Biography
Charles Howerton was born in Cuero, Texas, in 1938, the son of a Naval officer. By age ten, he enjoyed exploring abandoned Japanese machine gun nests on Guam; at twelve, sailing dinghies in Coronado Bay among navy ships; at fourteen, trekking through the Florida Everglades; and at sixteen, found himself amid the revolution to overthrow Juan Domingo Perón in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He gathered clams and chased rheas near the Straits of Magellan, hunted and fished in the pristine forests and streams of northern and southern Argentina, visited Machu Picchu in Peru, and played second base on a city championship softball team. His first acting experience came in the senior class play at the American school in Buenos Aires.
At the University of North Carolina, Charles served as Chief Announcer and co-Production Manager of WUNC-FM, where he wrote, directed, and performed in radio dramas for the NAEB and appeared on the Playmakers stage. He also caught a winning pass in intramural football and wrote plays and short stories, many of which were published. He graduated with a B.A. in Communications in 1960. During summers, he worked as a YMCA tennis counselor in Connecticut, on a surveying crew in Johnsville, Pennsylvania, as a top-40 disc jockey at WKVA in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, and as a cub reporter for his hometown newspaper, The Cuero Record, in Texas.
He then attended the Graduate School of Theatre at the University of Texas, majoring in Playwriting while acting in productions alongside guest stars Rip Torn and Barbara Barrie, and held leading roles at the Austin Civic Theatre. Charles married his college sweetheart, Jeri Lynn Mooney (also known as Susan Howard), and in 1962 moved west to Los Angeles, working in theatre with veteran actors Frank Faylen, Percy Helton, E.J. André, Lyle Bettger, and Alan Mowbray at the Masquers Club. He wrote dialogue and narration for independent films. Charles and Susan divorced in 1966. They have one daughter, Lynn Howerton, and grandchildren Daniel and Noelle.
In 1967, Charles married actress Linda Gary. By 1970, after working in television and commercials, they vacationed in Europe, found film work in Rome, Italy, learned Italian, and remained there for four years, working in films and commercials and performing foreign-to-English dubbing in Italy, Spain, and Germany. Charles attended the 1972 Cannes Film Festival as a journalist for the Texas Press Association, interviewing Gregory Peck, Groucho Marx, and Alfred Hitchcock. The couple returned to Los Angeles in 1974 with their new daughter, Alexis Howerton. Charles was cast to tour with Eve Arden in "Under Papa's Picture." After the birth of their second daughter, Dana Howerton, Charles volunteered as drama coach for the Gifted and Talented Program at their elementary school, where he and Linda wrote and directed an original musical comedy, "Flashpants and the Magic Ring," which was later produced by the Boston Children's Professional Theatre.
Charles and his family established a tradition of vacationing in distant and exotic locations, engaging in nature trips, museum visits, river rafting, camel rides, parasailing, scuba diving, and sampling local cuisine while staying in local inns — a tradition they upheld regardless of the number of jobs Charles and Linda had to miss. After Linda's death in 1995, Charles married singer Jeanne Page in 1996. He continues to perform in film, television, and on stage, as well as to publish poetry and short stories.
