Actor, director, producer and screenwriter Walter Charles Dance is familiar to modern moviegoers as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones. However, there were other interesting works in his long acting career.
Biography
Dance was born on October 10, 1946, in Worcestershire in England. Walter Dance, the father of the future famous actor, a former military man who took part in the South African Boer Company, worked as an electrical engineer. Mother, Eleanor Marion Perks, worked as a cook and then moved to the laundry.
When Charles was 4 years old, his father died of a heart attack. Eleanor and her young son had to move to Plymouth. There he spent his childhood and adolescence, being educated at the Technical School for Boys, a closed educational institution. Over the years, Charles discovered that his father was much older than he believed as a child and has Belgian roots.
The future actor acquired the desire to connect life with creativity back in Plymouth, actively participating in various creative productions of his school. After completing his secondary education, Charles Dance moved to Leicester, where he studied photography and design at a local art school. However, after receiving his diploma, he decided to try himself in the acting field.
Actor career
Charles Dance began his acquaintance with the acting profession in 1974, having attended many castings and received supporting roles in the TV series "The Heirs" and "Tales of Father Brown," due to his characteristic appearance. The roles in these films did not bring wide recognition and fame to the novice actor.
In 1984, the actor got the lead role in the TV series The Jewel in the Crown and was warmly received by critics and the public. After such success, Charles began to offer roles in completely different films and TV shows in terms of the budget level. He has appeared in the highly successful mini-series The Phantom of the Opera and Velvet Fingers.
In 1991, Charles received an invitation to take part in the filming of the film "Alien 3". According to the actor, at that time it was the most memorable filming process in his memory. Sometimes I had to improvise, as the script of certain moments of the film changed on the go. However, he gained invaluable experience and was able to impress the most influential filmmakers of the time.
In 2010, Charles ended negotiations with HBO managers and accepted an invitation to play Tywin Lannister (Guardian of the West) in Game of Thrones. According to representatives of the TV channel, the producers of the series decided to invite Charles to this role after watching his acting in the film Your Highness. The role of the Guardian allowed Dance to find new fans and connoisseurs of his talent.
Also in 2014, at the invitation of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, Charles Dance took part in the scoring of a promotional video dedicated to the 21 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. In total, the elderly artist has more than 120 roles in a wide variety of projects.
Dance's last acting job was in the new movie King's Man, which will be released in 2020.
Other jobs
In 2004, Charles tried himself as a director, screenwriter and producer, releasing the musical melodrama Ladies in Purple. This is a story about two sisters who live in seclusion in a small coastal English town. Once on their shore, the sea throws out a wounded young man Andrei, who changed the lives of the sisters and awakened their feelings. The film has earned high ratings and critical accolades.
In 2009, Dance filmed The Inn at the Edge of the World, a novel by Alice Thomas Ellis, an intriguing tale of five strangers gathered in a hotel on a secluded island to spend their Christmas here. Mysticism intervenes at times in their complex intertwining relationship. Sadly, this was Charles' last directorial work, although his fans are hoping for a sequel.
In addition to acting in films, Charles actively performed in various theaters: Greenwich, Chichester, Shefsbury Theater and others, playing many roles on stage, transforming into a variety of characters, from drag queen to the great kings of the past. He was one of the participants in the so-called Royal Shakespeare Company in the mid-70s and has appeared on the stage in London more than once.
In 2006, Dance received the long-awaited title from the hands of the Queen of Great Britain: he became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services in the arts, and in 2007 Charles Dance was named Best Actor by the community of critics.
In 2015, Charles Dance took part in the scoring of the acclaimed game hit "The Witcher-3", where he became the voice of the harsh emperor Emgyr var Emreis. Participation in another game, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 in 2018, was limited to dubbing Butler.
Personal life
In 1970, Walter Charles Dance married Joanna Haythorn. Before the wedding, they had known each other for a year and a half. The couple lived together for almost 35 years, after which the husband and wife Dance broke up. According to the assurances of the ex-spouses, they remain good friends and still communicate, and to the sides they have diverted various interests and life itself. Charles and Joanna have two children, Oliver and Rebecca.
In 2010, the actor began an affair with Eleanor Burman, a sculptor by profession. The couple announced their engagement in the same year, but it did not come to a wedding. Now the actor lives in the UK.
