Charlie A. Beil was born in Germany in
1894. He made his way to North America by jumping the ship he worked
on in Argentina and traveling north. By the mid-1920s, he had worked
his way to Montana as an itinerant mule-skinner and cowboy. Although
primarily a self-taught artist, he was encouraged by Charlie and Nancy
Russell in Great Falls.
Russell remained a mentor to Beil and a major influence
on his work. Upon Russell's death, Beil lead Russell's horse in his
funeral.
While working on a guest ranch in Montana in the 1930s,
Beil met the influential Brewster family of Banff with whom he would
continue to have a close relationship for the rest of his life. He moved
to Banff in 1934 and established a studio producing murals, dioramas,
and bronze sculptures. Probably the most well known of Beil's sculptures
are the rodeo trophies which he produced for the Calgary Stampede.
Shortly after his arrival in Alberta, Beil worked on one
of the most gargantuan public sculpture projects in Canada, the prehistoric
park at the Calgary Zoo. The park was originally located on the west
end of St. George's Island and featured life-sized replicas of dinosaurs
in natural settings. Although not scientifically accurate, these sculptures
provided an opportunity for several generations of young Calgarians
to allow their imaginations to run wild, imagining themselves suddenly
transported back to prehistoric times.
Beil received the degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)
from the University of Calgary in 1968 and remained active as an artist
until his death in 1976.