{{short description|American actress}} {{Infobox person | name = Charlotte Manson | image = Charlotte Manson, 1946 (cropped).JPG | alt = | caption = Manson as Patsy Bowen on ''Nick Carter, Master Detective'', 1946. | birth_name = Charlotte Manson Schwartz | birth_date = {{birth date|1917|01|21}} | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, USA | death_date = {{death date and age|1996|12|15|1917|01|21}} | death_place = | education = Hunter College<br/>New York University }} '''Charlotte Manson''' (born '''Charlotte Manson Schwartz'''; January 21, 1917 – December 15, 1996)<ref name="USSSNIF">"United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6KMG-GLYV : 10 February 2023), Charlotte Manson Schwartz Manson, .</ref><ref name="USC1940">"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQT6-RK2 : 18 November 2019), Charlotte M Schwartz in household of Morris Schwartz, Assembly District 10, Manhattan, New York City, New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 31-904, sheet 7A, line 24, family 270, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2645.</ref><ref name="USC1920">"United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJRN-TKZ : 2 February 2021), Charlotte R Schwartz in entry for Morris Schwartz, 1920.</ref> was an American radio actress whose career was interrupted by paralysis.<ref name="mn">{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Nancy |title='I Won't Be An Invalid,' Says Charlotte Manson |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57781576/charlotte-manson/ |accessdate=August 21, 2020 |work=The Miami News |date=February 27, 1959 |page=8|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Early life== Born and raised in Brooklyn, Manson was the only child of Etta T. Manson and Morris Schwartz.<ref name="USC1920"/><ref name="USC1940"/><ref name="rm">{{cite journal |title=A Beauty Grew in Brooklyn |journal=Radio Mirror |url=https://archive.org/stream/radiomirro00mac#page/n274/mode/1up |date=March 1945 |volume=23 |issue=4 |page=5 |accessdate=August 25, 2020}}</ref> From ages 5 through 8, she performed in children's plays at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.<ref name="bde">{{cite news|date=August 20, 1947|title=Hamlet Led to the Mike|page=13|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57917343/charlotte-manson/|accessdate=August 23, 2020|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Also as a child, she participated in Junior Olympics.<ref name="mn" />
Manson was the first female member of Madison High School's debate team. She attended Hunter College, where her performance as Ophelia in the dramatic club's production of ''Hamlet'' led to her receiving a scholarship to New York University (NYU) if she would act with the Washington Square Players, which she did.<ref name="bde" /> She graduated from NYU with a degree in English<ref name="slpd">{{cite news |title=Adding Glamour to a Role |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57784439/charlotte-manson/ |accessdate=August 21, 2020 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=October 7, 1951 |page=4 G|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> in 1938. In 1939, she acted in summer stock on Long Island.<ref name="pp" />
==Career== Early in her career, Manson appeared in a few films as an extra and in bit parts.<ref name="pp" /> After she became regularly employed in radio, she received a contract to star in a film, but the producer found another actress whom he preferred for the role. Manson's contract was paid off the day she arrived in Hollywood, ending that opportunity.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Toomey|first1=Elizabeth|date=September 26, 1951|title=Charlotte Manson Thinks She'd Be Good in the Movies|page=20|work=Battle Creek Enquirer|agency=United Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58016783/charlotte-manson/|accessdate=August 25, 2020|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
Manson's early work in radio included a variety of roles in different programs. Her career gained stability, however, when a radio director saw her perform on Broadway in a Theater Guild production of ''Ringside Seat''. The result was a long-term contract to star<ref name="slpd" /> as Bryn Barrington in ''Society Girl'' on CBS radio.<ref name="rr" /> Following that role, she moved to Chicago, where she starred in the drama ''Stepmother''<ref name="slpd" /> for 18 months.<ref name="bde" /> She later had the leading female role in ''King's Row''.<ref name="kn">{{cite news |last1=Gerhard |first1=Inez |title=Charlotte Manson, Top Radio Actress, to Do Night-Time Show |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57836525/keansburg-news/ |accessdate=August 22, 2020 |work=Keansburg News |date=July 27, 1951 |location=New Jersey, Keansburg |page=11|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her other roles on radio included Marjorie Whitney on ''The Romance of Helen Trent'',<ref name="rr">{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Eleanor |title=Cover Girl |journal=Radio Romances |date=May 1945 |volume=23 |issue=6 |pages=14–15 |url=https://archive.org/stream/radiomirro00mac#page/n465/mode/2up |accessdate=August 25, 2020}}</ref> Rose Kransky on ''Guiding Light'',<ref name="bde" /> Patsy Bowen on ''Nick Carter, Master Detective''<ref name="pp" /> and Dr. Carson McVicker on ''Road of Life''.<ref>{{cite news |title=W. W. Chaplin Gives News Over WFBC-NBC At 1:45 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57845512/the-greenville-news/ |accessdate=August 22, 2020 |work=The Greenville News |date=August 20, 1946 |page=10|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> She also was a supporting actress on ''The Brighter Day''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cox|first1=Jim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mQiurxgEDkIC&q=%22Charlotte+Manson%22+actress&pg=PA50|title=The A to Z of American Radio Soap Operas|date=17 July 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6349-1|pages=49–50|language=en|accessdate=August 21, 2020}}</ref>
Manson was active in commercials on radio. Her roles in that regard included being the Camay Girl on ''Big Sister'', the Puritan Girl on ''True or False'', the Ronson Girl on ''Twenty Questions'', and the Speidell Girl on ''Stop the Music''. Perhaps her biggest commercial role was as Carol Douglas, beauty consultant. The manufacturer of the products she endorsed paid six secretaries to write letters answering beauty questions that listeners addressed to the fictitious Douglas.<ref name="pp">{{cite news |title=Talented Radio Girl Is Really Versatile |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57837862/charlotte-manson/ |accessdate=August 22, 2020 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=November 14, 1948 |page=60|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>
On September 14, 1958, Manson fell down steps in an accident that caused a double fracture of her neck and paralyzed her. However, citing her faith in God and in herself, she resisted her doctors' prognosis that she might never walk again. After 10 weeks, she began wearing a steel brace and had some movement. She was able to resume playing Gillian Gray on ''This Is Nora Drake'' on radio. Her brace was removed on February 15, 1959, and her doctors at the Hospital for Joint Diseases in Manhattan described her recovery as a "medical miracle".<ref name="mn" />
==Personal life== In 1949, Manson married singer Dick Brown in New York.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Marriages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fg4EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Charlotte+Manson%22+actress&pg=PT53 |accessdate=August 21, 2020 |magazine=Billboard |date=November 5, 1949 |page=54}}</ref> In her spare time she visited New York radio stations promoting his records.<ref name="kn" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Manson, Charlotte}} Category:20th-century American actresses Category:1917 births Category:1996 deaths Category:American child actresses Category:American radio actresses Category:American soap opera actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:Actresses from Brooklyn Category:Hunter College alumni Category:New York University alumni