Charles Ruggles had one of the longest careers in Hollywood, lasting more than 60 years and encompassing more than 100 films. He made his film debut in 1914 in The Patchwork Girl of Oz and worked steadily after that. He was memorably paired with Mary Boland in a series of comedies in the early 1930s, and was one of the standouts in the all-star comedy If I Had a Million, as a harried, much-put-upon man who finally goes berserk in a china shop. Ruggles' slight stature and distinctive mannerisms - his fluttery, jumpy manner of speaking, his often befuddled look whenever events seemed about to overwhelm him, which was often - endeared him to generations of moviegoers. Memorable as Maj. Applegate the big-game hunter in the classic screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby. Many will remember him as the narrator of the "Aesop's Fables" segment of the animated cartoon The Bullwinkle Show. He was the brother of director Wesley Ruggles.


Brother of Director Wesley Ruggles His step-father was run down and killed by a streetcar in 1925. His parents were Charles Herman (a traveling pharmaceutical salesman) and Maria Theresa (Heinsch) Ruggles, and he was the elder of two sons. Charles began working for the same pharmaceutical company that his father worked in 1904 directly after his high school graduation but did not enjoy it and left not long after. Appeared with a number of stock companies during his early years. He made his stage debut with the Alcazar Theatre Stock Company, where he initially found employment as a super. He also performed with the Oliver Morosco Stock Company and the El Paso Stock Company. President of the Academy of television Arts and Sciences in 1953. The Los Angeles native donated his personal memorabilia and awards to the Department of Special Collections at the UCLA Library. He was awarded 3 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6359 Hollywood Boulevard; for Motion Pictures at 6264 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 1630 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.