Charles Lang

Charles Lang was an American actor and screenwriter who broke into movies after a Hollywood talent scout noticed him in a Manhattan restaurant in 1937. Born in Brooklyn, he played semi-professional baseball on a Dodgers farm team, then trained in New York at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and reached Broadway in 1939 with Pastoral. Paramount signed him to a 40-week contract, and he made his screen debut in One Crowded Night (1940). His early films included Keep 'Em Flying (1941) with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941) with W.C. Fields, and Wildcat Bus, in which he co-starred with Fay Wray. In the 1950s he turned to writing screenplays such as The Magnificent Matador (1955), Decision at Sundown (1957) and Buchanan Rides Alone (1958). For television he wrote the first produced episode of Cheyenne (1955), along with scripts for Perry Mason, Bonanza and The High Chaparral.