Charles Farrell
Birth nameCharles David Farrell
Birth dateAugust 9, 1900
Birth placeWalpole, Massachusetts, U.S.
Death dateMay 6, 1990 (aged 89)
Death placePalm Springs, California, U.S.
Resting placeWelwood Murray Cemetery, Palm Springs, California
Alma materBoston University
Known for7th Heaven · Street Angel · Lucky Star · Liliom
OccupationActor · politician
Years active1923–1956
SpouseVirginia Valli (m. 1931; died 1968)
Charles Farrell
Office5th Mayor of Palm Springs
Term startApril 1948
Term endJuly 1953
PredecessorClarence E. Hyde
SuccessorFlorian Boyd

Charles David Farrell (August 9, 1900 – May 6, 1990) was an American film actor (whose height was in the 1920s and 1930s) and later Mayor of Palm Springs, serving from 1947 to 1955.[1][2][3] Farrell was known for his onscreen romances with actress Janet Gaynor in more than a dozen films, including 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Lucky Star. Later in life, he starred on TV in the 1950s sitcoms My Little Margie[3][1][4] and played himself in The Charles Farrell Show. He was also among the early developers of Palm Springs.[1][2]

Early life

Farrell was born on August 9, 1900, in South Walpole, Massachusetts, the younger of two.[3][4][5][6] The family moved to East Walpole when Farrell was 4 and he later attended Walpole High School, where he played football and graduated in 1918.[6][7][5] He attended Boston University's business administration program but dropped out. Following this, he traveled to California to pursue a career in the business end of the motion-picture industry.[8][9][10][11]

Farrell's father variously owned restaurants, a drug store, and several movie theaters, including one in Onset and at Revere Beach.[5][2][6][9] The family moved to Onset around 1920 and, by 1927, the Farrells owned three theaters.[10][6][11]

Career

Farrell began his career as an extra and bit player for Paramount Pictures in films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Ten Commandments, and The Cheat.[4][2][10] After signing on with Fox Film, he was paired with fellow newcomer Janet Gaynor in the romantic drama 7th Heaven. The film's success meant they went on to star opposite one another in more than a dozen films in the late 1920s and into the talkie era of the early 1930s.[4][1][11] While his initial years in the talkies were not much of an issue, Farrell's "Boston Brahmin"[1] eventually fell out of favor with Fox and he was offered a number of roles he refused, as he felt they were beneath him.[12][11]

In 1934, as his acting career started winding down, he and Ralph Bellamy opened the Palm Springs Racquet Club in Palm Springs, California.[1][13] He came out to Australia to star in The Flying Doctor (1936).[14]

He joined the U.S. Navy in 1942, where he worked as an administrative officer with the Fighting Squadron 17 and later spent time on the USS Hornet.[15][12] A major player in the developing prosperity of Palm Springs in the 1930s through the 1960s, Farrell was elected to the city council in 1946 and served as mayor from 1947 to 1955.[1][2]

He appeared several times on the radio show The Jack Benny Program, including the 1941 episode "Murder at the Racquet Club."[16] He returned to the screen to play Gale Storm's father Vern Albright on My Little Margie between 1952 and 1955.[17][4][1] In 1956, he starred in The Charlie Farrell Show, where he played a fictionalized version of himself as the owner of a Racquet Club.[2][1][4]

Farrell sold his real-life Racquet club in 1959 for $1.2 million but returned as club operator in 1965 when it was sold again.[2][1]

Personal life

In 1927, Farrell named Carmelita Geraghty, Greta Nissen, Virginia Valli, and Janet Gaynor as his "best girl friends" and "pals" and said that any romance between him and Nissen was fabricated by the tabloids.[10] Farrell was romantically involved with Janet Gaynor between 1926 and 1929, when she married San Francisco businessman Lydell Peck.[18][9] He referred to their relationship as akin to the love between a brother and sister;[9] Gaynor similarly said, "I think we loved each other more than we were 'in love.'" She mentioned, however, that she married Peck in part "to get away from Charlie."[18]

Farrell married Virginia Valli, a former silent film star, on February 1, 1931, in Yonkers, New York[3][12][7][19] and the couple settled in Palm Springs.[15] She died from a stroke on September 24, 1968,[20][3] after which, according to historian Stephen O'Brien, he became increasingly reclusive until his death from heart failure on May 6, 1990, in Palm Springs.[21][22][11][1] He was buried next to his wife at the Welwood Murray Cemetery.[23]

Honours and legacy

Farrell was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard for motion pictures and 1617 Vine Street for television.[4] In 1992, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.[24] Farrell Drive in Palm Springs was named in his honor as one of the developers of the city, and a statue of Farrell was dedicated in front of Palm Springs International Airport in 1999.[15]

Filmography

Features:

Short Subjects:

  • The Gosh-Darn Mortgage (1926) – Joe Hoskins
  • Hollywood Hobbies (1935) – Himself
  • Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 7 (1936) – Himself

See also

References

  1. ^ "Charles Farrell". LA Times Star Walk. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  2. ^ Folkart, Burt A. (1990-05-11). "Charles Farrell, 89; Film and TV Actor, Developer, Former Palm Springs Mayor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  3. ^ "Charles Farrell". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on December 6, 2011. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  4. ^ "Charles Carrell". Hollywood Walk of Fame. October 25, 2019. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  5. ^ Adams, Marjory (1938-10-10). "Movie Question Box". The Boston Globe. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-06-25. – via newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Former Walpole by in "Clash of the Wolves"". The Boston Globe. 1926-01-08. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-06-25. – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Adams, Marjory (1953-02-12). "Movie Question Box". The Boston Globe. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-06-25. – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Farrel, movie star, flying to B.U. party". The Boston Globe. 1933-06-03. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-06-25. – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Adams, Marjory (1929-09-23). "Charlie Farrell, movie star, chats with friends in Boston". The Boston Globe. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-06-25. – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Cape Cod's own movie star comes home at last". The Boston Globe. 1927-08-13. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-06-25. – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Burns, Brian (2003-01-18). "Exploring the legacy of Charles Farrell". Walpole Times. Archived from the original on 2005-02-10.
  12. ^ Pace, Eric (1990-05-12). "Charles Farrell, Actor, Dies at 88; Made Debut in 'Seventh Heaven'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  13. ^ Niemann, Greg (2006). "Ch. 25: Racquet Club Becomes a Hollywood Haven". Palm Springs Legends: creation of a desert oasis. San Diego: Sunbelt Publications. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-932653-74-1. OCLC 61211290(here for Table of Contents Archived March 4, 2016 at the Wayback Machine)
  14. ^ Vagg, Stephen (26 September 2025). "Forgotten Australian Films: The Flying Doctor". Filmink. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  15. ^ Wenzell, Nicolette (2015-04-04). "Actor Charlie Farrell left a Palm Springs mark, legacy". Desert Sun. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  16. ^ "Palm Springs Home To Radio Veterans: Stars of 'Golden Era'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. AP. December 18, 1974. Retrieved September 30, 2012. ...Benny played a sheriff who couldn't get into the exclusive Racquet Club to solve a murder. He wasn't a member. Benny's solution: 'Then throw the body over the fence.'
  17. ^ "My Little Margie". Festival Films. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  18. ^ Baker, Sarah (2009). Lucky Stars: Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Albany, GA: BearManor Media. p. 111.
  19. ^ "Virginia Valli weds Charles Farrell". The New York Times. 1931-02-17. p. 33. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  20. ^ "Virginia Valli". Los Angeles Times Hollywood Star Walk. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  21. ^ Pace, Eric (1990-05-12). "Charles Farrell, Actor, Dies at 88; Made Debut in 'Seventh Heaven'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
  22. ^ Folkart, Burt a (1990-05-11). "Charles Farrell, 89; Film and TV Actor, Developer, Former Palm Springs Mayor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
  23. ^ "Internment Information". Palm Springs Cemetery District. Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  24. ^ "Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated". Archived from the original on 2016-11-10. Retrieved 2017-02-05.