Charlie Phillips was born May 10, 1917 in Toronto, Ontario. An offensively gifted defenseman, Phillips is a former member of the Ontario Hockey Association Junior 'A' Hockey League's Toronto Young Rangers and of the Ontario Hockey Association Junior 'B' Hockey League's Toronto Lions.
After two seasons in Toronto, Phillips found himself in Eastern Canada in 1937-38 as a member of the Southern New Brunswick Hockey League's Moncton Maroons who competed in the 1938 Allan Cup tournament.
Phillips returned to the Allan Cup tournament in 1939 as a member of the Saint John Beavers before joining the Cape Breton Senior Hockey League's Glace Bay Miners in 1939-40, a team he spent three seasons with prior to making his NHL debut in 1942-43.
As a member of the Montreal Canadiens in 1942-43, Charlie Phillips played in 17 games with the NHL club while spending the other half of the season with the American Hockey League's Washington Lions.
In 1943-44, Phillips became a member of the OHA-Sr.'s Kingston Army before returning to the AHL the following year with the Providence Reds. Over the next two years, Phillips suited up for teams in the Quebec Professional Hockey League, the Quebec Senior Hockey League and the Eastern Amateur Hockey League before returning to the CBSL and to the Glace Bay Miners in 1947-48.
While Phillips spent the entire 1947-48 season in Glace Bay, he did however play in one playoff game with the Maritime Senior Hockey League's Moncton Hawks. Phillips returned to Saint John in 1948-49, before rejoining the Miners once again in 1949-50.
Phillips' 1950-51 season was spent both on and off the ice, as he suited up for the Maritime Major Hockey League's Moncton Hawks while coaching the Nova Scotia-Annapolis-Pictou County Hockey League's Kentville Wildcats.
In his final season as a player, Phillips was a member of the Montreal City Hockey League's Dieppe Goats before calling it a career following the 1951-52 season.
