Charles Gunning was born in Waxahachie, Texas. As a child growing up in Dallas, he always aspired to be an artist. He was an active participant in the music and art scenes while residing in Austin, Texas, where he lived for 20 years. Charles has lived in Los Angeles, California, since 1991. Charles studied Television and Film at The University of Texas at Austin and at the Conservatory of The American Film Institute in Hollywood. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen discovered Charles and cast him into his first major movie in the critically acclaimed Miller's Crossing (1990). Charles attained cult-hero status for his role in the smash-hit Richard Linklater film Slacker (1990). He also appeared in the beautifully done Walter Hill film Wild Bill (1995) with Jeff Bridges and Ellen Barkin . Charles Gunning Co-Stars as "Slim" in his latest film, Richard Linklater's The Newton Boys (1998) starring Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, and Dwight Yoakam. Charles Gunning has had numerous Roles on television series, including High Incident (1996) (ABC), Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993) (ABC), ER (1994) (NBC), Cybill (1995) (CBS), Murder, She Wrote (1984) (CBS), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) (Fox) and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993) (CBS). He has appeared in TV movies Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 Women (1994)(Showtime), and Bonanza: The Return (1993) (NBC), among others, and in a number of high-profile commercials. Charles Gunning is a versatile bad-guy actor whose roles have ranged from cold-blooded psychopaths, the Devil, Weirdoes, Drunks, Gangsters, Murderers, Hitmen, Aliens and Cops. He also specializes in dark comedies. In June of 1993, Charles Gunning won the mantle of Archetypal Screen Villain in a poker game from Hollywood Icon Jack Elam.

查尔斯·冈宁出生于德克萨斯州的沃克西哈奇。作为一个在达拉斯长大的孩子，他一直渴望成为一名艺术家。他在德克萨斯州奥斯汀居住了 20 年，是音乐和艺术界的积极参与者。查尔斯自1991年以来一直住在加利福尼亚州洛杉矶。查尔斯在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校和好莱坞美国电影学院学习电视和电影。乔尔·科恩（Joel Coen）和伊桑·科恩（Ethan Coen）发现了查尔斯，并在广受好评的《米勒十字路口》（1990）中将他出演了他的第一部主要电影。查尔斯因在理查德·林克莱特红极一时的电影《懒汉》（1990 年）中的角色而获得崇拜英雄地位。他还与杰夫·布里奇斯（Jeff Bridges）和艾伦·巴金（Ellen Barkin）一起出演了沃尔特·希尔（Walter Hill）的电影《狂野比尔》（1995）。查尔斯·冈宁在他的最新电影《理查德·林克莱特的牛顿男孩》（1998 年）中饰演“斯利姆”，该片由马修·麦康纳、伊桑·霍克和德怀特·约卡姆主演。查尔斯·冈宁在电视连续剧中扮演了许多角色，包括《高事件》（1996）（ABC）、《露易丝和克拉克：超人的新冒险》（1993）（ABC）、《急诊室》（1994）（NBC）、《赛比尔》（1995）（CBS）、《谋杀，她写了》（1984）（CBS）、《星际迷航：下一代》（1987）（福克斯）和《奎因博士，女药师》（1993）（CBS）。他曾出演电视电影《5 英尺 2 女人的攻击》（1994 年）（Showtime）和《富矿：回归》（1993 年）（NBC）等，并出演了许多备受瞩目的广告。查尔斯·冈宁是一位多才多艺的坏人演员，他的角色范围从冷血精神病患者、魔鬼、怪人、醉汉、黑帮、杀人犯、杀手、外星人和警察。他还擅长黑色喜剧。1993 年 6 月，查尔斯·冈宁在好莱坞偶像杰克·埃拉姆 （Jack Elam） 的扑克游戏中赢得了原型银幕反派的衣钵。