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Charles C. Wilson

American actor (1894-1948)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ17308880 ↗
Source-derived summary

Charles Cahill Wilson (July 29, 1894 – January 7, 1948) was an American screen and stage actor. He appeared in numerous films during the Golden Age of Hollywood from the late 1920s to the late 1940s.

Biography

Charles Wilson began his acting career at the theatre, including roles in six Broadway plays between 1918 and 1931. In 1928, he directed the Hollywood comedy Lucky Boy (1928), where he also made his film debut. According to the Internet Movie Database, Lucky Boy was Wilson's only film as a director.

His most notable role was probably Clark Gable's "wonderfully aggravated" newspaper boss in Frank Capra's comedy It Happened One Night, which won five Academy Awards in 1935. He was also cast in small roles in other Capra movies, such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

Wilson freelanced at various studios throughout his career, but he is perhaps best known for his work at Columbia Pictures. In addition to his films for Frank Capra, Wilson also appeared prominently in Columbia serials, including The Spider's Web (1938), Batman (1943), and The Secret Code (1943), as well as in Columbia comedy shorts with Harry Von Zell, Hugh Herbert, and The Three Stooges.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Charles C. Wilson” as american actor (1894-1948). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Charles, Wilson and American.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1894, 1948, 1918, 1931—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1894-07-29. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Charles, Wilson and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Charles C. Wilson”, the useful work is to connect “american actor (1894-1948)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17308880. VIAF identifies the subject as 92894149. The Library of Congress control number is no91008366. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1894, 1948, 1918 and 1931.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Charles C. Wilson”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Charles C. Wilson primary sources, Charles C. Wilson archive and Charles research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Charles C. Wilson”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Charles C. Wilson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.