Herbert's roles in the 1950s included such popular and
cult films as ''
The View from Pompey's Head (1955); The Night Holds Terror (1956); These Wilder Years (1956), with James Cagney and Barbara Stanwyck; Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957); The Colossus of New York (1958); The Fly (1958); Houseboat (1958); The Man in the Net (1959), with Alan Ladd; The Five Pennies; Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960); and 13 Ghosts'' (1960), in which producer/director
William Castle gave him top billing at the age of 12 to secure his services. Herbert's final feature film and starring role was in
The Boy and the Pirates (1960), produced and directed by
Bert I. Gordon (Mr. B.I.G.), costarring his daughter Susan. Herbert and
Susan Gordon had previously worked together in
The Man in the Net (1959), the hospital scene in
The Five Pennies (1959), and a TV pilot episode entitled
The Secret Life of John Monroe (or
The Secret Life of James Thurber). The 30-minute unsold pilot aired as the "Christabel" episode of
Alcoa/Goodyear Playhouse, June 8, 1959. Very rarely seen,
The Boy and the Pirates was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment as a
Midnite Movies double
DVD set with the more recent
Crystalstone (1987), on June 27, 2006. By 1959, Herbert had achieved a lofty place among the most-desired and highest-paid child actors of his time, making nearly $1,650 per week. He had established for himself both the reputation and the nickname of "One-Take Charlie". Of his acting style, one reviewer described Herbert as "sincere, accurate, overenunciated at times, like a storybook character come to life. An extraordinary child actor by any standard, Herbert’s intense emotive quality is very much of the
method acting school, highly unusual in such a young performer." Herbert's work had him opposite
Cary Grant,
Sophia Loren,
David Niven,
Vincent Price,
Johnny Carson,
Donna Reed,
Doris Day, and
Ross Martin, for all of whom he had high praise for their treatment of him. "Anybody who is in that category [a well-known actor] who is nice to the children is a nice person. 'Cause I worked with some who were not. Children and animals are not big favorites with movie stars." Starring screen roles in the 1950s soon evaporated, and Herbert was relegated to TV appearances in the 1960s. In his teenage years Herbert had small roles in
Wagon Train (1957),
Rawhide (1959),
The Twilight Zone (1962),
The Fugitive (1963),
Hazel (1963),
Family Affair (1966), and
My Three Sons (1966). Herbert's career amassed 20 feature films, more than 50 TV shows, and a number of commercials during his 14-year span. ==Personal life==