White-haired and pockmarked, Charles Brinley became a well-known supporting player in low-budget Westerns from 1917-1939, playing everything from the heroine's father to Mexican cowhands to henchmen and members of the posse. In films from the early 1910s, Brinley was kept very busy by various Universal companies, supporting Marie Walcamp in both serials (The Red Ace, 1917) and series ("Spur and Saddles" two-reelers, aka "The Tempest Cody" Westerns, 1919). He played a henchman in Harry Carey's "If Only" Jim (1920) and was Mustapha, Agnes Ayres' guide in The Sheik (1921), just two of his many roles in the 1920s. Equally busy in the early talkie era, Brinley's roles seemed to decline in size for every passing year. By 1938, he was doing extra work and unbilled bits.