RIP Charles Herbert
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By Paul Peterson
November 3, 2015
Charles Herbert
Dec 23rd, 1948 to Oct. 31st, 2015
There are phone calls you wish you didn’t answer. One such came last night when Jerry Saperstein called to tell me his younger brother, Charlie, had passed away last Saturday of a sudden heart attack.
You may not know the name unless you’re a Sci-Fi fan. Here’s a few titles so you’ll remember Charlie Herbert; “The Fly.” “13 Ghosts.” “The Boy and the Pirates.” And, from 1957 when Charlie played Robert Winter, my younger brother in “Houseboat.”
It’s hard to lose a life-long friend. I had just talked to him last Wednesday. We were making plans to go to dinner in two weeks. Charlie was up-beat and positive, looking forward to his next Sci-Fi convention. Things were good for him in Las Vegas. As always we ended our conversation by saying I Love You. We always said that because you just never know.
I immediately told my wife, Rana, and then made just one phone call…to Mimi Gibson (Rahal) who was also in “Houseboat” and was a critical factor in helping us bring Charlie back from the brink many years ago.
Charlie was a poster child for the Kid Actor Syndrome. Look him up on IMDB. 20 movies, 50 television shows. He supported his entire family from Age Four…and then his career came to an emphatic end. His take? $1,700 when he became an adult.
Damaged goods? I’ll say.
My friend died sober, looking forward to the future. Was he “scorned and covered with scars?” Of course. So what. Charlie Herbert was a good man who gave far more than he got. He was grateful that he lived to get his modest pension from Screen Actors Guild. God, I’m going to miss him.
HERBERT, Charles (Charles Herbert Saperstein)
Born: 12/23/1948, Culver City, California, U.S.A.
Died: 10/31/2015, Las Vegas, Nevada U.S.A.
Charles Herbert’s westerns – actor:
Gun Glory – 1957 (boy)
Gunfight at the O.K. Coral – 1957 (Tommy Earp)
Tombstone Territory (TV) – 1958 (Jimmy Reach)
Riverboat (TV) – 1959 (Paddy Saunders)
Klondike (TV) – 1960 (Seth Bailey)
Wichita Town (TV) – 1960 (Jed McCloud)
Wagon Train (TV) – 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 (Joseph Oliver, Job Bevins, Tad Hollisted, Wally,
Nicko Rose)
Rawhide (TV) – 1962 (Jody)