Walter Charles (born Charles Jacobsen; April 4, 1945 – August 3, 2023) was an American actor and singer.

Charles made his Broadway debut in Grease in 1972. Additional Broadway credits include 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1976), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), Cats (1982), La Cage aux Folles (1983), Me and My Girl, Aspects of Love (1990), Kiss Me, Kate, The Boys from Syracuse (2002), Big River (2003), The Woman in White (2005), The Apple Tree (2006) and Anything Goes (2011). He also originated the role of Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in 1994.^[1]

Charles' screen credits include A Fine Mess, Fletch Lives, Weeds, and Prancer. On television he appeared in Cagney and Lacey, Kate and Allie, Law & Order, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Walter Charles died of complications from frontotemporal dementia on August 3, 2023, at the age of 78.^[2] He is survived by his wife, Leslie Thompson.^[3]