Charles Kemper

Charles Kemper (September 6, 1900 – May 12, 1950) was an American character actor born in Oklahoma who built a career spanning stage, short-form comedy films, and Hollywood features. For decades he worked as a stage actor before transitioning to screen work.

Kemper's Broadway career ran from 1936 to 1938, during which he appeared in the musical You Never Know. He later returned to the stage in New Faces of 1943. Concurrent with his early Broadway work, Kemper appeared in short comedies filmed at Astoria Studios in New York, a common path for stage actors of the era. In 1937, Educational Pictures signed him as a leading comic, where he played timid characters in the tradition of the studio's silent-era performer Lloyd Hamilton. During this period he worked alongside Danny Kaye, who was then performing as a dialect comedian, with the two serving as foils for one another. That working relationship ended when Educational Pictures ceased production in mid-1938.

Beginning in 1945, Kemper pursued a character acting career in Hollywood, accumulating a series of supporting roles across multiple genres. His film credits included The Southerner (1945), Scarlet Street (1945), Gallant Journey (1946), and The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947). His final screen appearance came in the film noir On Dangerous Ground, in which he played the character Pop Daley.

Kemper died on May 12, 1950, at the age of 49, following a car accident in Burbank, California.