Charles Arthur Space (October 12, 1908 – January 13, 1983) was an American film, television and stage actor. Today's audiences know him as the eccentric inventor opposite
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...
in '' The Big Noise'' (1944), and as veterinarian Doc Weaver in 39 episodes of the CBS television series '' Lassie''.
Early years
Born in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Douglass College.
Career
Space began his career in summer stock theater and eventually began appearing on Broadway. His Broadway credits include ''Three Men on a Horse'' and ''Awake and Sing''.
Producer Edward Finney cast Space as an urbane hoodlum in the 1941
crime drama
Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
''Riot Squad'', starring
Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell (4 October 162612 July 1712) was an English statesman who served as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1658 to 1659. He was the son of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell.
Following his father ...
and released by PRC. He jumped from the PRC company to the
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...
comedy ''The Big Noise'', in which Space played the second lead to the starring team.
Space appeared in three
Republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...
while guest starring on various television series. He appeared four times as Col. Tomkin in the ABC
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
series, '' Colt .45'', starring Wayde Preston. During this time, Space had a recurring role as veterinarian Dr. Frank Weaver on ''Lassie (Jeff’s Collie'' in syndication).
Space was cast as Ben Hudson in the 1959 episode "Hang 'Em High", on the syndicated
anthology series
An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...
, ''
Death Valley Days
''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was ...
sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...
construction because the telegraph would most benefit the Union government. Paul Birch and
William Schallert
William Joseph Schallert (July 6, 1922 – May 8, 2016) was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and films over a career spanning more than 60 years. He is known for his roles on ''Richard Diamond, Private ...
were cast in the episode as Mike Walsh and Ellis Higby, respectively.
In 1960, Space landed the role of the practical farmer Herbert Brown in the 58-episode NBC television series '' National Velvet'', with Lori Martin as his equestrian daughter, Velvet Brown, and Ann Doran as his wife, Martha. After the series ended in 1962, Space continued acting in both television and films. Among his roles were four '' Perry Mason'' appearances between 1958 and 1964. In his first appearance he played murder suspect Willard Scott in "The Case of the Rolling Bones," and his final role was as murder suspect Edgarton Cartwell in "The Case of the Paper Bullets." In 1969 Space appeared as Sam Foster on the TV series '' The Virginian'' in the episode titled "A Woman of Stone."
In 1978, he appeared in an episode of
The Waltons
''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural mountainous Western Virginia of the Appalachian Mountains / Allegheny Mountains / Blue Ridge Mountains chain, during the economic hardships and mass unemp ...
titled "The Beau", playing Grandma Walton's former boyfriend Marcus Dane. His last role was in a 1981 episode of the television series, '' Walking Tall''.
Death
Space died of cancer at his home in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...