Charles Winninger (1884-1969) was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals, but equally at home in drama. He began as a vaudeville actor. His most famous stage role was as Cap'n Andy Hawks in the original stage production of the Jerome Kern - Oscar Hammerstein II musical classic Show Boat in 1927, a role that he reprised - to great acclaim - in the 1932 stage revival and the 1936 film version of the show. He became so identified with the role, and with his "persona" as a riverboat captain, that he played several variations of the role, notably on the radio program Maxwell House Show Boat, which was clearly inspired by, but not actually based on, the Broadway musical. 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American popular composer. ... For work done with Richard Rodgers, see Rodgers and Hammerstein Oscar Hammerstein II (July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was a New-York born writer, producer, and (usually uncredited) director of musicals for almost forty years. ... Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (with the notable exception of Bill, which was originally written for Kern in 1918 by P. G. Wodehouse but reworked by Hammerstein for Show Boat). ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

After the 1936 "Show Boat", Winninger stayed on in Hollywood, and became one of its most beloved and most often seen character actors, appearing in such classics as the 1937 Nothing Sacred (as the drunken doctor who misdiagnoses Carole Lombard), the 1939 Destry Rides Again (as Wash, the sheriff who hires James Stewart as his deputy), as Deanna Durbin's father in the film Three Smart Girls, and as Abel Frake in the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein film musical State Fair. In all of these films, Winninger was the very image of the kindly, lovable, chubby, grandfatherly figure, but in "Show Boat", especially, he showed that he could play a dramatic, emotional scene as well as any serious dramatic actor. ... Nothing Sacred refers to: a 1937 film Nothing Sacred (film) starring Carole Lombard and Frederic March. ... Carole Lombard Carole Lombard (October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress. ... James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich Destry Rides Again is a 1939 western film directed by George Marshall, starring James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Irene Hervey and Una Merkel. ... James Stewart is the name of: // Actors James Stewart (actor) (1908–1997), Hollywood movie star, widely known as Jimmy Stewart. ... Deanna Durbin (born Edna Mae Durbin on December 4, 1921, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to English immigrant parents) was a popular young singer and actress in Hollywood films of the 1930s and 1940s. ... Three Smart Girls is a 1936 musical comedy film. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Rodgers and Hammerstein were an American songwriting duo consisting of Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960). ... A state fair is a competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. states population. ...

Winninger had the lead role in only one film, 1953's The Sun Shines Bright, John Ford's remake of his own Judge Priest. Winninger played the role that Will Rogers had undertaken in 1934. John Ford (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973) was one of the most accomplished American film directors of the 1930s to 1960s, known particularly as a director of the Westerns, although his tributes to the veterans of World War II and Americana are also equally effective. ... Will Rogers. ...