Biography
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.
Known For
Complete Filmography
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982
as (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...
The Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)
A history of horror movies.
Twilight's Last Gleaming
1977
as 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 u...
The Killer Inside Me
1976
as Howard Hendricks
Haunted by visions from his abusive childhood, Montana deputy sheriff Lou Ford gradually exhibits the signs of a homicidal schizophrenic.
Perilous Voyage
1976
as 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
1975
as 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 ...
Money to Burn
1973
as 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
1972
as 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 f...
The Night Stalker
1972
as Police Chief Ed Masterson
Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy a...
The Devil and Miss Sarah
1971
as 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 p...
Chandler
1971
as Bernie Oakman
A private eye is hired to follow a mobster's former mistress.
Johnny Got His Gun
1971
as Mike Burkeman
A young American soldier, rendered in pseudocoma from an artillery shell from WWI, recalls his life leading up to that point.
O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra
1971
as 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'...
The Andersonville Trial
1970
as Board of Military Judges
A dramatization of the 1865 war-crimes trial of Henry Wirz, commandant of the notorious Confederate POW camp at Andersonville, Georgia.
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here
1969
as Wilson
While confronting the disapproving father of his girlfriend Lola, Native American man Willie Boy kills the man in self-defense, triggering a massive m...
Pendulum
1969
as 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 ...
Hang 'em High
1968
as 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...
In Cold Blood
1967
as 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...
The Busy Body
1967
as 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
1964
as 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 b...
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
as 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 t...
The Birds
1963
as Sebastian Sholes
Thousands of birds flock into a seaside town and terrorize the residents in a series of deadly attacks.
The Horizontal Lieutenant
1962
as Col. Charles Korotny
A luckless army intelligence lieutenant finds himself stationed on a remote island army outpost during World War II, where all the action is between t...
Cimarron
1960
as Bob Yountis
The epic story of a family involved in the Oklahoma Land Rush of April 22, 1889.
Spartacus
1960
as 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,...
The Wonderful Country
1959
as 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 Mex...
The Man in the Net
1959
as Sheriff Steve Ritter
An 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 t...
The Defiant Ones
1958
as Capt. Frank Gibbons
Two convicts—a white racist and an angry black man—escape while chained to each other.
Twilight for the Gods
1958
as Yancy
An alcoholic captain sails a two-master through danger with a call girl and others on board.
Saddle the Wind
1958
as Larry Venables
Steve Sinclair is a world-weary former gunslinger, now living as a peaceful farmer. Things go wrong when his wild younger brother Tony arrives on the ...
Joe Dakota
1957
as 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 st...
Slaughter on 10th Avenue
1957
as 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 wit...
Joe Butterfly
1957
as 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 magaz...
The Cruel Tower
1956
as Harry 'Stretch' Clay
The story of a bunch of hard-drinking steeplejacks.
Toward the Unknown
1956
as 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, Bon...
Away All Boats
1956
as 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 o...
The Bridges at Toko-Ri
1954
as Cmdr. Wayne Lee
A naval aviator is assigned to bomb a group of heavily defended bridges during the Korean War.
Loophole
1954
as 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, ...
Thunder Over the Plains
1953
as 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 Ar...
War Paint
1953
as 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
1952
as 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...
The Narrow Margin
1952
as Det. Sgt. Walter Brown
A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Roadblock
1951
as Joe Peters
An insurance agent's greedy girlfriend with a taste for mink leads him to a life of crime.
His Kind of Woman
1951
as Thompson / Narrator
Career gambler Dan Milner agrees to a $50,000 deal to leave the USA for Mexico, only to find himself entangled with fellow guests at a luxurious resor...
Double Crossbones
1951
as 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 t...
Armored Car Robbery
1950
as Lt. Jim Cordell
While executing an armored car heist in Los Angeles, icy crook Dave Purvis shoots policeman Lt. Phillips before he and his cronies make off with the l...
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
1950
as 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 whic...
Side Street
1950
as 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...
The Threat
1949
as 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
1949
as 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 ...
Border Incident
1949
as 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 t...
Reign of Terror
1949
as Sergeant
The French Revolution, 1794. The Marquis de Lafayette asks Charles D'Aubigny to infiltrate the Jacobin Party to overthrow Maximilian Robespierre, who,...
Once More, My Darling
1949
as 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 th...
Blood on the Moon
1948
as 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 c...
Hazard
1948
as Chick
A compulsive gambler bets her freedom against a $16,000 debt to a crime boss…and loses. But before he can collect, she skips town, with a private dete...
Berlin Express
1948
as Colonel Johns
In post-war Europe, a diverse group of passengers aboard a U.S. Army train to bombed-out Frankfurt becomes involved in a Nazi assassination plot.
The Hunted
1948
as Detective
A cop investigating a jewel robbery finds that all trails lead to his girlfriend - but she claims she's being framed.
T-Men
1947
as 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
1947
as 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 breakd...
Roses Are Red
1947
as Duke Arno
A crooked crime boss tries to put a crony into office.
On the Old Spanish Trail
1947
as Harry Blaisdell
A cowboy turns bounty hunter to pay off his debts.
The Long Night
1947
as Policeman Stevens
City police surround a building, attempting to capture a suspected murderer. The suspect knows there is no escape but refuses to give in.
The Big Fix
1947
as 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 a...
The Farmer's Daughter
1947
as 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
1946
as 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. Si...
The Impostor
1944
as 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 ...
The Mad Ghoul
1943
as Detective Garrity
A university chemistry professor experiments with an ancient Mayan gas on a medical student, turning the would-be surgeon into a murdering ghoul as pa...
Corvette K-225
1943
as Chief Engineer
The story of a Canadian WWII naval vessel, with a dramatic subplot concerning her first captain.
Destroyer
1943
as 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 c...
Two Tickets to London
1943
as Hendrik (uncredited)
Accused of helping an enemy submarine, a man escapes and joins a beautiful girl in trying to find the real traitors.
They Came to Blow Up America
1943
as 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 orde...
The Moon Is Down
1943
as Ole (uncredited)
The story of a small town in Norway that resists German occupation during World War II. Based on a John Steinbeck novel.
The Undying Monster
1942
as 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...