His father was from St. Ann’s, Ontario, Canada,[3] and served over twenty-five years in the U.S. Army, seeing action at the Battle of Little Big Horn[4] and later in the Philippine War of Independence.

[6] Before Dudley broke into film at around the age of thirty, he spent some twelve years performing on stage in comic and grand operas.

His initial film work was under Milton H. Faroney, with Universal and later with such studios as Monopol, Keystone, Balboa and Vitagraph.

Dudley was remembered for his portrayal of the blind father in the 1913 feature film Will o' the Wisp and for the serials Neal of the Navy, Who Pays, Hidden Danger, Fighting Fate and Purple Riders.

[8] Charles Dudley Heaslip died on March 9, 1952, after an extended illness at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California.