by Hal Erickson
biography
Veteran stage actor Charles Hill Mailes joined filmmaker D.W. Griffith's Biograph stock company in 1909. For the next four years, Mailes played everything from downtrodden grandfather to cold-hearted corporate villains. His post-Griffith assignments included such roles as Lord Mount Severn in the 1915 version of East Lynne and Dr. Livesey in the 1920 adaptation of Treasure Island. Virtually retired when talkies came in, Charles Hill Mailes made one final screen appearance in the 1935 cheapie Murder by Television, co-starring with his wife, actress Claire McDowell.
