Halton trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1901, where he appeared in about 35 productions during the next 50 years until 1950. From the 1920s, birdlike Charles Halton's thinning hair, rimless glasses and officious manner were also familiar to generations of moviegoers. Whether playing the neighborhood busybody, a stern government bureaucrat or weaselly attorney, Halton's characters tried to drive the "immoral influences" out of the neighborhood, foreclose on the orphanage, evict the poor widow and her children from their apartment, or any other number of dastardly deeds, all justified usually by "...I'm sorry but that's my job."