Ian Charleson
Encyclopedia
Ian Charleson was a Scottish
stage and film actor
. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell
, in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire
. He is also well known for his portrayal of Rev. Charlie Andrews in the 1982 Oscar-winning film Gandhi
.
Charleson was a noted actor on the British stage as well, with critically acclaimed leads in Guys and Dolls, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
, Fool for Love
, and Hamlet
, among many others. Over the course of his life Charleson performed numerous major Shakespearean roles, and the annual Ian Charleson Awards
were established in his honour in 1991, to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30.
The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Biography describes Charleson as "a leading player of charm and power" and "one of the finest British actors of his generation." Alan Bates
wrote that Charleson was "definitely among the top ten actors of his age group." Ian McKellen
said Charleson was "the most unmannered and unactorish of actors: always truthful, always honest."
Charleson was diagnosed with HIV in 1986, and died in 1990 at the age of 40. He requested that it be announced after his death that he had died of AIDS, in order to publicize the condition. This was the first show-business death in the United Kingdom openly attributed to AIDS, and the announcement helped to promote awareness of the disease.
, Charleson was the son of a printer, and grew up in a working-class area of the city. A bright, musical, artistic child, as a boy he performed in several local theatre productions. He won a scholarship to and attended the Royal High School
. In his teens, Charleson joined and performed with The Jasons, an Edinburgh amateur theatrical group. He also sang solo as a boy soprano in his high school choir, which performed on the radio.
Charleson won a scholarship to the University of Edinburgh
, which he attended from 1967–1970, obtaining a three-year Scottish MA Ordinary degree
. Initially Charleson studied architecture. However, he spent most of his time acting with the student-run drama society at the university, which did not have a drama department, and decided to pursue acting as a career. He changed his study concentration accordingly, and graduated with a degree in English, fine art, and mathematics. In addition to his acting roles at Edinburgh University, Charleson also directed many plays there, and he designed costumes for several as well.
(LAMDA), where he studied for two years.
From LAMDA, Charleson was hired by the Young Vic Theatre Company. He made his professional stage debut in 1972, as Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger
. In 1973 he was Hamlet and later Guildenstern in the first revival of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Also as part of the Young Vic company, Charleson was Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing
in 1974, and he traveled with the company to the Brooklyn Academy of Music
in New York that same year to appear in The Taming of the Shrew
, Scapino
, and French Without Tears.
Charleson had a beautiful tenor singing voice, which he used in musicals and other performances. His first professional musical role was as one of the brothers in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
(1972), with the Young Vic, which was also televised in the UK that same year by Granada Television
. Other singing work followed as his career progressed, in productions including Much Ado About Nothing
(1974), an episode of Rock Follies of '77
(1977), The Tempest
(1978–1979), Piaf
(1978–1981), Guys and Dolls
(1982), A Royal Night of One Hundred Stars (1985), After Aida
(1985–1986), Andrew Lloyd Webber's and Tim Rice's Cricket
(1986), Sondheim: A Celebration (1988 benefit for Crusaid), and Bent
(1989). He also sang classic standards and show tunes, and the songs of Robert Burns
, in variety programmes on stage and television.
In 1975, Charleson played the title role in Hamlet
in a Cambridge Theatre Company touring production. The performance garnered good reviews; nevertheless Charleson felt he had not done the notoriously difficult role complete justice.
debut in 1975, in a long-running production of Simon Gray's Otherwise Engaged
at the Queen's Theatre
. In it he played Dave, a surly Scottish lodger, opposite Alan Bates
.
He next appeared at the National Theatre
, where he performed Octavius in Julius Caesar
in 1977. That year he also played Peregrine in the classic play Volpone
, opposite John Gielgud
, and Captain Phoebus
in The Hunchback of Notre Dame
.
Charleson then spent a year in Stratford-upon-Avon with the Royal Shakespeare Company
1978–79. There he performed Ariel in The Tempest
, Tranio in The Taming of the Shrew
, and Longaville in Love's Labour's Lost
— all both in Stratford and at the Aldwych Theatre
in London. Also with the RSC, he was Lawrence Vail in an acclaimed production of Once in a Lifetime
(1979) at the Aldwych Theatre, and he played Pierre in Piaf
, giving a performance which caught the eye of the filmmakers of Chariots of Fire
.
(1984–85), and Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
(1988).
Shortly before his death, from 9 October to 13 November 1989, Charleson performed his second run of Hamlet
, this time at the National Theatre
— giving a definitive performance which garnered major accolades. In a lengthy review praising Charleson's performance, John Peter wrote in the Sunday Times:
The day following Charleson's final Hamlet performance, when Ian McKellen
was given the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for his Iago in Othello, McKellen offered thanks, but said having seen "the perfect Hamlet" at the National Theatre the previous night, he thought that not he but Ian Charleson was truly the Best Actor of 1989.
and director Hugh Hudson
had done months of fruitless searching for the perfect actor to play the lead of the evangelical Scot Eric Liddell
in their upcoming inspirational film about the Olympics. They then saw Charleson performing the role of Pierre in Piaf
, and knew immediately they had found their man. Unbeknownst to them, Charleson had heard about the film from his father, and desperately wanted to play the part, feeling it would "fit like a kid glove". This mutual affinity led to Charleson's best-known film role and success — as the athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire
(1981). Charleson prepared for the role by studying the Bible intensively, and he himself wrote Liddell's stirring post-race address to the workingmen's crowd. This film and role made him an international celebrity.
Charleson had a similar high-profile success the following year, playing Mahatma Gandhi
's closest friend and collaborator, the Anglican priest Charlie Andrews, in Gandhi
(1982), opposite Ben Kingsley
. Like Chariots of Fire, the film Gandhi won great acclaim and numerous Academy Awards, including Best Picture
.
; nor did Charleson choose to move to Hollywood to capitalize on his success. Also affecting his film career was the fact that he was diagnosed with HIV in 1986, and thereafter lacked enthusiasm to do feature films, although he was not symptomatic until the autumn of 1988. Charleson's drive to pursue a rich stage career focusing on Shakespearean leads, however, remained strong.
Charleson's other feature film roles are: punk-era Angel in his film debut Jubilee (1977) directed by Derek Jarman
, Lt. Ryder in the acclaimed "Irish question" film Ascendancy
(1982), the abusive drunk Jeffson Brown in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan (1984), a comedic turn as Gerald Spong in Car Trouble (1985), and Marco in Dario Argento
's horror film Opera
(1987).
films: as Fortinbras in Hamlet
(1980), Bertram in All's Well That Ends Well
(1981), and Octavius Caesar in Antony & Cleopatra (1981). Other notable made-for-television film roles include: Lieutenant Dorfrichter in M. Fagyas's pre-war mystery The Devil's Lieutenant (1983), Rakitin in Turgenev's A Month in the Country
(1985), Kyril in the spy thriller Codename: Kyril
(1988), and the protagonist Major Brendan Archer in J. G. Farrell's acclaimed Troubles
(1988). His notable starring television roles include, among many others: Anthony in A Private Matter (1974), Henry in The Paradise Run (1976), Jamie MacGregor in the mini-series Master of the Game
(1984), Bonnie Prince Charlie in Scotland's Story (1984), and Victor Geary in Oxbridge Blues
(1984).
-related causes in January 1990 at the age of 40. He died eight weeks after performing the title role in a run of Hamlet
, in Richard Eyre's
production at the Olivier Theatre
. Fellow actor and friend, Sir Ian McKellen
, said that Charleson played Hamlet so well it was as if he had rehearsed the role all his life.
Charleson requested that it be announced after his death that he had died of AIDS, in order to publicize the condition. This unusual decision by a major internationally known actor — the first show business death in the United Kingdom openly attributed to complications from AIDS — helped promote awareness of HIV and AIDS and acceptance of AIDS patients.
Charleson is buried in Portobello Cemetery, Edinburgh.
Charleson was nominated for the Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a New Play, for his starring role as Eddie in Fool for Love
in 1984.
In Charleson's honour, the annual Ian Charleson Awards
were established in 1991, to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30.
The Royal Free Hospital's
Ian Charleson Day Centre for people with HIV, in London, is named in his memory.
In 1990, following his death, 20 of Charleson's friends, colleagues, and family members, including Ian McKellen
, Alan Bates
, Hugh Hudson
, Richard Eyre
, Sean Mathias
, Hilton McRae
, and David Rintoul
, contributed to a book of reminiscences about him, called For Ian Charleson: A Tribute. All royalties from the sale of the book went to the Ian Charleson Trust, a charitable foundation which operated from 1990 to 2007.
Two emotional reunion performances of Guys and Dolls, with almost all of the original 1982 cast and musicians, were given at the National Theatre in November 1990 as a tribute to Charleson. The tickets sold out immediately, and the dress rehearsal was also packed. The proceeds from the performances were donated to the new HIV clinic at the Royal Free Hospital, and to scholarships in Charleson's name at LAMDA.
Hugh Hudson
, who had directed Charleson in Chariots of Fire
, dedicated his 1999 film My Life So Far
"In loving memory of Ian Charleson". The 2005 videos "Wings on Their Heels: The Making of Chariots of Fire" and "Chariots of Fire: A Reunion" are both also dedicated to his memory.
Charleson also sings a solo ballad on an episode ("The Empire") of the television series Rock Follies of '77
, available on DVD.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
stage and film actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell
Eric Liddell
Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish athlete, rugby union international player, and missionary.Liddell was the winner of the men's 400 metres at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris...
, in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
. He is also well known for his portrayal of Rev. Charlie Andrews in the 1982 Oscar-winning film Gandhi
Gandhi (film)
Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both...
.
Charleson was a noted actor on the British stage as well, with critically acclaimed leads in Guys and Dolls, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955...
, Fool for Love
Fool for Love (play)
Fool for Love is a play written by American playwright/actor Sam Shepard.-Plot:The "fools" in the play are battling lovers at a Mojave Desert motel. May is hiding out at said motel when an old childhood friend and old flame, Eddie. Eddie tries to convince May to come back home with him and live in...
, and Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, among many others. Over the course of his life Charleson performed numerous major Shakespearean roles, and the annual Ian Charleson Awards
Ian Charleson Awards
The Ian Charleson Awards is a British theatrical award to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30. It is named in memory of the late actor Ian Charleson and is run by the Sunday Times newspaper and the National Theatre...
were established in his honour in 1991, to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30.
The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Biography describes Charleson as "a leading player of charm and power" and "one of the finest British actors of his generation." Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
wrote that Charleson was "definitely among the top ten actors of his age group." Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
said Charleson was "the most unmannered and unactorish of actors: always truthful, always honest."
Charleson was diagnosed with HIV in 1986, and died in 1990 at the age of 40. He requested that it be announced after his death that he had died of AIDS, in order to publicize the condition. This was the first show-business death in the United Kingdom openly attributed to AIDS, and the announcement helped to promote awareness of the disease.
Early life
Born in EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Charleson was the son of a printer, and grew up in a working-class area of the city. A bright, musical, artistic child, as a boy he performed in several local theatre productions. He won a scholarship to and attended the Royal High School
Royal High School (Edinburgh)
The Royal High School of Edinburgh is a co-educational state school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland, and has, throughout its history, been high achieving, consistently attaining well above average exam results...
. In his teens, Charleson joined and performed with The Jasons, an Edinburgh amateur theatrical group. He also sang solo as a boy soprano in his high school choir, which performed on the radio.
Charleson won a scholarship to the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, which he attended from 1967–1970, obtaining a three-year Scottish MA Ordinary degree
Master of Arts (Scotland)
A Master of Arts in Scotland can refer to an undergraduate academic degree in humanities and social sciences awarded by the ancient universities of Scotland – the University of St Andrews, the University of Glasgow, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh, while the University of...
. Initially Charleson studied architecture. However, he spent most of his time acting with the student-run drama society at the university, which did not have a drama department, and decided to pursue acting as a career. He changed his study concentration accordingly, and graduated with a degree in English, fine art, and mathematics. In addition to his acting roles at Edinburgh University, Charleson also directed many plays there, and he designed costumes for several as well.
LAMDA, Young Vic, and Cambridge Theatre Company
Charleson began acting as a child and teen performer in local Edinburgh theatre productions. After graduating from Edinburgh University — where he played leads in dozens of productions, including numerous Shakespeare plays — he won a place in the London Academy of Music and Dramatic ArtLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...
(LAMDA), where he studied for two years.
From LAMDA, Charleson was hired by the Young Vic Theatre Company. He made his professional stage debut in 1972, as Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
. In 1973 he was Hamlet and later Guildenstern in the first revival of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Also as part of the Young Vic company, Charleson was Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
in 1974, and he traveled with the company to the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
in New York that same year to appear in The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
, Scapino
Les Fourberies de Scapin
Les Fourberies de Scapin is a three-act comedy by French playwright Molière. The title character Scapin is similar to the archetypical Scapino character. The play was first staged in 1671 in Paris....
, and French Without Tears.
Charleson had a beautiful tenor singing voice, which he used in musicals and other performances. His first professional musical role was as one of the brothers in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
(1972), with the Young Vic, which was also televised in the UK that same year by Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
. Other singing work followed as his career progressed, in productions including Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
(1974), an episode of Rock Follies of '77
Rock Follies
Rock Follies, and its sequel, Rock Follies of '77, was a comedy musical drama shown on British television in the mid 1970s. The storyline, over 12 episodes and two series, followed the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the "Little Ladies" as they struggled for recognition and...
(1977), The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
(1978–1979), Piaf
Piaf (play)
Piaf is a play by Pam Gems that focuses on the life and career of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The biographical drama with music portrays the singer in a most unflattering light...
(1978–1981), Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure", two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, most notably...
(1982), A Royal Night of One Hundred Stars (1985), After Aida
After Aida
After Aida , is a 1985 play-with-music by Julian Mitchell. It is about Giuseppe Verdi, and the pressure put upon him after his attempt to retire from composing...
(1985–1986), Andrew Lloyd Webber's and Tim Rice's Cricket
Cricket (musical)
Cricket, also called Cricket , is a short musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It was commissioned for Queen Elizabeth's 60th birthday celebration, and was first performed at Windsor Castle on 18 June 1986....
(1986), Sondheim: A Celebration (1988 benefit for Crusaid), and Bent
Bent (play)
Bent is a 1979 play by Martin Sherman. It revolves around the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany, and takes place during and after the Night of the Long Knives....
(1989). He also sang classic standards and show tunes, and the songs of Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
, in variety programmes on stage and television.
In 1975, Charleson played the title role in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
in a Cambridge Theatre Company touring production. The performance garnered good reviews; nevertheless Charleson felt he had not done the notoriously difficult role complete justice.
West End and National Theatre debuts, Royal Shakespeare Company
Charleson made his West EndWest End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
debut in 1975, in a long-running production of Simon Gray's Otherwise Engaged
Otherwise Engaged
Otherwise Engaged is a bleakly comic play by English playwright Simon Gray. The play previewed at the Oxford Playhouse and the Richmond Theatre, and then opened at the Queen's Theatre in London on 10 July 1975, with Alan Bates as the star and Harold Pinter as director, produced by Michael Codron....
at the Queen's Theatre
Queen's Theatre
The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...
. In it he played Dave, a surly Scottish lodger, opposite Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
.
He next appeared at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, where he performed Octavius in Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
in 1977. That year he also played Peregrine in the classic play Volpone
Volpone
Volpone is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy, black comedy and beast fable...
, opposite John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
, and Captain Phoebus
Captain Phoebus
Captain Phoebus de Chateaupers is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. He is the Captain of the King's Archers. His name comes from Phoebus, the Greek god of the sun , with whom he shares handsome looks and skill at...
in The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered.-Background:...
.
Charleson then spent a year in Stratford-upon-Avon with the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
1978–79. There he performed Ariel in The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
, Tranio in The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
, and Longaville in Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost
Love's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s, and first published in 1598.-Title:...
— all both in Stratford and at the Aldwych Theatre
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:...
in London. Also with the RSC, he was Lawrence Vail in an acclaimed production of Once in a Lifetime
Once in a Lifetime (play)
Once in a Lifetime is a play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, the first of eight on which they collaborated in the 1930s.-Plot:The satirical comedy focuses on the effect talking pictures have on the entertainment industry...
(1979) at the Aldwych Theatre, and he played Pierre in Piaf
Piaf (play)
Piaf is a play by Pam Gems that focuses on the life and career of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The biographical drama with music portrays the singer in a most unflattering light...
, giving a performance which caught the eye of the filmmakers of Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
.
National Theatre spotlight
In the 1980s, Charleson won particular critical and popular acclaim for his starring roles at the National Theatre: as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls (1982), Eddie in Sam Shepard's Fool for LoveFool for Love (play)
Fool for Love is a play written by American playwright/actor Sam Shepard.-Plot:The "fools" in the play are battling lovers at a Mojave Desert motel. May is hiding out at said motel when an old childhood friend and old flame, Eddie. Eddie tries to convince May to come back home with him and live in...
(1984–85), and Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955...
(1988).
Shortly before his death, from 9 October to 13 November 1989, Charleson performed his second run of Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, this time at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
— giving a definitive performance which garnered major accolades. In a lengthy review praising Charleson's performance, John Peter wrote in the Sunday Times:
The day following Charleson's final Hamlet performance, when Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
was given the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for his Iago in Othello, McKellen offered thanks, but said having seen "the perfect Hamlet" at the National Theatre the previous night, he thought that not he but Ian Charleson was truly the Best Actor of 1989.
Chariots of Fire and Gandhi
In 1979, producer David PuttnamDavid Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
and director Hugh Hudson
Hugh Hudson
Hugh Hudson is an English film director. His best-known international success is the 1981 multiple Academy Award-winning film, Chariots of Fire.- Early life :...
had done months of fruitless searching for the perfect actor to play the lead of the evangelical Scot Eric Liddell
Eric Liddell
Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish athlete, rugby union international player, and missionary.Liddell was the winner of the men's 400 metres at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris...
in their upcoming inspirational film about the Olympics. They then saw Charleson performing the role of Pierre in Piaf
Piaf (play)
Piaf is a play by Pam Gems that focuses on the life and career of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The biographical drama with music portrays the singer in a most unflattering light...
, and knew immediately they had found their man. Unbeknownst to them, Charleson had heard about the film from his father, and desperately wanted to play the part, feeling it would "fit like a kid glove". This mutual affinity led to Charleson's best-known film role and success — as the athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
(1981). Charleson prepared for the role by studying the Bible intensively, and he himself wrote Liddell's stirring post-race address to the workingmen's crowd. This film and role made him an international celebrity.
Charleson had a similar high-profile success the following year, playing Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
's closest friend and collaborator, the Anglican priest Charlie Andrews, in Gandhi
Gandhi (film)
Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both...
(1982), opposite Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
. Like Chariots of Fire, the film Gandhi won great acclaim and numerous Academy Awards, including Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
.
Other film work
After these two major successes in these two Best Picture Oscar–winning films, Charleson's film career did not, however, follow the same progressive arc that his stage career did. Good feature Hollywood scripts did not pour in after Chariots of FireChariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
; nor did Charleson choose to move to Hollywood to capitalize on his success. Also affecting his film career was the fact that he was diagnosed with HIV in 1986, and thereafter lacked enthusiasm to do feature films, although he was not symptomatic until the autumn of 1988. Charleson's drive to pursue a rich stage career focusing on Shakespearean leads, however, remained strong.
Charleson's other feature film roles are: punk-era Angel in his film debut Jubilee (1977) directed by Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.-Life:...
, Lt. Ryder in the acclaimed "Irish question" film Ascendancy
Ascendancy (film)
Ascendancy is a 1982 British film. It tells the story of a woman who is a member of the British landowning 'Ascendancy' in Ireland during World War I. Gradually, she learns about the Irish independence movement, and becomes involved with it.-Cast:...
(1982), the abusive drunk Jeffson Brown in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan (1984), a comedic turn as Gerald Spong in Car Trouble (1985), and Marco in Dario Argento
Dario Argento
Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....
's horror film Opera
Opera (film)
Opera is a 1987 Italian giallo film written and directed by Dario Argento. The film stars Cristina Marsillach, Urbano Barberini, and Ian Charleson. Cinematography is done by Ronnie Taylor while Brian Eno and Claudio Simonetti composed the film's score. The film was released in the United States...
(1987).
Television: Shakespeare, TV films, and teleplays
Charleson performed in three BBC Television ShakespeareBBC Television Shakespeare
The BBC Television Shakespeare was a set of television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, produced by the BBC between 1978 and 1985.-Origins:...
films: as Fortinbras in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
(1980), Bertram in All's Well That Ends Well
All's Well That Ends Well
All's Well That Ends Well is a play by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1604 and 1605, and was originally published in the First Folio in 1623....
(1981), and Octavius Caesar in Antony & Cleopatra (1981). Other notable made-for-television film roles include: Lieutenant Dorfrichter in M. Fagyas's pre-war mystery The Devil's Lieutenant (1983), Rakitin in Turgenev's A Month in the Country
A Month in the Country (play)
A Month in the Country is a comedy in five acts by Ivan Turgenev. It was written in France between 1848 and 1850 and was first published in 1855...
(1985), Kyril in the spy thriller Codename: Kyril
Codename: Kyril
Codename: Kyril is a 208-minute British serial, first broadcast in 1988. It is a Cold War espionage drama, starring Ian Charleson, Edward Woodward, Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland, and Richard E. Grant...
(1988), and the protagonist Major Brendan Archer in J. G. Farrell's acclaimed Troubles
Troubles (novel)
Troubles is a 1970 novel by the English author J.G. Farrell. It won the Lost Man Booker Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Troubles concerns the dilapidation of a once grand Irish hotel , in the midst of the political upheaval during the Irish War of Independence .The novel is the first...
(1988). His notable starring television roles include, among many others: Anthony in A Private Matter (1974), Henry in The Paradise Run (1976), Jamie MacGregor in the mini-series Master of the Game
Master of the Game
Master of the Game is a novel by Sidney Sheldon, first published in hardback format in 1982. Spanning six generations in the lives of the fictional MacGregor/Blackwell family, the critically acclaimed novel debuted at number one on the New York Times Bestseller List...
(1984), Bonnie Prince Charlie in Scotland's Story (1984), and Victor Geary in Oxbridge Blues
Oxbridge Blues
Oxbridge Blues is a British television mini-series, produced by the BBC and first shown in 1984. It is an anthology of seven 75-minute teleplays, most of which focus on relationships of one kind or another...
(1984).
Death
Charleson, who was gay, was diagnosed with HIV in 1986, and died of AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related causes in January 1990 at the age of 40. He died eight weeks after performing the title role in a run of Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, in Richard Eyre's
Richard Eyre
Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre CBE is an English director of film, theatre, television, and opera.-Biography:Eyre was educated at Sherborne School, an independent school for boys in the market town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset in south-west England, followed by Peterhouse at the University...
production at the Olivier Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
. Fellow actor and friend, Sir Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
, said that Charleson played Hamlet so well it was as if he had rehearsed the role all his life.
Charleson requested that it be announced after his death that he had died of AIDS, in order to publicize the condition. This unusual decision by a major internationally known actor — the first show business death in the United Kingdom openly attributed to complications from AIDS — helped promote awareness of HIV and AIDS and acceptance of AIDS patients.
Charleson is buried in Portobello Cemetery, Edinburgh.
Honours
For his performance in Chariots of Fire, Charleson won a Variety Club Showbiz Award for Most Promising Artiste in February 1982.Charleson was nominated for the Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a New Play, for his starring role as Eddie in Fool for Love
Fool for Love (play)
Fool for Love is a play written by American playwright/actor Sam Shepard.-Plot:The "fools" in the play are battling lovers at a Mojave Desert motel. May is hiding out at said motel when an old childhood friend and old flame, Eddie. Eddie tries to convince May to come back home with him and live in...
in 1984.
In Charleson's honour, the annual Ian Charleson Awards
Ian Charleson Awards
The Ian Charleson Awards is a British theatrical award to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30. It is named in memory of the late actor Ian Charleson and is run by the Sunday Times newspaper and the National Theatre...
were established in 1991, to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30.
The Royal Free Hospital's
Royal Free Hospital
The Royal Free Hospital is a major teaching hospital in Hampstead, London, England and part of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust....
Ian Charleson Day Centre for people with HIV, in London, is named in his memory.
In 1990, following his death, 20 of Charleson's friends, colleagues, and family members, including Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
, Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
, Hugh Hudson
Hugh Hudson
Hugh Hudson is an English film director. His best-known international success is the 1981 multiple Academy Award-winning film, Chariots of Fire.- Early life :...
, Richard Eyre
Richard Eyre
Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre CBE is an English director of film, theatre, television, and opera.-Biography:Eyre was educated at Sherborne School, an independent school for boys in the market town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset in south-west England, followed by Peterhouse at the University...
, Sean Mathias
Sean Mathias
Sean Gerard Mathias is a British theatre director, film director, writer and actor.Mathias was born in Swansea, south Wales. He is known for directing the film, Bent, and for directing highly acclaimed theatre productions in London, New York, Cape Town, Los Angeles and Sydney...
, Hilton McRae
Hilton McRae
Hilton McRae is a Scottish actor in the fields of theatre, television and film.-Career:McRae was part of the radical theatre group 7:84 before graduating from Edinburgh University, and by 1977 he had joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. His most mainstream American film was his role as Green...
, and David Rintoul
David Rintoul
David Rintoul is a stage and television actor.Rintoul was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He studied at Edinburgh University and won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London....
, contributed to a book of reminiscences about him, called For Ian Charleson: A Tribute. All royalties from the sale of the book went to the Ian Charleson Trust, a charitable foundation which operated from 1990 to 2007.
Two emotional reunion performances of Guys and Dolls, with almost all of the original 1982 cast and musicians, were given at the National Theatre in November 1990 as a tribute to Charleson. The tickets sold out immediately, and the dress rehearsal was also packed. The proceeds from the performances were donated to the new HIV clinic at the Royal Free Hospital, and to scholarships in Charleson's name at LAMDA.
Hugh Hudson
Hugh Hudson
Hugh Hudson is an English film director. His best-known international success is the 1981 multiple Academy Award-winning film, Chariots of Fire.- Early life :...
, who had directed Charleson in Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
, dedicated his 1999 film My Life So Far
My Life So Far
My Life So Far is a 1999 film about the year in the life of a ten-year old Scottish boy. It was directed by Hugh Hudson, with screenplay by Simon Donald...
"In loving memory of Ian Charleson". The 2005 videos "Wings on Their Heels: The Making of Chariots of Fire" and "Chariots of Fire: A Reunion" are both also dedicated to his memory.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly... |
Gad | Televised stage musical |
| 1973 | Hopcraft Into Europe | Guillaume | TV play (ITV Saturday Night Theatre) |
| 1974 | A Private Matter | Anthony Black-Mathieson | TV play |
| Intimate Strangers | Tom Anson | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| 1975 | O Canada | John Ross | TV play (in the anthology series Churchill's People Churchill's People Churchill's People is series of 26 historical dramas produced by the BBC, based on Winston Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. They were first broadcast on BBC1 in 1974 and 1975.... ) |
| 1976 | The Paradise Run | Henry | TV movie |
| 1977 | Rock Follies of '77 Rock Follies Rock Follies, and its sequel, Rock Follies of '77, was a comedy musical drama shown on British television in the mid 1970s. The storyline, over 12 episodes and two series, followed the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the "Little Ladies" as they struggled for recognition and... |
Jimmy Smiles | TV series; episode: "The Empire" (singing role) |
| 1978 | Jubilee | Angel | Film |
| 1980 | Hamlet, Prince of Denmark | Fortinbras Fortinbras Fortinbras is the name of two minor fictional characters from William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. The more notable is a Norwegian crown prince with a few brief scenes in the play, who delivers the final lines that represent a hopeful future for the monarchy of Denmark and its subjects... |
TV movie |
| 1981 | All's Well that Ends Well All's Well That Ends Well All's Well That Ends Well is a play by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1604 and 1605, and was originally published in the First Folio in 1623.... |
Bertram | TV movie |
| Chariots of Fire Chariots of Fire Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice.... |
Eric Liddell Eric Liddell Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish athlete, rugby union international player, and missionary.Liddell was the winner of the men's 400 metres at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris... |
Film won the Academy Award for Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
|
| The Search for Alexander the Great | Hephaistion | TV mini-series | |
| Antony & Cleopatra | Octavius Caesar | TV movie | |
| 1981 | Ladykillers | Neville Heath Neville Heath Neville George Clevely Heath was an English killer who was responsible for the murders of at least two young women. He was executed in London in 1946.-Early career:Heath was born in Essex, England... |
TV series (murder trial reenactment) ep: "Make It a Double" |
| 1982 | Ascendancy Ascendancy (film) Ascendancy is a 1982 British film. It tells the story of a woman who is a member of the British landowning 'Ascendancy' in Ireland during World War I. Gradually, she learns about the Irish independence movement, and becomes involved with it.-Cast:... |
Lt. Ryder | Film won the Golden Bear Award Golden Bear According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear.... |
| ITV Playhouse ITV Playhouse ITV Playhouse was a UK comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a... : Something's Got to Give |
Ian Arthur | TV play | |
| Gandhi Gandhi (film) Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both... |
Charlie Andrews | Film won the Academy Award for Best Picture Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only... |
|
| 1983 | Reilly: Ace of Spies | Lockhart R. H. Bruce Lockhart Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart KCMG , was a journalist, author, secret agent, British diplomat in Moscow and Prague, and footballer... |
TV series (3 episodes) |
| 1984 | The Devil's Lieutenant | Lt. Dorfrichter | TV movie |
| Master of the Game Master of the Game Master of the Game is a novel by Sidney Sheldon, first published in hardback format in 1982. Spanning six generations in the lives of the fictional MacGregor/Blackwell family, the critically acclaimed novel debuted at number one on the New York Times Bestseller List... |
Jamie McGregor | TV mini-series | |
| Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes | Jeffson Brown | Film | |
| Scotland's Story | Prince Charles Edward Stewart | TV mini-series | |
| Louisiana | Clarence Dandridge | TV mini-series | |
| Oxbridge Blues Oxbridge Blues Oxbridge Blues is a British television mini-series, produced by the BBC and first shown in 1984. It is an anthology of seven 75-minute teleplays, most of which focus on relationships of one kind or another... |
Victor Geary | TV play | |
| The Sun Also Rises The Sun Also Rises The Sun Also Rises is a 1926 novel written by American author Ernest Hemingway about a group of American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the bullfights. An early and enduring modernist novel, it received... |
Mike Campbell | TV movie | |
| 1985 | Royal Night of 100 Stars | Himself | Singing performance, "You're Just in Love You're Just in Love "You're Just in Love" is a popular song by Irving Berlin. It was published in 1950 and was first performed by Ethel Merman and Russell Nype in Call Me Madam, a musical comedy that debuted at the Imperial Theatre in New York City on October 12 that year. The show ran for 644 performances. Ethel... " |
| A Month in the Country A Month in the Country (play) A Month in the Country is a comedy in five acts by Ivan Turgenev. It was written in France between 1848 and 1850 and was first published in 1855... |
Rakitin | TV movie | |
| 1986 | Car Trouble | Gerald Spong | Film |
| 1987 | Opera Opera (film) Opera is a 1987 Italian giallo film written and directed by Dario Argento. The film stars Cristina Marsillach, Urbano Barberini, and Ian Charleson. Cinematography is done by Ronnie Taylor while Brian Eno and Claudio Simonetti composed the film's score. The film was released in the United States... |
Marco | Film |
| 1988 | Codename: Kyril Codename: Kyril Codename: Kyril is a 208-minute British serial, first broadcast in 1988. It is a Cold War espionage drama, starring Ian Charleson, Edward Woodward, Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland, and Richard E. Grant... |
Kyril | TV movie |
| Troubles Troubles (novel) Troubles is a 1970 novel by the English author J.G. Farrell. It won the Lost Man Booker Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Troubles concerns the dilapidation of a once grand Irish hotel , in the midst of the political upheaval during the Irish War of Independence .The novel is the first... |
Maj. Brendan Archer | TV movie |
Major theatre credits
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Playwright | Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Look Back in Anger Look Back in Anger Look Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace... |
Jimmy Porter | Bernard Goss | John Osborne John Osborne John James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre.... |
Young Vic Theatre |
| The Comedy of Errors The Comedy of Errors The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's... |
Police Officer / Singer | Frank Dunlop Frank Dunlop (director) Frank Dunlop is a British theatre director.-Early life:Dunlop was born in Leeds, England to Charles Norman Dunlop and Mary Aarons... |
Shakespeare | Young Vic Theatre Company at the Edinburgh Festival Edinburgh Festival The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August... Young Vic Theatre |
|
| Bible One, Part I: The Genesis Mediaeval Mystery Plays: The Creation to Jacob Wakefield Mystery Plays The Wakefield or Towneley Mystery Plays are a series of thirty-two mystery plays based on the Bible most likely performed around the Feast of Corpus Christi probably in the town of Wakefield, England during the late Middle Ages until 1576... |
Angels / Noah's son | Frank Dunlop Frank Dunlop (director) Frank Dunlop is a British theatre director.-Early life:Dunlop was born in Leeds, England to Charles Norman Dunlop and Mary Aarons... |
Frank Dunlop (adapter) |
Young Vic Theatre Company at the Edinburgh Festival Edinburgh Festival The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August... Young Vic Theatre The Roundhouse The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway... |
|
| Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly... |
Gad | Frank Dunlop Frank Dunlop (director) Frank Dunlop is a British theatre director.-Early life:Dunlop was born in Leeds, England to Charles Norman Dunlop and Mary Aarons... |
Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of... Tim Rice Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus... |
Young Vic Theatre Company at the Edinburgh Festival Edinburgh Festival The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August... Young Vic Theatre The Roundhouse The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway... |
|
| 1973 | Hobson's Choice | Freddy Beenstock | Bernard Goss | Harold Brighouse Harold Brighouse Harold Brighouse was an English playwright and author whose best known play is Hobson's Choice. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and Stanley Houghton, of a group known as the Manchester School of dramatists.-Early life:Harold Brighouse was born in Eccles, Salford, the... |
Young Vic Theatre |
| 1973–74 | Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead |
Hamlet Guildenstern |
Bernard Goss | Tom Stoppard Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and... |
Young Vic Theatre |
| 1974 | Much Ado About Nothing Much Ado About Nothing Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero.... |
Claudio | Frank Dunlop Frank Dunlop (director) Frank Dunlop is a British theatre director.-Early life:Dunlop was born in Leeds, England to Charles Norman Dunlop and Mary Aarons... |
Shakespeare | Young Vic Theatre |
| 1974 | The Taming of the Shrew The Taming of the Shrew The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself... |
Lucentio | Frank Dunlop Frank Dunlop (director) Frank Dunlop is a British theatre director.-Early life:Dunlop was born in Leeds, England to Charles Norman Dunlop and Mary Aarons... |
Shakespeare | Young Vic Theatre Company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Brooklyn Academy of Music Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance.... , New York |
| Scapino Les Fourberies de Scapin Les Fourberies de Scapin is a three-act comedy by French playwright Molière. The title character Scapin is similar to the archetypical Scapino character. The play was first staged in 1671 in Paris.... |
Ottavio | Frank Dunlop Frank Dunlop (director) Frank Dunlop is a British theatre director.-Early life:Dunlop was born in Leeds, England to Charles Norman Dunlop and Mary Aarons... |
Molière Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature... Frank Dunlop |
||
| French Without Tears | Brian Curtis | Frank Dunlop Frank Dunlop (director) Frank Dunlop is a British theatre director.-Early life:Dunlop was born in Leeds, England to Charles Norman Dunlop and Mary Aarons... |
Terence Rattigan Terence Rattigan Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE was one of England's most popular 20th-century dramatists. His plays are generally set in an upper-middle-class background... |
||
| 1974 | The School for Scandal The School for Scandal The School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience... |
Moses | Robert Lang Robert Lang (actor) Robert Lang was an English actor of stage and television. Laurence Olivier invited him to join the new National Theatre Company, at the Old Vic, Robert Lang was already earning high praise as an actor. From 1971 until his death he was married to Ann Bell, best known for her portrayal of Marion... |
Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester... |
Cambridge Theatre Company (touring) |
| 1974 | Six Characters in Search of an Author Six Characters in Search of an Author Six Characters in Search of an Author is a play by the Italian writer Luigi Pirandello.The play is a satirical tragicomedy. It was first performed in 1921 at the Teatro Valle in Rome, to a very mixed reception, with shouts from the audience of "Manicomio!" .Subsequently the play enjoyed a much... |
Member of the Acting Company |
Richard Cottrell Richard Cottrell Richard Cottrell is an English theatre director. He has been the Director of the Cambridge Theatre Company and the Bristol Old Vic in England, and of the Nimrod Theatre in Sydney, Australia... |
Pirandello | Cambridge Theatre Company (touring) |
| 1974–75 | Hamlet Hamlet The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601... |
Hamlet | Richard Cottrell Richard Cottrell Richard Cottrell is an English theatre director. He has been the Director of the Cambridge Theatre Company and the Bristol Old Vic in England, and of the Nimrod Theatre in Sydney, Australia... |
Shakespeare | Cambridge Theatre Company (touring) |
| 1975–76 | Otherwise Engaged Otherwise Engaged Otherwise Engaged is a bleakly comic play by English playwright Simon Gray. The play previewed at the Oxford Playhouse and the Richmond Theatre, and then opened at the Queen's Theatre in London on 10 July 1975, with Alan Bates as the star and Harold Pinter as director, produced by Michael Codron.... |
Dave | Harold Pinter Harold Pinter Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to... |
Simon Gray Simon Gray Simon James Holliday Gray, CBE , was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years... |
Oxford Playhouse Richmond Theatre Richmond Theatre The present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of As You Like It, and is one of the finest surviving examples of the work of theatre... Queen's Theatre Queen's Theatre The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R... |
| 1977 | Julius Caesar Julius Caesar (play) The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against... |
Octavius Augustus Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian... |
John Schlesinger John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger, CBE was an English film and stage director and actor.-Early life:Schlesinger was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of Winifred Henrietta and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician... |
Shakespeare | National Theatre Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company... (Olivier Theatre) |
| Volpone Volpone Volpone is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy, black comedy and beast fable... |
Peregrine | Peter Hall | Ben Jonson Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems... |
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| The Hunchback of Notre Dame The Hunchback of Notre Dame The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered.-Background:... |
Captain Phoebus Captain Phoebus Captain Phoebus de Chateaupers is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. He is the Captain of the King's Archers. His name comes from Phoebus, the Greek god of the sun , with whom he shares handsome looks and skill at... |
Michael Bogdanov Michael Bogdanov Michael Bogdanov , is a British theatre director known for his work with new plays, modern reinterpretations of Shakespeare, musicals and work for Young People.-Early years:... |
Ken Hill | National Theatre Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company... (Cottlesloe Theatre) |
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| 1978–1979 | The Tempest The Tempest The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,... |
Ariel Ariel (The Tempest) Ariel is a spirit who appears in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Ariel is bound to serve the magician Prospero, who rescued him from the tree in which he was imprisoned by Sycorax, the witch who previously inhabited the island. Prospero greets disobedience with a reminder that he saved... |
Clifford Williams | Shakespeare | Royal Shakespeare Company Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across... , Stratford-upon-Avon Aldwych Theatre Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:... , London |
| The Taming of the Shrew The Taming of the Shrew The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself... |
Tranio | Michael Bogdanov Michael Bogdanov Michael Bogdanov , is a British theatre director known for his work with new plays, modern reinterpretations of Shakespeare, musicals and work for Young People.-Early years:... |
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| Love's Labour's Lost Love's Labour's Lost Love's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s, and first published in 1598.-Title:... |
Longaville | John Barton John Barton (director) John Bernard Adie Barton CBE is a theatrical director. He is the son of Sir Harold Montagu and Lady Joyce Barton. He married Anne Righter, a university lecturer, in 1968.... |
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| 1978–1981 | Piaf Piaf (play) Piaf is a play by Pam Gems that focuses on the life and career of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The biographical drama with music portrays the singer in a most unflattering light... |
Man at rehearsal / Pierre |
Howard Davies | Pam Gems Pam Gems Pam Gems was a British playwright. The author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by major European playwrights of the past, Gems is best known for the 1978 musical play Piaf.-Personal life:... |
The Other Place The Other Place (theatre) The Other Place was a black box theatre on Southern Lane, near to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It was owned and operated by the Royal Shakespeare Company.... , Stratford-upon-Avon Gulbenkian Studio, Newcastle Warehouse Theatre Warehouse Theatre The Warehouse Theatre is a professional producing theatre with one hundred seats in the centre of the London Borough of Croydon, south London, England based in an oak-beamed former cement Victorian warehouse... , London Aldwych Theatre Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:... , London Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916... , London |
| 1979 | Once in a Lifetime Once in a Lifetime (play) Once in a Lifetime is a play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, the first of eight on which they collaborated in the 1930s.-Plot:The satirical comedy focuses on the effect talking pictures have on the entertainment industry... |
Lawrence Vail | Trevor Nunn Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera... |
Moss Hart Moss Hart Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:... George Kaufman |
Royal Shakespeare Company Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across... at the Aldwych Theatre Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:... |
| The Innocent The Innocent (play) The Innocent is a 1979 play by Scottish playwright Tom McGrath. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Warehouse Theatre in London, opening on 24 May 1979... |
Joe Maguire | Howard Davies | Tom McGrath Tom McGrath (playwright) This article is about the Scottish playwright. For other people named Tom McGrath, see Thomas McGrath.Tom McGrath was a Scottish playwright and jazz pianist.... |
Warehouse Theatre Warehouse Theatre The Warehouse Theatre is a professional producing theatre with one hundred seats in the centre of the London Borough of Croydon, south London, England based in an oak-beamed former cement Victorian warehouse... |
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| 1982 | Guys and Dolls | Sky Masterson | Richard Eyre Richard Eyre Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre CBE is an English director of film, theatre, television, and opera.-Biography:Eyre was educated at Sherborne School, an independent school for boys in the market town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset in south-west England, followed by Peterhouse at the University... |
Frank Loesser Frank Loesser Frank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for... Abe Burrows Abe Burrows Abe Burrows was a Tony and Pulitzer-winning American humorist, author, and director for radio and the stage.-Early years:... Damon Runyon Damon Runyon Alfred Damon Runyon was an American newspaperman and writer.He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the... |
National Theatre Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company... (Olivier Theatre) |
| 1984–85 | Fool for Love Fool for Love (play) Fool for Love is a play written by American playwright/actor Sam Shepard.-Plot:The "fools" in the play are battling lovers at a Mojave Desert motel. May is hiding out at said motel when an old childhood friend and old flame, Eddie. Eddie tries to convince May to come back home with him and live in... |
Eddie | Peter Gill Peter Gill (playwright) Peter Gill, theatre director, playwright and former actor, was born in Cardiff, Wales, on 7 September 1939, son of George John Gill and his wife Margaret Mary .He was educated at St Illtyd's College, Cardiff.-Career:... |
Sam Shepard Sam Shepard Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child... |
National Theatre Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company... (Cottlesloe Theatre) Lyric Theatre |
| 1985–86 | After Aida After Aida After Aida , is a 1985 play-with-music by Julian Mitchell. It is about Giuseppe Verdi, and the pressure put upon him after his attempt to retire from composing... |
Boito | Howard Davies | Julian Mitchell Julian Mitchell Julian Mitchell FRSL , full name Charles Julian Humphrey Mitchell, is an English playwright, screenwriter and occasional novelist... |
Taliesin Theatre Taliesin Arts Centre The Taliesin Arts Centre is owned and managed by the University of Wales, Swansea and is located on the university campus. The venue hosts a broad programme of events including cinema screenings, an average of ten visiting exhibitions per year, and a variety of live performances, from dance and... , Swansea Swansea Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands... Old Vic Theatre |
| 1986 | Cricket Cricket (musical) Cricket, also called Cricket , is a short musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It was commissioned for Queen Elizabeth's 60th birthday celebration, and was first performed at Windsor Castle on 18 June 1986.... |
Donald | Trevor Nunn Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera... |
Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of... Tim Rice Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus... |
Windsor Castle Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it... |
| 1988 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955... |
Brick | Howard Davies | Tennessee Williams Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs... |
National Theatre Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company... (Lyttelton Theatre) |
| 1989 | Bent Bent (play) Bent is a 1979 play by Martin Sherman. It revolves around the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany, and takes place during and after the Night of the Long Knives.... |
Greta / George | Sean Mathias Sean Mathias Sean Gerard Mathias is a British theatre director, film director, writer and actor.Mathias was born in Swansea, south Wales. He is known for directing the film, Bent, and for directing highly acclaimed theatre productions in London, New York, Cape Town, Los Angeles and Sydney... |
Martin Sherman Martin Sherman Martin Sherman is an American dramatist and screenwriter, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Bent , which explores the persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust... |
Adelphi Theatre Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals... (benefit for Stonewall Stonewall (UK) Stonewall is a lesbian, gay and bisexual rights charity in the United Kingdom named after the Stonewall Inn of Stonewall riots fame. Now the largest gay equality organization not only in the UK but in Europe, it was formed in 1989 by political activists and others lobbying against section 28 of the... ) |
| Hamlet Hamlet The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601... |
Hamlet | Richard Eyre Richard Eyre Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre CBE is an English director of film, theatre, television, and opera.-Biography:Eyre was educated at Sherborne School, an independent school for boys in the market town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset in south-west England, followed by Peterhouse at the University... |
Shakespeare | National Theatre Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company... (Olivier Theatre) |
Discography
Three commercial recordings have been issued that include Charleson's singing:- The National Theatre cast album of Guys and Dolls (1982)
- Charleson singing Ariel's Songs from The TempestThe TempestThe Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
, issued by the Royal Shakespeare CompanyRoyal Shakespeare CompanyThe Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
; music by Guy WoolfendenGuy WoolfendenGuy Anthony Woolfenden OBE is an English composer and conductor.-Biography:Woolfenden was born in Ipswich and educated at Westminster Abbey Choir School, London, and Whitgift School, Croydon. He studied music at Christ's College in Cambridge and went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music... - The Original London Cast Album of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor DreamcoatJoseph and the Amazing Technicolor DreamcoatJoseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
(ensemble only)
Charleson also sings a solo ballad on an episode ("The Empire") of the television series Rock Follies of '77
Rock Follies
Rock Follies, and its sequel, Rock Follies of '77, was a comedy musical drama shown on British television in the mid 1970s. The storyline, over 12 episodes and two series, followed the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the "Little Ladies" as they struggled for recognition and...
, available on DVD.
Reference
- Ian McKellen, Alan Bates, Hugh Hudson, et al. For Ian Charleson: A Tribute. London: Constable and CompanyConstable & RobinsonConstable & Robinson Ltd. is an independent British book publisher of fiction and non-fiction works. Founded in Edinburgh in 1795 by Archibald Constable as Constable & Co. it is probably the oldest independent publisher in the English-speaking world still operating under the name of its...
, 1990. ISBN 0-09-470250-0
External links
- Bio on Turner Classic MoviesTurner Classic MoviesTurner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
- Essay by Alan BatesAlan BatesSir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
from For Ian Charleson: A Tribute - Essay by Ian McKellenIan McKellenSir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
from For Ian Charleson: A Tribute - Eric Liddell's Chariots of Fire speech written by Ian Charleson himself
- Ian Charleson in Britannica online