Charles W. Amend, 96, artist, passed away on Sunday, April 6, 2025, at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center in Plainsboro, NJ. He was a longtime resident of Cranbury, NJ.
Born into a theatrical family on January 11, 1929 in Montreal, Canada, Charles came into the world as his mother, Marie “Utaline” Hodgkins, an actress in Vaudeville and stock theater companies, and father, Albert H. Amend, an accomplished theatrical scenic artist, were part of a travelling production on-stage in the French-Canadian city. Marie had been a child actress (stage name “Little Utaline”) in Vaudeville together with her parents who were also actors. Her stage name was a reference to her birth on a train crossing the Utah-Colorado border as the young family was en route from one theater to the next. Albert, who hailed from Columbus, Ohio, learned his craft working with his older brother, Karle
O. Amend, a well-known theatrical stage production designer and scenic artist who produced scenery for numerous Broadway shows in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s (also founding Amend Scenic Studios in Jersey City, NJ). Another brother of Albert, Herman Amend, known as the “dean of the Columbus impresarios”, brought many famous musicians and performers to Columbus stages.
Growing up in Woodside, Queens in New York City during the Great Depression, Charles graduated from Grover Cleveland H.S. in 1947. Following in the footsteps of his father and uncle, Charles studied art at a trade school and soon thereafter went to work as an apprentice scenic artist at ABC Studios, just at the dawn of broadcast television. In 1949, he moved over to NBC Studios, launched just the year before, where he would develop his remarkable career in scenic arts over the next 40 years.
Charles’ career was interrupted in 1950 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army serving in Korea for 17 months during the Korean War. After an honorable discharge in 1952, he returned to NBC Studios where he contributed directly to the Golden Age of Television (1948-1959) and beyond working with countless stars, actors, dancers and comedians on shows such as Texaco Star Theater, Your Show of Shows, The Ernie Kovacs Show, The Academy Awards (1955), The Steve Allen Show, The Tonight Show, Jeopardy!, The Who, What, or Where Game, The Doctors, NBC News, Another World and The Bill Cosby Show among many others. From its beginning in 1975, Charles was the head scenic artist on Saturday Night Live until his departure from NBC in 1989. Charles continued his career at Lincoln Scenic Studios in New York City until his retirement in 1996 during which time he won an Emmy Award for his work on Sesame Street.
Charles moved with his family to Cranbury, NJ in 1962 and played a crucial role in saving the Cranbury Old School Building (now Town Hall) from demolition, registering it as a National Historic Site and renovating the building together with Cranbury Landmarks, Inc.
Charles is predeceased by his wife of 54 years, Clara DeVecchis, a theatrical stage/ set production designer at NBC Studios as well as siblings Beatrice E. Amend of Cranbury and The Rev. Albert E. Amend of North Fort Myers, FL. He is survived by his son, Philip D. Amend of Bad Soden am Taunus, Germany.
Services were previously held.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Mr. Amend’s memory to the ASPCA and Wounded Warrior Project by visiting In Memory Of at inmemof.org.
