Charles Van Doren

Overview... a Columbia University instructor from a wealthy and renowned family. Nonetheless, Charles Van Doren is star-struck when he lands a position on the 1950s television quiz show Twenty One and begins to win big. He loves all the attention it brings, enabling him to carve out a niche within his famous family. But the fame comes with a price: getting caught up in the secret underbelly of network quiz shows.

Personality… intellectual and well-bred, but suggestible and too eager to please. Charles Van Doren has an all-American face and the good manners to match it. He loves his family, takes his job seriously, and loves the idea of putting his knowledge to the test for a live studio audience. It’s only when his own honesty becomes tested that he actually begins to rethink his moment in the limelight.