Charles Herbert

Charles Herbert (born Charles Herbert Sapirstein on December 23, 1948, in Culver City, Los Angeles) is a former child actor of the 1950s, best known for his performances in the Hollywood classics Houseboat (1958), starring Cary Grant and Sophia Loren, The Fly (1958) with Vincent Price and Don’t Eat The Daisies (1960) opposite Doris Day and David Niven.

His most recognized genre, however, was sci-fi and horror, in which he appeared in a number of films that are now considered classics of that genre, such as The Colossus of New York and The Fly (both 1958) and 13 Ghosts (1960).

After playing the leading role in the fantasy adventure The Boy and the Pirates (1960), significant film offers suddenly completely stopped. That's why, until the end of the 1960s, he appeared in a bulk of bit roles in famous TV series such as The Fugitive (1963), My Three Sons (1960) and Family Affair (1966).

Due to the lack of a formal education or training to do anything else than acting, and the fact that no career earnings had been saved for his post screen life, he led a reckless, wanderlust life and eventually turned to drugs. Never married, it took him nearly 40 years to get clean and sober (by an own statement, since October, 2005).