Charles Frederick Paul was born on August 23, 1902 in New York City. He studied at the New York College of Music, and with Arthur Nikisch at the Leipzig Conservatory. He began conducting orchestras in New York City when he was seventeen years old, and conducted at the Gallo Opera Company in New York and the Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia.
Paul is best known for his work as an organist and composer for classic radio programs, and was a student of Joseph Schillinger's compositional method. He worked for animator Max Fleischer, and for multiple "old-time radio" series including The Adventures of Ellery Queen and Inner Sanctum, but is remembered most for his innovative work accompanying soap operas including As the World Turns, The Guiding Light, and General Hospital. Charles Paul died in Milford, Connecticut on September 18, 1990.