Charles K. French on AllMovie

An imposing stage actor from Ohio and a true screen pioneer, Charles K. French (born Strauss) appeared with the famed Biograph stock company before organizing his own production entity, The Navajo Film Co. That venture lasted only a year, 1914-1915, and French returned to the ranks of actors for hire. Sporting a formidable beard, French was often cast in historical settings, notably Thomas Ince's Civilization (1916) as the prime minister, D. W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln (1924) as Enlow, and Raymond Griffith's Hands-Up (1926) as Brigham Young. In between, he played countless fathers, military officers, and the like, often opposite such stars as Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson, and continued in films until his retirement in 1944. French was the father of B-Western regular Ted French (1899-1978) and grandfather of Little House on the Prairie star Victor French (1934-1989).