Charles E. Maxwell

Charles Carlton Maxwell, born December 28, 1913, and died August 7, 1993, was an American character actor and producer whose career spanned Broadway, film, and an extensive body of television work. He made his Broadway appearances between 1933 and 1939, with credits that included the play They Knew What They Wanted and the play The New York Idea.

Maxwell built much of his professional reputation through television, where he worked primarily as a guest performer in western series. His appearances in that genre included Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Rawhide, Lawman, and The Texan. His work on Bonanza was particularly notable in its volume, as he appeared on that series ten times portraying entirely different characters across those episodes. In 1959, he took on the role of General Phil Sheridan in the Bat Masterson episode "One Bullet from Broken Bow," a production that aired on NBC and starred Gene Barry in the title role. Later that same year he returned to Bat Masterson as a crooked hotel owner named Ron Davis in the episode "Lady Luck."

Beyond westerns, Maxwell pursued a range of guest roles throughout the 1960s. In March 1961 he appeared as foreman Deeb Erickson in "The Burying of Sammy Hart," the twenty-fifth episode of the second season of The Rebel. He also appeared in the first season of My Favorite Martian, playing the character Jakobar in the episode "An Old Friend of the Family." In 1966 he portrayed Corp. Giles in the Combat! episode "Ask Me No Questions," and in 1968 he played Virgil Earp in the Star Trek episode "Spectre of the Gun."

Maxwell held a regular role on the short-lived series The Hank McCune Show and appeared in a 1956 Greyhound Bus presentation titled Down Liberty Road. His longest-running single association was with Gilligan's Island, on which he served as the unseen and uncredited radio announcer across numerous episodes of the series.