Charles Drake

Personable actor Charles Drake was born Charles Louis Ruppert on October 2, 1917 in New York City. He graduated from Nichols College in 1937 and initially became a salesman before switching to acting in 1939 and appearing in little theater productions. He changed his stage name to the more suitable Charles Drake and in the late 1930s managed to snag a contract with Warner Brothers. Drake started apprenticing in small, often unbilled roles in what would become enduring WWII-era classics: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), Now, Voyager (1942), Sergeant York (1941), and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), but did not rise suitably in billing rank during that time. Military service interrupted his career in 1943, but he returned to Hollywood within a couple of years sans his Warner Bros contract. Following a slight lull in the freelancing department, he was finally picked up by Universal and actually found better work in still somewha