Does anyone know the etymology of "Charlie Potatoes"

Heard it in the film "The Defiant Ones"

Thanks.

Never heard of it/him, but he seems have been a circus clown; here's a picture.

That clown, Bob, was Stephen Triola, who was 37 at the time of this article from the South Bay Weekly. “Charlie Potatoes” is at least 43 years old, since The Defiant Ones was a 1958 movie produced and directed by Stanley Kramer. The script was from Harold Jacob Smith and Nedrick Young. Young was blacklisted under the McCarthy administration and used the alias Nathen E. Douglas at that time. I assume the name, “Charlie Potatoes,” meaning a high-roller, came from the mind of one of these three men. But did it have any significance or was it just pulled out of thin air? Did it originate with this film, or is there more of a history? Perhaps it is a take-off on " small potatoes ?"

Good question, Fluent in Lies. I’d like to know, too.

Hmm … ? You’re not related to Dances with Wolves, are you?

Tinman