What was Charles Dierkop's net worth? 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' actor's career explored after his death at 87

Charles Dierkop dies at 87 (image via the movie, The Sting)
Charles Dierkop dies at 87 (image via The Sting/Universal Pictures)

Charles Dierkop, known for his role, George "Flat Nose" Curry, in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, died at 87 on February 26 at Sherman Oaks Hospital. His daughter, Lynn, told The Hollywood Reporter that the actor recently had a heart attack and bout with Pneumonia.

With a professional acting career spanning six decades, Dierkop was seen on-screen in Naked City. His net worth is $1.5 million as of 2024, as per Idol Net Worth.


Exploring Charles Dierkop's career

Born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Charles Dierkop was raised by his uncle and aunt and attended the Holy Trinity Grade School. After completing his junior year at Aquinas, Charles Dierkop quit school to join the Marines at 17 and was sent to Korea after the Korean War ended.

Later, when he was discharged from the Marine Corps at age 19, he returned to the US. He lived with his mother in New Jersey and joined the American Foundation of Dramatic Acts in Philadelphia.

Dierkop moved to New York to pursue his acting career and landed his first film role in the 1964 Sidney Lumet movie The Pawn Broker. Dierkop played notable roles in TV and gained recognition as a famous Hollywood actor of the 60s and 70s. He landed guest roles on Lost in Space, Mission: Impossible, Kojak, Kung Fu, Gunsmoke, The Man from U.N.C.L.E and Bonanza.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, he also appeared in Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker (1964), played a murderous Santa Claus in Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), and was a mobster in The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967).

Charles Dierkop made his breakthrough in Hollywood after working alongside Paul Newman and George Roy Hill in The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Paul Newman won 4 Oscars and was nominated for 7, while George won 7 Oscars and was nominated for 10.

His intense on-screen characters landed him roles such as Det. Pete Royster in Police Woman. Despite gaining recognition as a notable actor, Dierkop maintained connections with La Crosse and accepted an honorary degree from Aquinas. During a La Crosse Tribune interview published in July 1984, Dierkop said,

"I have to come back here. I have to be remembered of where it all started. I revisit the alley I rode my bike in, the church and the schools I went to, and the bluffs, the river and the West Avenue ballpark where I spent all my time I could. And the people - do, I love the people here."

He married Joan Addis in 1958. The couple had two children: his son, Charles Jr., who died in 1990, and Lynn. Dierkop and Addis ended their marriage in 1974.

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