Name	Charles Kimbrough
Height
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	23-May-1936
Place of Birth	America
Famous for

Since the late '80s, Charles Kimbrough has been best-known by the public for his portrayal of Jim Dial, the dignified veteran television news anchor and reporter on the sitcom Murphy Brown. Before that, however, Kimbrough was a familiar and popular figure in theater in New York, and has appeared on two essential original cast albums, Company and Sunday in the Park With George. The nephew of author Emily Kimbrough (best-known for her collaboration with Cornelia Otis Skinner on the biographical book Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, which was adapted into a movie and later dramatized on television), his interest in theater stemmed in part from his aunt's writings about the stage. After achieving success with the Milwaukee Repertory Company, Kimbrough came to New York and began carving out a place for himself in 1970 with the good notices he got in the Stephen Sondheim musical Company, which led to his recording debut on the cast album. His other major appearance in music centered principally on Sondheim's Sunday in the Park With George, for which he got a Tony Award nomination -- he has been featured on numerous collections of Broadway material and he was also one of the voice actors and singers (in a delightful duet with Mary Wickes) on Disney's animated production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and appeared on its soundtrack album. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide Tall, bookish-looking American actor Charles Kimbrough attended Indiana University and Yale before his first off-Broadway appearances in All for Love and Struts and Frets. Beginning in 1966, Kimbrough and then-wife Mary Jane were principal players of the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, a troupe which included such celebrities-to-be as Michael Tucker and Judith Light. Kimbrough briefly abandoned Milwaukee for Broadway in 1969, garnering excellent revues for his appearance in the 1970 Stephen Sondheim musical Company. He returned to the Milwaukee Rep in the early '70s; so popular were Charles and his wife that, when they left Milwaukee for good in 1972, an original musical was specially commissioned for the Kimbrough's final rep appearance. Remaining active in plays, commercials, and films (The Front [1976], The Seduction of Joe Tynan [1977]), Kimbrough established himself as a reliable if not overly famous presence. Charles Kimbrough finally became a fullfledged celebrity in 1988 with his weekly appearances as newsmagazine anchorman Jim Dial on the Candice Bergen sitcom Murphy Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide