Charles Bryant Pierce was an independent filmmaker from Arkansas whose movies have become cult classics. Films that he wrote, directed, and/or produced were not only made in Arkansas with local actors but also drew their inspiration from Arkansas themes. He is believed to be the source of one of the most famous lines in American film history: "Go ahead, make my day." Charles B. Pierce was born in Hammond, Indiana, on June 16, 1938, the son of Mack McKenny Pierce and Mayven Bryant Pierce. When he was a few months old, the family moved to Hampton, Calhoun County in the south-central part of Arkansas. Living in Hampton, Pierce grew up next door to Harry Thomason, who later became successful as producer and director of such projects as TV's Designing Women. According to Pierce's family, one of his chores growing up was mowing the lawn. His father came home one day at lunchtime and asked if the boy planned to mow the yard anytime soon, adding, "When I come home tonight and the yard has not been mowed, you're gonna make my day." Later in life, Charles Pierce would recall the admonition to great advantage. In the mid-1960s, Pierce was working as an art director at KTAL-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana, and he later became a weatherman and hosted a children's cartoon program at the small independent station. Returning to Arkansas, he started an advertising business on State Line Avenue in Texarkana, Miller County, also playing a character called Mayor Chuckles on a local television show. In 1971, there were local headlines about a Sasquatch-like creature sighted in the vicinity around the nearby town of Fouke, in Miller County. The "Fouke Monster" was reportedly seen in the Boggy Creek area and accused of attacking dogs and livestock as well as a local family. In mid 1972, while still working in advertising, Pierce created a semi-documentary film originally titled Tracking the Fouke Monster, later renamed 'The Legend of Boggy Creek'. Pierce shot the movie with a 16mm camera he assembled himself at home. Much of the movie was filmed in Fouke and Texarkana with local residents and students as actors and/or crew. Estimates place the cost of making the film at about $165,000. Becoming popular as a drive-in horror feature around the country, it became one of the top ten highest-grossing movies of the year, earning over $20 million over one year. Earning several hundred thousand dollars in residuals from the film, Pierce used his new found wealth where he wrote and directed several other films which included the crime comedy-drama 'Bootleggers' , Dawn Wells, Andrew Prine, Lee Majors, Cornel Wilde, Mel Ferrer, Vic Morrow, Michael Parks, Peter Fonda, and Academy Award winner Ben Johnson. Suffering from poor health later in life, Charles B. Pierce died on March 5, 2010, at the Signature Care nursing home in Dover, Tennessee at age 71 where he had been living for the past seven years. He is buried at Stewart Memorial Gardens near his home in Dover. Pierce was spotlighted by the Little Rock Film Festival in 2008 with a retrospective, received the Arkansas Arts Council's Judges Special Recognition award in 2009, honored annually by the Little Rock Film Festival through the Charles B. Pierce Award for Best Film Made in Arkansas. He was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in 2010.
Father of Chuck Pierce Jr..
According to a 2008 interview with the Austin Chronicle, film directors Duane Graves and Justin Meeks were in talks with Mr. Pierce to bring him aboard as a co-producer of The Wild Man of the Navidad , an homage to 70s drive-in creature features. He reportedly turned them down because he instead wanted to direct the project, which was later released by IFC Films.
Made home movies as a youngster in his backyard, using an old 8 mm camera.
Worked as a weatherman and host of a childrens cartoon show for KTAL-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana. Later started an advertising company in Texarkana.
