18-year old Vic and his telepathic dog, Blood, are scavengers in the desolate wilderness ravaged by World War IV, where survivors must battle for food and shelter in the desert-like wasteland. Vic and Blood eke out a meager existence, foraging for food and fighting gangs of cutthroats.
Money to Burn
Neil Davis
A convict who managed to print $1 million in counterfeit bills in the prison print shop hatches a scheme to swap them for real money
The Longest Night
Father Chase
The daughter of a wealthy family is kidnapped and imprisoned underground in a custom-built, ventilated coffin while her family and the police search for her. But the battery that powers the ventilation is running out of juice and the ransom drop has been botched. This movie was originally shown as an ABC Movie of the Week on September 12, 1972. The story is based on the 1968 kidnapping of Barbara Mackle by Gary Krist.
The Night Stalker
Police Chief Ed Masterson
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of gruesome murders in Las Vegas. It seems that each victim has been bitten in the neck and drained of all their blood. Kolchak is sure that it is a vampire. He's hot on the trail, but nobody believes him. His editor thinks he's nuts and the police think he's a hindrance in the investigation, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hand.
The Devil and Miss Sarah
Marshal Duncan
A notorious outlaw being escorted to prison by a homesteader and his wife turns out to have satanic powers. He uses them on the man's wife to try to possess her and help him escape.
Chandler
Bernie Oakman
A private eye is hired to follow a mobster's former mistress.
Johnny Got His Gun
Mike Burkeman
Joe, a young American soldier, is hit by a mortar shell on the last day of World War I. He lies in a hospital bed with a fate worse than death as a quadruple amputee who has lost his arms, legs, eyes, ears, mouth and nose. Unbeknown to his doctors, he remains conscious and able to think, thereby reliving his life through strange dreams and memories.
O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra
Agent Joe Flagg
Suddenly widowed by an accident, a deputy sheriff from the Midwest becomes a customs agent and cracks a narcotics ring. Pilot movie for the series "O'Hara, U.S. Treasury."
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here
Wilson
While confronting the disapproving father of his girlfriend Lola, Native American man Willie Boy kills the man in self-defense, triggering a massive manhunt, led by Deputy Sheriff Christopher Cooper.
Pendulum
Deputy Chief John P. Hildebrand
On the evening of his decoration for bringing a murderer to justice, Washington DC Police Captain Frank Matthews' wife, and her lover are murdered in bed. Jailed as the prime suspect, with the aforementioned murderer released on a technicality Matthews escapes in search of the man he believes to be the real killer.
Hang 'em High
Sheriff Ray Calhoun
Marshall Jed Cooper survives a hanging, vowing revenge on the lynch mob that left him dangling. To carry out his oath for vengeance, he returns to his former job as a lawman. Before long, he's caught up with the nine men on his hit list and starts dispensing his own brand of Wild West justice.
In Cold Blood
Tex Smith
After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.
The Busy Body
Fred Harwell
Sid Caesar is a bumbling gopher to a mob boss who must recover a fortune in cash stowed in the suit of a corpse.
Nightmare in Chicago
Harry Brockman
The story of a serial killer known as "Georgie Porgie." The Chicago turnpike is threatened over a three-day period as the police try to catch him by blocking the whole area.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Lt. Matthews
A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is the madcap adventures of those strangers as each attempts to claim the prize for himself.
The Birds
Sebastian Sholes
Chic socialite Melanie Daniels enjoys a passing flirtation with an eligible attorney in a San Francisco pet shop and, on an impulse, follows him to his hometown bearing a gift of lovebirds. But upon her arrival, the bird population runs amok. Suddenly, the townsfolk face a massive avian onslaught, with the feathered fiends inexplicably attacking people all over Bodega Bay.
The Horizontal Lieutenant
Col. Charles Korotny
Director Richard Thorpe's 1962 military comedy stars Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss, Miyoshi Umeki, Jim Backus, Jack Carter, Marty Ingels, Charles McGraw and Argentina Brunetti.
Cimarron
Bob Yountis
The epic story of a family that's involved in the Oklahoma Land Rush in 1889.
Spartacus
Marcellus
The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.
The Wonderful Country
Dr. Stovall
Having fled to Mexico from the U.S. many years ago for killing his father's murderer, Martin Brady travels to Texas to broker an arms deal for his Mexican boss, strongman Governor Cipriano Castro. Brady breaks a leg and while recuperating in Texas the gun shipment is stolen. Complicating matters further the wife of local army major Colton has designs on him, and the local Texas Ranger captain makes him a generous offer to come back to the states and join his outfit. After killing a man in self defense, Brady slips back over the border and confronts Castro who is not only unhappy that Brady has lost his gun shipment but is about to join forces with Colton to battle the local raiding Apache Indians.
The Man in the Net
Sheriff Steve Ritter
A artist living in a quiet Connecticut town is the main suspect in the disappearance of his shrew wife. Things turn ugly when the townsfolk attempt to take the law into their own hands.
The Defiant Ones
Capt. Frank Gibbons
Two convicts—a white racist and an angry black man—escape while chained to each other.
Twilight for the Gods
Yancy
An alcoholic captain sails a two-master through danger with a call girl and others on board.
Saddle the Wind
Larry Venables
Steve Sinclair is a world a world-weary former gunslinger, now living as a peaceful farmer. Things go wrong when his wild younger brother Tony arrives on the scene with his new bride Joan Blake.
Joe Dakota
Cal Moore
A stranger rides into town and says he is looking for a local Indian. Told he left town, the truth everyone has been hiding comes out including the stranger's true identity.
Slaughter on 10th Avenue
Lt. Anthony Vosnick
A rookie assistant DA is assigned to investigate the murder of a longshoreman, killed for exposing gangster involvement on the piers, and meets up with a "code of silence" amongst all potential witnesses.
Joe Butterfly
Sgt. Jim McNulty
The staff of "Yank" magazine are among the first American troops into Tokyo after the Japanese surrender. Their mission: produce an issue of the magazine...in three days. To accomplish the seeming impossible, they reluctantly enlist the aid of black marketeer and arch-conniver Joe Butterfly, who sets them up in a palatial private mansion, complete with lovely daughter -- strictly against regulations. How much trouble can our heroes talk their way out of?
The Cruel Tower
Harry 'Stretch' Clay
The story of a bunch of hard-drinking steeplejacks.
Toward the Unknown
Col. 'Mickey' McKee
Tortured into a false confession while a POW in Korea, Major Lincoln Bond returns to active service as a test pilot. Determined to clear his name, Bond battles a hard-nosed base commander, prejudiced officers and his own insecurities.
Away All Boats
Lieut. Mike O'Bannion
The story of USS 'Belinda', a U.S. naval ship, and its crew during the battle of the Pacific 1943-1945, as it prepares for action and landing troops on enemy beachheads.
The Bridges at Toko-Ri
Cmdr. Wayne Lee
A naval aviator is assigned to bomb a group of heavily defended bridges during the Korean War.
Loophole
Gus Slavin
Bank teller Mike Donovan (Barry Sullivan) takes the first step on the road to Perdition when he fails to report a $49,000 shortage. Accused of theft, Donovan is fired from his job. He is then prevented from finding other employment by Javert-like insurance investigator Gus Slavin (Charles McGraw). Despite many setbacks, Donovan attempts to clear his muddied name.
Thunder Over the Plains
Ben Westman
Set in 1869, after the Civil War, Texas had not yet been readmitted to the Union and carpetbaggers, hiding behind the legal protection of the Union Army of occupation, had taken over the state. Federal Captain Porter, a Texan, has to carry out orders against his own people. He brings in the rebel leader Ben Westman whom he knows is innocent of a murder that he is accused of. In trying to prove his innocence, Porter himself becomes a wanted man.
War Paint
Sgt. Clarke
An Indian and his beautiful sister attempt to destroy a cavalry patrol trying to deliver a peace treaty to their chief.
One Minute to Zero
Sfc. Baker
An idealistic United Nations official learns the harrowing truth about war when she falls in love with an American officer charged with the evacuation of civilians. As hostilities escalate, the officer and his small detachment are left to hold the line until allied forces can be brought into action.
The Narrow Margin
Det. Sgt. Walter Brown
A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a tense train ride.
Roadblock
Joe Peters
An insurance agent's greedy girlfriend with a taste for mink leads him to a life of crime.
His Kind of Woman
Thompson / Narrator
In a desperate attempt to get out of debt, career gambler Dan Milner agrees to rendezvous with a mysterious contact at a distant Mexican resort in exchange for $50,000. Upon arriving, Milner meets his fellow guests, including a plastic surgeon, a philandering movie star and his beautiful girlfriend. Soon Milner discovers that the man who hired him may be the ruthless gangster Nick Ferraro -- a deported crime boss looking to re-enter the USA.
Double Crossbones
Capt. Ben Wickett
Falsely accused by the corrupt Governor Elden of Charleston of fencing stolen pirate booty, young Davey Crandall and friend Tom Botts buy passage on the ship of local buccaneer Bloodthirsty Ben. They avoid being killed by faking a case of the pox, which causes the panicked captain and crew to desert the ship. The two find themselves alone, and when a lucky cannon shot hits a mast on a British ship, they find themselves mistaken for pirates. They sail to Tortuga, where they recruit such notorious corsairs as Henry Morgan, Captain Kidd, Anne Bonney, and Blackbeard to lay siege to Chaleston and expose the villain Elden.
Armored Car Robbery
Lt. Jim Cordell
The film tells the story of a well-planned robbery of an armored car when it stops at a sports stadium. Yet, the heist goes awry, and a tough Los Angeles cop is in hot pursuit.
Side Street
Det. Stan Simon
A struggling young father-to-be gives in to temptation and impulsively steals an envelope of money from the office of a corrupt attorney. Instead of a few hundred dollars, it contains $30,000, and when he decides to return the money things go wrong and that is only the beginning of his troubles.
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Shotgun Mike Munger
When Pa wins a jingle-writing contest, he and Ma head for New York City. They they get in trouble with gangsters when they lose some stolen money which they had already agreed to deliver to one of the thugs.
The Threat
Arnold 'Red' Kluger
A violent escaped con and his gang kidnap the police detective and DA who put him behind bars.
The Story of Molly X
Police Capt. Breen
Molly's husband Rick was a gang leader somewhere in the middle west. When he's shot, the tough woman moves to S.F. with a couple of the gang to start anew. Disguised as a noble woman, she and her gang rob security transports. But when one day Rob confesses to her that he killed Rick out of jealousy, she shoots him down immediately. In lack of proof she can't be convicted for the murder, but she goes to jail for the robberies. It's a new and very open female prison, where she learns a profession for the first time in her life.
Border Incident
Jeff Amboy
The story concerns two agents, one Mexican (PJF) and one American, who are tasked to stop the smuggling of Mexican migrant workers across the border to California. The two agents go undercover, one as a poor migrant.
Reign of Terror
Sergeant
The French Revolution, 1794. The Marquis de Lafayette asks Charles D'Aubigny to infiltrate the Jacobin Party to overthrow Maximilian Robespierre, who, after gaining supreme power and establishing a reign of terror ruled by death, now intends to become the dictator of France.
Once More, My Darling
Herman Schmelz
An actor is recalled to active duty with the Army's C.I.D. to find the thief who stole historical jewels in occupied Germany and the trail leads to the boyfriend of a young debutante from Bel Air.
Blood on the Moon
Milo Sweet
Down-and-out cowhand Jim Garry is asked by his old friend Tate Riling to help mediate a cattle dispute. When Garry arrives, however, it soon becomes clear that Riling has not been entirely forthright. Garry uncovers Riling's plot to dupe local rancher John Lufton out of a fortune. When Lufton's firecracker of a daughter, Amy, gets involved, Garry must choose between his old loyalties and what he knows to be right.
Hazard
Chick
As part of a bet, a compulsive gambler agrees to marry the winner, a professional gambler. Before he can "collect," she skips town. The gambler hires a private detective to track her down so he can collect his "winnings."
Berlin Express
Colonel Johns
Robert Ryan leads a group of Allied agents fighting an underground Nazi group in post-war Europe.
The Hunted
Detective
A cop investigating a jewel robbery finds that all trails lead to his girlfriend - but she claims she's being framed.
T-Men
Moxie
Two U.S. Treasury ("T-men") agents go undercover in Detroit, and then Los Angeles, in an attempt to break a U.S. currency counterfeiting ring.
The Gangster
Dugas
Based on the novel Low Company. One of the most peculiar film noirs of the 1940s stars Barry Sullivan as a small-time hood who suffers a mental breakdown as his big plans begin to crumble. Beautiful Belita is the slumming society girlfriend who only fuels his paranoia.
Roses Are Red
Duke Arno
A crooked crime boss tries to put a crony into office.
On the Old Spanish Trail
Harry Blaisdell
A cowboy turns bounty hunter to pay off his debts.
The Long Night
Policeman Stevens
City police surround a building attempting to capture a suspected murder. The suspect knows there is no escape but refuses to give in.
The Big Fix
Armiston
Ken Williams (James Brown), a star basketball player on a college team learns that a police lieutenant (Regis Toomey) is the head of a gambling ring attempting to fix basketball games by bribing the players.
The Farmer's Daughter
Fisher - Finley's Henchman (uncredited)
After leaving her family's farm to study nursing in the city, a young woman finds herself on an unexpected path towards politics.
The Killers
Al
Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.
The Impostor
Menessier
The story concerns a condemned murderer named Clement (Jean Gabin), who is "liberated" when the Nazis bomb the French jail that holds him. During his escape, Clement comes across the body of a French soldier; he steals the dead man's uniform and identification papers, then hides from the law by joining the Resistance movement. Clement's new identity and purpose in life reforms him, and in due time he has sacrificed himself in service of his country.
The Mad Ghoul
Detective Garrity
Dr. Alfred Morris, a university chemistry professor, rediscovers an ancient Mayan formula for a gas which turns men into pliant, obedient, zombie-like ghouls. After medical student Ted Allison becomes a guinea pig for Morris, the professor imagines that Allison's fiancée, a beautiful concert singer Isabel Lewis, wants to break off the engagement because she prefers the professor as a more "mature" lover but in reality loves Eric, her accompanist. In order to bring Ted back from his trance-like states, Morris commands him to perform a cardiectomy on recently deceased or living bodies in order to use serum from their hearts as a temporary antidote. When the serial murders seem to coincide with Isabel's touring schedule, ace reporter "Scoop" McClure gets on the mad scientist's trail.
Corvette K-225
Chief Engineer
The story of a Canadian WWII naval vessel, with a dramatic subplot concerning her first captain.
Destroyer
Assistant Chief Engineer (uncredited)
Flagwaving story of a new American destroyer, the JOHN PAUL JONES, from the day her keel is laid, to what was very nearly her last voyage. Among the crew, is Steve Boleslavski, a shipyard welder that helped build her, who reenlists, with his old rank of Chief bosuns mate. After failing her sea trials, she is assigned to the mail run, until caught up in a disparate battle with a Japanese sub. After getting torpedoed, and on the verge of sinking, the Captain, and crew hatch a plan to try and save the ship, and destroy the sub.
They Came to Blow Up America
Zellerbach
Based on a true incident that occurred in 1942 when nine Nazi saboteurs were put ashore on the coast of Long Island, New York, by submarine, with orders to blow up various defense installations.
The Undying Monster
Strud Strudwick (uncredited)
A werewolf prowls around at night but only kills certain members of one family. It seems like just a coincidence, but the investigating Inspector soon finds out that this tradition has gone on for generations and tries to find a link between the werewolf and the family, leading to a frightening conclusion.