Charles Samuels

Who was Charles Samuels?

Charles Samuels was a U.S. journalist, author and novelist best known for his biographies of celebrities, He penned as-told-to autobiographies for Buster Keaton and Ethel Waters which was a best seller. Among his other books were Magnificent Rube: The Life and Gaudy Times of Tex Rickard, and The King: A Biography of Clark Gable.

His book with Boris Morros, My Ten Years as a Counterspy was made into the film, Man on a String, starring Ernest Borgnine. The title of another, The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, about Evelyn Nesbit, was used in the 1955 movie. He was the recipient of the Edgar Allan Poe award in 1956 with Night Fell on Georgia.

Samuels, who wrote thousands of magazine and newspaper articles, also helped write the newspaper columns of Ben Hecht and Billy Rose.

He lived mostly in New York City and its suburbs and retired in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Samuels's son, writer Robert C. Samuels and his grandson. photographer Charlie Samuels.