Charles Allen Southwood was born in Los Angeles, California on
August 30, 1937. He moved to Oregon in 1945 and later attended Oregon State
University as a Philosophy Major. After college he decided to see the world and
went to Lyon, France where he worked as a dock worker. Later he worked as an
Auto Insurance Executive from 1964-1966 selling insurance to American GI’s
stationed in Europe. While in France he became interested in acting and his
first experience with film work was as a stand-in for Lex Barker in “Woman
Times Seven” (1966) starring Shirley MacLaine. This led him to a role in a
French TV film “The Battle of Hastings”. He was spotted and signed by an agent
who got him a role in his first film role in “The Stranger Who Made the Sign of
the Cross” (1967) a Euro-western directed by Demofilo Fidani. He then
participated in four more Euro-westerns before his last film appearance in
1981’s “Documenteur” directed by Agnes Varda. Returning home to the United
States, Charles founded Death Tobacco Company which produced the cigarettes of
the same name. He later worked as a private research physicist in Grants Pass, Oregon where he died on April 8, 2009.Today we remember Charles Southwood on what would have been his 75th birthday.
I remember Charles Southwood as a cool hippies chief band in a french comedy of early '70' s:" quelques messieurs trop tranquilles" (in english: "some too cool men" ?) .It was the story of a band of cool hippies who stay a few days in a small village of a french countryside, with hostility coming from people around, but finally heroes, after fighting local outlaws a film by Georges Lautner.Southwood was delicious with his american accent, playing the part in french..RIP. Comment by FAB FROM FLANDERS..
ReplyDeleteI live in southern or and had the honer of meeting Charles.... I used to call him Mr. Charles.... He would reply in his deep but extremely well mannered voice, Mr. Bradley.... I got to hang out with him atleast a few times a week for the time of just under a year till the end... Being neighbors we got to hang out... he spoke of doing a few films in his past and creating laws/ recreating them afterwards( physics).. but this info I had to pry out of him because he wasn't one to brag lol... I am talking about one of the most "standup" down to earth type a guys.... which in my past was hard to incounter.... I remember driving to the hardware store with him listening to Beethoven cd' s he said his wife made him.... I feel like I should have spent more time with him.... He would always tell me no matter what dreams u have, GO AFTER THEM!! such an inspiration Thank You Charles!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI am distantly related to Mr Southwood. I discovered him doing genealogical research. I am not surprised by his humble nature. He is desended from early Quakers who helped found the Philadelphia, PA area in the time of William Penn. The Quakers were known for their tolerant, down to earth, earnest nature
ReplyDeleteCharles Southwood was the epitome of what we should find in a Spaghetti Western actor. I had no idea that he was gone. He will be missed.
ReplyDeleteI am his grandson. I am the last in the male line of southwoods. Towards the last 5 years of his life him and I became very close. We would talk about the movie part of his life in great detail. I would not say he was polite but i would say he had no problem letting you know how he felt. RIP Grandpa
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the excellent replies and information on much overlooked actor and man. I'm glad you folks were able to meet and interact with him. Best, Tom
ReplyDeleteCharles lived on south side road I lived on north applegate. I spent a couple weeks on his sail boat a Peterson 44 he was a excellent sailor. We was sitting on the deck of bar in grants pass when he showed me his idea for death tobacco with the scull. His daughter helped him market it. A trick he used was to make a tobacco blend that was excellent once people tried it they ended up liking it. Just another friend I will miss, Ray Huckaba
ReplyDelete