Charles Bryant was a British actor and film director, born on January 8, 1879, in Hartford, Cheshire. He was educated at Ardingly College in Sussex, leaving school at the age of 14 to pursue a career in stage acting. Three years later, he traveled to America to start working on Broadway, starring in "The First Born" in 1887.
Bryant's film career began with "A Train of Incidents" in 1914, followed by "War Brides" in 1916, which also marked the first film appearance of his wife, Alla Nazimova. The couple signed with Metro Pictures in 1918 and starred together in several films, including "Revelation", "Out of the Fog", and "Billions". In 1918, Nazimova founded Nazimova Productions, where Bryant began directing, and they collaborated on a film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "Salomé" in 1923.
However, the film was a commercial failure, bankrupting Nazimova Productions, and the couple's partnership ended. Bryant returned to Broadway, and the two divorced shortly after leaving Hollywood. His marriage to Nazimova was reportedly a sham, with Bryant claiming to have married her on December 5, 1912, but the marriage was never performed or consummated.
In 1925, Bryant surprised everyone by marrying Marjorie Gilhooley, 23, in Connecticut, at the age of 43. The revelation that his previous marriage to Nazimova was a sham led to a scandal that damaged Nazimova's career. Bryant and Gilhooley divorced in 1936, and he had two children with her, Charles Bryant Jr. and Sheila Bryant.
Sheila married American novelist Richard Yates on June 8, 1948. Bryant died on August 7, 1948, at the age of 69, in Mount Kisco, New York.
