The 'brains' and 'action' heavies who had meaty roles and lots of dialog ... and the players who were fathers, ranch owners, lawman, mayors, judges, lawyers, storekeepers, newspaper editors, wardens, etc.

(Courtesy of Jack Tillmany)

Assuming the existing (albeit brief) biographies on Stevens are correct, he was born in Arizona and was the grandson of Apache chief Geronimo.  He worked for the Miller Bros. 101 Ranch Wild West show, and then journeyed to Hollywood and did his first role around 1915.  Supposedly, he became friends with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and appeared in most of the Fairbanks silents.  When talkies arrived, Stevens was typecast as an Indian, a half-breed, a Mexican bandit, a member of the Mexican Rurales ... and his screen personna was generally shifty and untrustworthy.  While he did have a variety of screen names, Stevens is generally remembered as being named 'Breed' or 'Injun Something-or-other' (such as his portrayal of 'Injun Joe' in TOM SAWYER (Paramount, 1930), which starred Jackie Coogan and Junior Durkin).

I always enjoy watching Stevens deliver dialog --- he's slow and precise, almost to the point where I think he has a consistent 'dry mouth'.  As he got older, Stevens' face became more weathered and wrinkled, and it was easy to spot the 'crows feet' by his eyes when he gave us a squint during a quizzical or concerned look.

(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is a mid-1930s trade publication biography on Stevens which seems to be the basis for the very brief bios available on him in book and Internet sources ... including Stevens being the grandson of Geronimo.  The probability is that Stevens was related to the famed Apache Indian chief --- if the story was untrue, people of that time period would have refuted it ... loudly.  And western film writers and biographers would have picked up that negative info.  The above also notes Stevens' friendship - or at least a strong business relationship - with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.

Les Adams has Stevens in about 140 sound era films, and that number includes 55 westerns and 9 cliffhangers.  Les adds:

"I always enjoyed Stevens as he seemed to take great delight in any deeds his boss asked of him with no questions asked. A perfect employee if ever there was one. And he usually had a suggestion or two (delivered with glee and anticipated high hopes) that made the original dirty-deed request pale in comparision."

You also may want to go to the In Search Of ... webpage on the Old Corral.  Then go to the link for the California Death Records and see if you can find a record for Stevens.  There are several 'Charles Stevens' listed, but the record that appears to be closest is for a Charles G. Stevens, birth year of 1893 and death date of 8/22/1964.  However, there are several inconsistencies with this record compared to the trade bio above - the California Death Records shows a birthplace of Arkansas (not Solomonsville, Arizona) and a birth date of 3/3/1893 (not May 26, 1893).

  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on Charles Stevens.  Click HERE.

Jim Tipton's Find A Grave website notes that Stevens is interred at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, California: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10025951&pt=Charles%20Stevens

There's a bio on Stevens on the old Silents Majority website which has been archived on the web archive site: http://web.archive.org/web/20011101103143/www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/FeaturedStar/perfor51.htm

Above from L-to-R are Charles Stevens, Bob Livingston, Heather Angel and an unidentified player in a lobby card from THE BOLD CABELLERO (Republic, 1936), a film based on the Zorro character and Republic's first color film, done in 'Magnacolor'. (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from L-to-R are Eleanor Hansen, Tom Steele, Johnny Mack Brown, Ed Cassidy, William Royle, Charles Stevens (as 'Breed') and James Blaine in a scene from the cliffhanger FLAMING FRONTIERS (Universal, 1938).  I don't think Stevens was 5' 10½" tall as noted in the bio above. (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above, Stevens (as 'Breed') versus Johnny Mack Brown in the serial, THE OREGON TRAIL (Universal, 1939).

Did Stevens have another career behind the camera? A 'Charles Stevens' was the 'Property Master' on SONG OF OLD WYOMING (PRC, 1945), the Cinecolor oater which introduced singin' cowboy Eddie Dean and the black-garbed Al LaRue.  On the left is the cast and crew from the SOW pressbook, and Stevens is listed toward the bottom.  In other pressbooks for 1930s and 1940s films, a 'Charles Stevens' is listed among the production people.  To clear up this question, I sent off a note and photo to screenwriter and scriptwriter Frances Kavanaugh (who did SONG OF OLD WYOMING, and lots of others).  Frances' reply was that Charles Stevens, the Property Master on SOW, was definitely NOT a Native American, and definitely NOT our Charles Stevens, actor.