Biography
Born on 17 November 1911 in Pasadena, California, Charles Walters passed away on 13 August 1982 in Malibu from lung cancer at age seventy. Although his name remained less widely recognized than his contributions, Walters earned distinction as a choreographer and director whose work defined many landmark Hollywood musicals spanning the 1940s into the 1960s. After attending the University of Southern California, he began performing as a dancer with the Fanchon and Marco touring productions in 1934. During the late 1930s he appeared in several Broadway productions, among them Between The Devil and Du Barry Was A Lady (1939), before shifting into stage direction and eventually relocating to Hollywood. His first credited choreography assignment came with the 1942 RKO release Seven Days Leave, which starred Lucille Ball and Victor Mature. Walters then moved to MGM, where he staged dance sequences for a string of major musicals that included Presenting Lily Mars, Du Barry Was A Lady, Girl Crazy, Best Foot Forward, Broadway Rhythm, Meet Me In St. Louis, The Harvey Girls, Ziegfeld Follies, and Summer Holiday (1947). Producer Arthur Freed next entrusted him with directing the 1947 remake of Good News, featuring June Allyson and Peter Lawford; Walters’s assured handling of that assignment opened the door to further directorial duties on films that showcased studio headliners such as Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Esther Williams, Leslie Caron, and Frank Sinatra. Those pictures encompassed Easter Parade, The Barkleys Of Broadway, Summer Stock, Texas Carnival, The Belle Of New York, Dangerous When Wet, Lili, Torch Song, Easy To Love, The Glass Slipper, The Tender Trap, and High Society (1956). Although The Tender Trap leaned more toward sophisticated comedy with musical interludes than a full-scale musical, Walters continued directing comedies in the late 1950s, among them Don’t Go Near The Water and Please Don’t Eat The Daisies. With the era of lavish studio musicals waning, he completed Billy Rose’s Jumbo (1962) and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) before departing MGM. His final feature, Walk, Don’t Run, produced at Columbia, also marked Cary Grant’s last screen appearance. Films such as Lili, Easter Parade, High Society, and Dangerous When Wet remain notable for their elegance and vitality, qualities Walters achieved in part by employing the camera to sustain an unbroken sense of motion. In subsequent years he occasionally returned to work, helming selected television sitcom episodes and Lucille Ball specials while also delivering occasional lectures.