Anecdotes

According to the story given by a distant relative, shortly before Charlie's death his wife had suffered a stroke and was confined to their apartment. A woman had been hired to help her. Apparently one day Charlie came back from food shopping, entered his apartment, and surprised the woman who was in the process of going through drawers and stealing articles. Charlie began yelling at her, asking her what she was doing. Apparently the woman panicked and hit Charlie with an object that killed him.

Killed a few days after Victor Kilian in similar circumstances (beaten to death by burglars in his apartment). The very last appearance of both actors was on an episode of All in the Family (1971) {The Return of Stephanie's Father (#9.23)}.

Was married to a woman who was a psychologist. In later years they bought a small apartment building in the Hollywood area and lived in one of them while earning rent from the other units.

Charlie worked in the Yiddish theater on Lower East Side NYC with Paul Muni. At one point, when their marriages temporarily faltered, the two actor friends lived together for a few months.