Going Postal: Charles Dance Biography

Charles Dance has had a varied career encompassing acting, screenwriting and directing. He joined the RSC in 1975 and took part in many productions with them, including Coriolanus, As You Like It, Henry V and Hamlet.

On the small screen, Dance’s break came when he played Guy Perron in The Jewel In The Crown. A variety of television roles followed, including Mr Tulkinghorn in the BBC’s adaptation of Bleak House, for which he won an Emmy® nomination. Most recently, he was seen in the ITV2 drama Trinity.

Dance has appeared in numerous films, including Plenty alongside Meryl Streep; Woody Allen’s Scoop; Kabloonak, for which he won a best actor award at the Paris Film Festival; and Bond film For Your Eyes Only, as the evil henchman Claus. In 2004, Dance wrote, produced and directed Ladies In Lavender, starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.

In 2006, Charles Dance was awarded the OBE, and in 2007, he won rave reviews and a Critics’ Circle best actor award for his portrayal of CS Lewis in the revival of William Nicholson’s Shadowlands.

SELECTED CREDITS

Film
2006    Mr Malcolm, SCOOP
2003    Charles Lushington, LABYRINTH
2002    David Carlton, ALI G IN DA HOUSE
2001    Lord Raymond Stockbridge, GOSFORD PARK
1994    Robert Flaherty, KABLOONAK
1993    Benedict, LAST ACTION HERO
1992    Clemens, ALIEN 3
1987    Gerry Stamford, OUT ON A LIMB
1981    Claus, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

Television
2009    Dr Edmund Maltravers, TRINTY, Roughcut TV
2005    Mr Tulkinghorn, BLEAK HOUSE, BBC
2005    Christopher Lilly, FINGERSMITH, Sally Head Productions
2000    Sir Henry Carlyle, MURDER ROOMS, BBC
1997    Maxim De Winter, REBECCA, Carlton Television
1990    Erik, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Hexatel/NBC
1974    Guy Perron, THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN, Granada   

Stage
2007    CS Lewis, SHADOWLANDS, West End
1998    Vershinin, THREE SISTERS, Birmingham Rep
1989    Title role, CORIOLANUS, RSC
1980    Morris Townsend, THE HEIRESS, Tour
1977    Henry Carr, TRAVESTIES, Leeds Playhouse
1975    Title role, HENRY V, RSC
1975    Catesby, RICHARD III, RSC