Charles (Chuck) Berg was born in 1941, growing up in a number of towns including Towson, MD, Springfield, MA, and Yonkers, NY, where he began to study music at the City University of New York (CUNY) before enlisting in the army (1961-64). Berg attended the University of Kansas to study Journalism and Radio/TV/Film. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa in Film Studies in 1973.

Berg wrote as a Jazz and Arts journalist for a number of magazines and papers, including the Kansas City Star, Topeka Capitol Journal, and Jazz Times.

Berg joined the KU faculty in 1977, teaching in the Department of Film and Media Studies and serving as Chair of Theatre and Film from 2005-2007. His main areas of focus were American film history and popular culture, and he taught a variety of courses in film and media history, theory, criticism, and production.

Berg served in a number of positions, both elected and editorial, including serving as a Grammy-voting member of the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences. Awards he received included the Mortar Board Outstanding Educator Award and the Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence. He played flute and jazz saxophone.

Berg married Beth Noe, a native of Holton, KS in 1966, after they met while studying at KU. They had one son, Nathan Charles. Chuck Berg died at the age of 75 on July 26, 2016.