How Background Casting Pioneer Charles Butler Found Talent for Golden Era Films

Throughout Central Casting's 100 year history, many successful people have come through our doors. Some were background actors who turned into Hollywood legends, like John Wayne and Jean Harlow, and some worked on the other side of the phone lines, including background casting pioneer Charles Butler.

Central Casting brings order to background casting

In the early days of Hollywood, most background actors found work by travelling from studio gate to studio gate – often on foot – hoping to get cast in scenes filming that day. Private casting agencies were another avenue to securing work, though the high fees made hiring an agency unsustainable for the average background actor.

By the mid-1920s, an estimated 10,000 people a month arrived in Hollywood with hopes of landing a job in the film industry. Since background acting required no experience, just the right look and wardrobe, many saw it as an attainable way to get discovered by directors and producers.

With no oversight or standardized employment procedures, background casting was chaotic, time-consuming and often unfair.

To improve the casting experience for both background actors and studios, Will Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (known today as the Motion Picture Association), created the Central Casting Corporation on December 4, 1925.

Central Casting gave background actors a trusted and reliable way to find work, while making it easier for studios to find the right talent for their scenes.

Charles Butler joins Central Casting

Before Central Casting, when studios needed people of color for background or bit roles, they hired an independent casting director or private agency. One of the most successful agencies was the Cinema Exchange, run by Charles Butler and Jimmie Smith, two of the few African-American casting directors working in Hollywood at the time.

To meet the studios’ increased demand for African-American background actors, Central Casting hired Charles Butler in 1927 to lead the newly formed African-American division. While many background actors came to Central Casting’s office at the Hollywood & Western Building hoping to register, Butler also attended community events in South Central Los Angeles, scouted at local churches and attended singing competitions to find new talent to hire.

Butler’s community connections paid off when he hired local church choirs to fulfill director King Vidor’s request for 340 background actors who could sing and act for a camp meeting scene in 1929’s Hallelujah. It was reported that the day of the shoot, choir benches were practically empty for morning church services across Los Angeles.

With last minute scene changes and constantly evolving production schedules, background casting directors are skilled at filling requests with little notice while still delivering the right talent for the scene. For Imitation of Life (1934), Butler hired 550 background actors, including a marching band, for a funeral scene with only an hour’s notice by calling community centers and churches with instructions to have as many people as possible report to set.

Imitation of Life (Universal)

From 1927-1931, Butler hired twice as many background actors than in the preceding five years before joining Central Casting. In 1928 alone, he made nearly 11,000 placements, sending an average of 30 people to set per day. Whether hiring from Central Casting’s registration lists or casting a wider net into the community, Butler’s only stipulation was that those he hired must report to set on time.

An unmatched talent for discovery

Charles Butler was known for his keen memory and his ability to recall the names and phone numbers from his list of 1,900 registered background actors without needing to look at his casting files. Though he had trusted talent he knew he could count on, Butler was always on the lookout for singers, dancers and actors he could cast in the studios’ productions.

Attending amateur singing contests was one of the main ways Butler scouted emerging talent. It was during one of these contests at the Philharmonic Auditorium where Butler saw Louise Beavers perform the song “Pal of My Old Cradle Days.” Impressed by her talent, Butler urged Beavers to audition for Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1927), a role she booked that launched her on-screen career. Beavers went on to appear in over 150 films, including her much lauded performance as Delilah Johnson in Imitation of Life (1934).

Beavers was not the only star to cross Butler’s path on their way to success. Hattie McDaniel, Dorothy Dandridge, Willie Best and Juanita Moore all walked through Central Casting’s doors and were booked in background and bit parts by Charles Butler.

Hattie McDaniel had a successful career with Central Casting. Butler cast her over a hundred background and bit roles from 1932-1938. In 1939, McDaniel got her big break by landing the role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind. The role earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first African-American to win an Academy Award.

"People are always telling me about the 'lucky break' I got in pictures," McDaniel wrote in a 1947 op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter. "I don't take the trouble to tell them of all the years I sang in choruses, worked in mob scenes, thankful for the smallest thing. A call from Charlie Butler at Central Casting was like a letter from home."

Charles Butler discovered talent and cast background actors for 24 years, working for Central Casting until shortly before his death in 1951. He was known as “the grand ole man of the films” by the countless men and women who he helped achieve their Hollywood dreams.