Walter Charles has passed away

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 8:12pm

Various posts on Facebook are saying that the great actor Walter Charles has died.

Not a household name but truly one of the pillars of Broadway over the past 50 years.

Rest in Peace.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 8/3/23 at 8:23pm

Sad news. This is always the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of his name.

 

 

[dwirth]

Posted: 8/4/23 at 9:39pm

I remember seeing this La Cage performance when it first aired - so nice at the time to see the scene like it should be after the in-tuxedo version George Hearn did on the Tonys.

And saw the great Mr Charles over the years in the OBC of La Cage (supporting cast), as Max in the Toronto Sunset (fantastic, as you'd expect) - and even as Georges in a later tour of La Cage w/Lee Roy Reams as Albin, the role Mr Charles played on tour/Broadway - as shown above and maybe more...

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 8/4/23 at 11:47pm

Just found this delightful 2006 interview that Walter Charles did with Joel Markowitz for DCTheatreScene.com.

At that time, Charles was playing Herr Schultz in Arena Stage's ''Cabaret.'' He waxes nostalgically about his Broadway debut in 1973 in ''Grease,'' which included Marilu Henner and John Travolta. He recalls being in the original company of ''Sweeney Todd'' and years later, in 2002, playing Judge Turpin opposite Brian Stokes Mitchell's demon Barber at the Kennedy Center. Charles also remembers Arthur Laurents offering him the choice to understudy George Hearn or Gene Barry in ''La Cage aux Folles.'' He initially chose Barry because he had understudied Hearn in ''Sweeney'' and said Hearn seldom missed a show. But Laurents really wanted Charles to understudy Hearn, so he did. Charles also dishes about ''1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,'' as well as two less-than-successful Andrew Lloyd Webber shows: ''Aspects of Love'' and ''The Woman in White.'' What a life in the theater!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yV7bxnQIpI

Updated On: 8/4/23 at 11:47 PM