Charles Dingle (December 28, 1887 – January 19, 1956) was a commanding American stage and screen actor, a master at portraying hard-edged, ruthless, and villainous businessmen.
After a long and successful stage career, Dingle came to Hollywood and delivered his most iconic and unforgettable performance, reprising his Broadway role as the cunning patriarch Ben Hubbard in the classic film adaptation of The Little Foxes (1941). His chilling portrayal opposite Bette Davis made him one of the most effective and hissable villains of the era.
His powerful presence made him a go-to character actor for a variety of roles in over 50 films. He played the prosecutor Jacomet in the religious epic The Song of Bernadette (1943), a senator in the musical Call Me Madam (1953), and appeared in other classics like The Talk of the Town (1942) and the sprawling Western Duel in the Sun (1946), cementing his legacy as a master of on-screen malevolence.
