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Although his name remained unknown to moviegoers until the early 1910s, Charles H. West was one of America's earliest screen stars and a valued member of the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. D.W. Griffith used him constantly in those early years and in Great Britain, where Biograph's self-imposed anonymity didn't play well, they billed him "James McCarthy." On-stage as an actor/manager since 1904, the Pittsburgh-native played every role possible, from handsome leading men to bearded elders and everything in between. West later appeared for Selig, Paramount, Universal, and nearly every other Hollywood studio, appearing in literally hundred of supporting roles and bit parts well into the sound era.