He would later go on to work for P.T. Barnum Circus with an aerial act called "The Silbon Troupe". Travelling all over Europe and America. He considered one of the high points of his career, the time he teamed with Eddie Silbon and Harry King to form the famous original Barnum's Silbon Trio, the Greatest Aerial Act in the world. Charley recalled playing thirteen shows a day at Huber's Museum (1891-). The trio was highly successful for four years until on Oct. 3. 1891 Grapewin sprained his wrist and left the troupe to join the Cordray Stock Company in Portland, Oregon where he stayed for 2 years. Then he joined Frank Daniels. These were the first of many regional companies, and he began to write short plays featuring himself (or that could feature him) in the starring roles, most likely used in vaudeville.

Dr. Cupid was the title of a new farce-comedy by Frank Daniels in February 1893 both C.E. Grapewin and Ella Wilson were a part of the 24 acting members.

In July 1893 Charles Grapewin and Ella Wilson have been engaged for A Crash in China. 

In March 1894 A High Roller, one of the funniest of comedies ever produced on stage opened at the Hoboken Theatre. Charley played the role of the valet Dennis as was heralded as a genuine artist as funny as could be. Co-starring were Charles Boyd and W.J. Tucker. Earlier Grapewin played in "Uncle Dan'l, a Messenger from Jarvis Section," as saloon keeper.

Miss Eloise Willard and her co. presented the first-class musical comedy The Little Speculator at the Portland Theatre. Messrs. Grapewin, Haven, Mahar, Young and Jackman, and Misses Carlotta, Crosby, De Shorbe, and Browne were among the company's members. (Sep. 1894)

Late 1894 Grapewin divorced his first wife (In August 1894 he was served whilst working on Dr. Cupid in Catskill N.Y.).

In Two Old Cronies (1895) Grapewin performed a very clever bit of business with the imaginary pool table. Other stars were Wills, Ray Irwin, Carlotta, May Fairchild, and Miss Hazel Wells. Together with Eugene Canfield, James H. Bradbury, Charley was seen in "A Railroad Ticket" (Dec 1895-Apr 1896), the piece had humorous, novel and mechanical effects, prominent among which was an electric street car, fully equipped and in actual use.

Subsequently he met and married (May 11. 1896), the then 15 year old, Anna Chance, 'The Belle of Wellington, Ohio'. Grapewin was playing with a company in Trenton, N.J. and Anna was daughter of a socially prominent family (her father was baseball great Frank Chance). It wasn't possible to obtain her parents' consent, so the couple eloped. They were married by a justice of peace somewhere in the neighborhood of Camden, N.J.
Together with Gertrude Haynes, Lillian Durham and Kittie Beck she was part of "The Trocadero Comedy Four" a host of young and pretty girls in beautiful costumes which Grapewin managed at the time.

In 1896-1897, he performed in the duo "Grapewin & Evans", with the skit A Baggage Check (Portland) with Lizzie Melrose, Nettie Black, Louis Martinetti, Eckert and Heck. Thomas Evans had by then been his regular stage partner for many years.

Grapewin began to write skits/playlets/stage plays which he sold and acted in and also Charley and Anna became a permanent stage act. The first was A Jab of Keely (1897)  later renamed Mr. Spinglehoffer where Charley's conception of the German who gets twisted in his thoughts and words was considered excellent. Anna sang a ballad.
The Mismated Pair (1898) which was his first legitimate vaudevillian sketch (again with Anna singing). The couple also performed with success the comedy Above the Limit showing 'Chimmie Hicks' experience with a rum omelet (1900). The character Chimmie Hicks was by then a recurring figure in their performances (1897-98).

Charley and his wife were appearing in the sketch, Above the Limit, at Keith’s Union Square Theatre in New York. Under the direction of Walter McCutcheon, the sketch was filmed on Hackett and Carhart’s roof above the theatre by the Biograph-Mutascope company. It ran for about six or seven minutes on the screen, offering the first screen kiss and other entertainment innovations that others now claim to have introduced. Grapewin really began in silent films at the turn of the century. His very first films were 2 "moving image shorts" made by Frederick S. Armitage; Chimmie Hicks at the Races and Chimmie Hicks and the Rum Omelet (aka Above the Limit**), both shot in September and October of 1900 and distributed by American Mutoscope & Biograph in November of that year, the latter with Anna in it. Grapewin also appeared in a third short film 3 years later, Jimmie Hicks in Automobile, filmed by G.W. Bitzer. For some reason Grapewin failed to find a long-term place in silent films.

Reportedly Grapewin also appeared in the original 1903 Broadway theatre production of The Wizard of Oz, as yet this is unconfirmed and very unlikely. He actually had few Broadway theater credits with The Awakening of Mr. Pipp (Haverly's 14th Street Theatre, Mar 21. - May 9. 1904) and with that other musical comedy It's Up To You John Henry (Grand Opera House/West End Theatre, Oct. 23 - Dec. 23. 1905)

In 1917 Rex Weber worked on a series of comedies for the Follies of the Week, Inc, of Chicago. His 2nd production was The Hawaiidiot, featuring Charley Grapewin. Weber reportedly established a new record, it is said, completing the comedy at the Rothacker studio in four and one-half hours.

After 5 years (35 weeks) performing on the Orpheum Circuit and Keith Circuit he quit the theater in 1919 to become an automotive executive with General Motors in New York. There is a newspaper report from March 18. 1920 the return, "after a long absence" of Charley Grapewin at the Orpheum with a "new" playlet Jed's Vacation. In 1921 he copyrighted a real new one-act called A Pair of Calves.

In 1923 he retired again, this time "for good," from all activity, business as well as theatrical. Perhaps he did perhaps he just took it a little easier. The fact remains that in 1925 All for You a musical comedy with music by Arthur Freed and based on the book by George V. Hobart and Charles Grapewin, was so successful that it played to good houses for most of November and December in Erlanger's Mason Theatre in Los Angeles.

1929 got off to a good start for Charlie with several film shorts in production and plays ready to be performed: The Roof's the Limit (Jan 1929), Moving Day (Feb 1929), Soup and fish (short farce) (Feb 1929), Making Good (1-act comedy) (May 1929).

As many people did, in late 1929, he and his wife Anna awakened to discover that their net worth -- once two million dollars -- had dropped to about 200. The exact numbers vary in different accounts of this event. "He had, on paper, one million, two hundred thousand dollars. He was a member of the exclusive Wilshire golf club of Los Angeles. He had a big home, three servants and three motor cars. The next morning, he owed $30,000."

Grapewin kept accounts in which, since his marriage to Anna Chance, he kept track of every penny he received or spent. Charley appeared to be good with money. However, the fact that he overcame this major financial setback was mostly a testament to his versatility and adaptability.

It did mean going back to work... and Charley tried his luck in writing (he even dabbled in composing music). Then he moved over into the world of motion pictures when in 1929, together with his wife Anna Chance, he appeared in 3 shorts by Christie Comedies films: Jed's Vacation (Paramount, Apr 13. 1929), Ladies' Choice (Paramount, Sep 14. 1929), and That Red-Headed Hussy (Paramount, Dec 28. 1929), and 1 short by Universal House Cleaning (Universal, Apr 21. 1929).  It seems likely that several, if not all, of these short comic films were based on vaudeville sketches. That same year his first feature length movie was The Shannons of Broadway (Universal, Dec 8. 1929).

He subsequently wrote at least 7 books that proved successful enough to earn him some income.  The Bronze Bull (1930) was a novel set in Utah, telling the story of two brothers, one an honest foreman at the Townsend Glass Works, the other a slick political animal. In 1933 he wrote a humorous book entitled The Flowing Bowl, it had a colorful drawing of a toilet-paper-stuffed commode on the cover, was only 17 pages long, concerned itself with a fanciful discussion among various bottles of bootleg booze, cocktails shakers, and other liquor-related paraphernalia (Image right). The language is decidedly un-political correct by today's standards, with very salty, countrified dialogue. After the bestseller Squawk Bridge (1930) (Charley played a mean game of bridge) and while acting in The Night of June 13, he worked on The Town Pump, An American Comedy (1933) which he wrote in collaboration with Anthony Hillyer and which was self-published (Other book titles: Squawk (?); Squawk Golf (?); A Grand Slam (based on his 3 act comedy); and The Woman Who Wouldn't).

Luckily the arrival of sound in movies meant that actors who could read lines well, were in great demand. Since he had retired to California, Grapewin decided to give Hollywood a try. As the Thirties progressed, Grapewin could be seen in such memorable films as American Madness (Columbia, Aug 4. 1932), Judge Priest (Fox Film, Sep 15. 1934), Alice Adams (RKO Radio Pictures, Aug 15. 1935), The Petrified Forest (Warner Bros., Jan 30. 1936) and Captains Courageous (MGM, May 11. 1937).

A 1931 article describes Mr. Grapewin as a "33rd Degree Mason"***.

One of the next films in which Grapewin played a leading role, as Grandpa Joad, another Pulitzer Prize winning book of John Steinbeck's, The Grapes of Wrath (20th Century-Fox, Jan 24. 1940).

He also played Jeeter Lester in the Erskine Caldwell's Tobacco Road (20th Century Fox, Feb 20. 1941) considered by many as the highlight of his career.  The chance at Jeeter meant just another job to Charley. When he was called, among several others, to test for the role, he showed up promptly on the test stage at the appointed time, 10:30 AM. Came 11 o'clock and director John Ford had not arrived. Charley grumbled bitterly, said something about Dad blasted directors, and stalked off the stage in a rage. Before he could get into his car to drive home, an assistant director, in desperation, started a conversation with him about fishing. Meanwhile, Ford arrived and Grapewin was coaxed grudgingly back to the testing department.
After his success was assured, 20th Century-Fox hurried to get Charley's name on a long-term document. But he refused. "I spent many years as a stage star," he explained, "and I don't want to go through it again. I just want to be one of the boys and work when I feel like it."

During his life span, with everything else he did, he is credited with having made over 100 films. He last role was as Grandpa Reed in  the movie When I Grow Up  (Eagle-Lion/United Artists, Apr 20. 1951) where he crossed paths with Harry Morgan (who later would also play Inspector Queen). In a 1951 interview he confided not planing to give up either work or women "until St. Peter casts me in a role.”

Grapewin loved living in Corona where he went about his business quietly and very unpretentious. He last appeared in public at the Circle City load races in May, 1955.

He died on February 2, 1956 in Corona, California of natural causes at age 86. He never had children. Upon the filing of his will it was disclosed that his long time housekeeper was the beneficiary of his Estate. The city where he died named Grapewin Street in his honor.

Other references
(1) IMDb
(2) Wikipedia
(3) IBDB
(4) Radiogoldindex

Additional video & audio sources
(1) Vaudeville act, Library of Congress (video clip, 1902)
(2) The Wizard of Oz, Video Clip, 1939
(3) Grapes of Wrath, Video Clip 1941 (Deterмinisм)