Charles Dance facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Charles Dance OBE
Dance in 2012
Born	Walter Charles Dance (1946-10-10) 10 October 1946 (age 78) Redditch, Worcestershire, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–present
Spouse(s)	Joanna Haythorn ​ ​ (m. 1970; div. 2004)​
Children	3

Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is a famous English actor. He is well-known for playing strong, serious characters and sometimes villains in movies and TV shows. Charles Dance started his acting journey on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Later, he became a familiar face in films and on television. In 2006, he was honored by Queen Elizabeth II and received the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his amazing work in drama.

He first appeared in a major film in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only (1981). Since then, he has acted in many popular films. These include historical dramas like Michael Collins (1996), Gosford Park (2001), The Imitation Game (2014), Mank (2020), and The King's Man (2021). He also appeared in fantasy and action films such as The Golden Child (1986), Alien 3 (1992), Last Action Hero (1993), Dracula Untold (2014), and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019). Charles Dance also directed his first film, a drama called Ladies in Lavender (2004), which he also wrote.

On television, Dance played important roles like Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown (1984) and Mr. Tulkinghorn in Bleak House (2005). Many people know him as Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones (2011–2015). He also played Lord Mountbatten in the third and fourth seasons of The Crown (2019–2020). For his role in The Crown, he was nominated for a special acting award called a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Early Life and Education

Walter Charles Dance was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, England, on 10 October 1946. He was the younger son of Eleanor Marion, who was a cook, and Walter Dance, an electrical engineer. His father was in his 70s when Charles was born. Charles also has older half-sisters and an elder half-brother from his parents' previous marriages.

When he was growing up in Plymouth, Charles Dance went to Widey Technical School for Boys. He later studied graphic design and photography at the Plymouth Drawing School and Leicester College of Arts.

Acting Career Highlights

Charles Dance performing in Shadowlands at the Wyndham's in London.

Starting with the Royal Shakespeare Company

Charles Dance was a member of the famous Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in the 1970s. He performed in many of their plays in London and Stratford-upon-Avon. He returned to the RSC later to play the main role in Coriolanus in 1989 and 1990. He also received great reviews for his performance as C. S. Lewis in the play Shadowlands in 2007.

Television and Film Roles

Dance first appeared on screen in 1974 in the TV series Father Brown. His big break came in 1984 when he played Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown, a popular TV show. He also had an early film role as a villain named Claus in the 1981 James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only. Interestingly, he later played Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, in a TV movie called Goldeneye in 1989.

He has starred in many other British TV dramas. These include Edward the Seventh, where he played Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, and Bleak House, for which he was nominated for an Emmy award. He also played Lord Vetinari in the 2010 TV adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Going Postal.

One of his most famous roles is Tywin Lannister in HBO's hit series Game of Thrones. He also played Conrad Knox, a main villain, in the TV series Strike Back: Vengeance. Since 2012, Dance has appeared on the comedy show The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, where he reads funny excerpts from books in a serious way. In 2013, he was a guest on the popular car show Top Gear. In 2018, he narrated a documentary about the famous Spitfire planes from World War II.

In 2019, he played a bad guy in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. In the same year, he appeared as Lord Mountbatten in seasons 3 and 4 of The Crown. In 2020, Dance played William Randolph Hearst in the film Mank. In 2021, he was cast in the Netflix show The Sandman. In 2024, he starred as Michelangelo in the BBC docu-drama Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty.

Directing and Writing

Charles Dance made his debut as a screenwriter and director with the film Ladies in Lavender (2004). This movie starred famous actresses Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. In 2009, he also directed his own version of a book called The Inn at the Edge of the World.

Personal Life

Charles Dance married Joanna Haythorn in 1970. They had a son named Oliver and a daughter named Rebecca before they divorced in 2004.

Later, he dated Eleanor Boorman from 2008 to 2014, and they had a daughter named Rose.

As of 2018, Charles Dance lives in Kentish Town, London. He is currently in a relationship with Alessandra Masi, an Italian production manager whom he met in Italy in 2018.

Political Views

Charles Dance has said that his political views are "very left-of-centre." He supported the UK staying in the European Union before the 2016 vote. He also expressed his wish for the country to be closer to Europe.

In a 2020 interview, he felt that workers in the NHS (the UK's public healthcare system) should receive a better pay raise.

Awards and Recognitions

Charles Dance has received several awards and nominations for his acting. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on 17 June 2006, which is a special honor for his contributions to drama.

Filmography

Movies

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

List of film acting credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	For Your Eyes Only	Claus
1985	Plenty	Raymond Brock
1986	The Golden Child	Sardo Numspa
1987	White Mischief	Josslyn Hay
	Good Morning, Babylon	D. W. Griffith
	Hidden City	James Richards
1988	Pascali's Island	Anthony Bowles
1992	Alien 3	Jonathan Clemens
	Kalkstein	Surveyor
1993	Last Action Hero	Mr. Benedict
	Century	Professor Mandry
1994	China Moon	Rupert Munro
	Kabloonak	Robert J. Flaherty	Paris Film Festival Award for Best Actor
	Shortcut to Paradise	Quinn
1995	The Surgeon [fr]	Dr. Ed Mittlesbay
1996	Space Truckers	Nabel / Macanudo
	Michael Collins	Soames
1997	The Blood Oranges	Cyril
1998	What Rats Won't Do	Gerald
	Hilary and Jackie	Derek Du Pré
1999	Don't Go Breaking My Heart	Frank
2001	Gosford Park	Raymond Stockbridge
	Jurij	Padre di Jurij
	Dark Blue World	Wing Commander Bentley
2002	Black and White	Roderic Chamberlain
	Ali G Indahouse	David Carlton
2003	Swimming Pool	John Bosload
	Labyrinth	Charles Lushington
	City and Crimes	Cox William
	Ladies in Lavender		Director, writer and executive producer only
2006	Dolls	Narrator	Voice; short film
	Scoop	Mr. Malcolm
	Twice Upon a Time	Master of Ceremonies
	Starter for 10	Michael Harbinson
2007	The Contractor	DCS Andrew Windsor	Direct-to-DVD
	Intervention	Private Investigator
2010	Paris Connections	Aleksandr Borinski
	The Commuter	Traffic Warden	Short film
2011	Ironclad	Archbishop Langton
	Your Highness	King Tallious
	There Be Dragons	Monsignor Solano
2012	Midnight's Children	William Methwold
	Underworld: Awakening	Thomas
	St George's Day	Trenchard
2013	Patrick	Doctor Roget
	Justin and the Knights of Valour	Legantir	Voice
2014	Viy	Lord Dudley	Credited by his name in Russian: Чарльз Дэнс, romanized: Charlz Dens
	Dracula Untold	Master Vampire
	The Imitation Game	Commander Alastair Denniston
2015	Victor Frankenstein	Baron Frankenstein
	Michiel de Ruyter	Charles II
	Woman in Gold	Sherman
	Child 44	Major Grachev
2016	Pride and Prejudice and Zombies	Mr. Bennet
	Me Before You	Stephen Traynor
	Ghostbusters	Harold Filmore
	Despite the Falling Snow	Old Alexander
	Underworld: Blood Wars	Thomas
2017	Euphoria	Mr. Daren
	That Good Night	The Visitor
2018	Johnny English Strikes Again	Agent Seven	Cameo
	Happy New Year, Colin Burstead	Bertie
2019	Godzilla: King of the Monsters	Alan Jonah
	Viy 2: Journey to China	Lord Dudley
	Fanny Lye Deliver'd	John Lye
2020	The Book of Vision	Johan Anmuth
	Mank	William Randolph Hearst
2021	The King's Man	Lord Kitchener
2022	Against the Ice	Neergaard
	Lancaster	Narrator
	The Hanging Sun	Jacob
2024	The First Omen	Father Harris	Cameo
	Rumours	Edison Wolcott
	Samana Sunrise	Noah Blum
2025	Frankenstein	TBA	Post-production
TBA	Ladies First	TBA	Post-production
	The Bitter End	TBA	Filming

Television Shows

Video Games

Audiobooks

Podcasts

Stage Performances

See also

In Spanish: Charles Dance para niños