Born Charles Edward Morrison in Newark, New Jersey, in 1935, Chuck earned his nickname in the early 1960s when he started showing up to low-budget film sets with bottles of André champagne, claiming it was "the real French stuff." The son of a used car salesman, Chuck had big dreams but limited scruples about how to achieve them.
After a brief stint selling encyclopedias door-to-door, Chuck moved to Los Angeles in 1967 with $800 and a head full of schemes. He initially tried breaking into legitimate Hollywood as a talent agent, but his clients kept firing him for booking them into increasingly questionable productions. By 1971, he'd found his true calling in adult entertainment, founding "Golden Coast Productions" from a rented office above a donut shop in Van Nuys.
Chuck's operation was characterized by shag carpeting, wood paneling, and his signature polyester suits in various shades of brown and orange. He drove a lime green Cadillac Eldorado with white leather interior and always wore aviator sunglasses, even indoors. His office featured a wet bar, lava lamp, and a framed photo of himself shaking hands with someone he claimed was "a very important Hollywood executive" (actually his cousin Ned from accounting).
Known for his elaborate promises and dubious business practices, Chuck would pitch potential performers on "European distribution deals" and "cable television opportunities" while chain-smoking Marlboro Reds and drinking scotch from a coffee mug labeled "World's Greatest Boss." He had a particular talent for making exploitative contracts sound like career opportunities, always punctuating his sales pitches with "Trust me, baby, I've got connections."