Charles Parnell was born and raised in Chicago and later moved to New York to pursue his acting career.

After taking a few classes, he came to Richard Pinter (for acting) and Jacklyn Maddux (for voice and speech) of the Neighborhood Playhouse, and studied with each of them for two years. He then joined Manhattan's Jean Cocteau Repertory classical theatre and was a member for 2 years. At Cocteau, he performed in productions of Joe Orton's Loot, George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra, and Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author.

Mr. Parnell has since appeared in numerous regional, off-Broadway, and off-off Broadway shows; these include J.T. Rogers' The Overwhelming, directed by Max Stafford-Clark for the Roundabout Theater Company and Ariel Dorfman's Speak Truth to Power, based on the Kerry Kennedy book and staged by Terry Kinney at the Culture Project.

On television, he played Derek Frye for over two years on the daytime drama All My Children; has guest-starred on such shows as Fringe, Law & Order, Bones, and Crash; and was the voice of Jefferson Twilight on the cult hit animated series The Venture Bros. His voiceover work has also encompassed many documentaries and commercials.

Mr. Parnell's previous feature credits include Eric Schaeffer's Mind the Gap; Fred Durst's The Education of Charlie Banks; Terry Kinney's Diminished Capacity; and Tina Mabry's Mississippi Damned.
Mr. Parnell originated the role of Arthur (Alike's Father) in writer/director Dee Rees' award-winning short film Pariah [and then in the 2011 feature version].

Source:
http://focusfeatures.com/film/pariah/castncrew?member=charles_parnell