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Craig Charles
in May 2009
Born	Craig Joseph Charles (1964-07-11) 11 July 1964 (age 60) Liverpool, England
Occupation(s)	Actor, broadcaster, author, voice-over artist, comedian, DJ
Years active	1981–present
Spouse(s)	Cathy Tyson ​(m. 1984⁠–⁠1989)​ (divorced) Jackie Fleming ​(m. 1997)​

Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian, author, poet, television presenter and radio DJ. He is best known for playing Dave Lister in the British cult-favourite science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf, and Lloyd Mullaney in the long-running soap opera Coronation Street.

Charles first appeared on television as a performance poet, which lead to minor presenting roles. After finding fame in Red Dwarf, he regularly featured on national television, with celebrity appearances on many popular shows of the time, while he continued to host a wide variety of programmes. After a substantial setback in 1994, Charles re-established his career with a sell-out national tour of his poignant stand-up comedy act.

Charles notably presented the gladiator-style game show Robot Wars. His acting credits include playing inmate Eugene Buffy in the powerful ITV drama The Governor, and starring roles in the British films Fated and Clubbing to Death. As well as acting in Coronation Street and occasional Red Dwarf series, Charles continues to host his Funk and Soul Show on the radio, with regular performances at clubs and festivals nationally.

Early life

Craig Charles was born to a mixed race family in Liverpool; his father was black, born in Guyana, and his mother was white Irish. He grew up on the Cantril Farm estate and went to school with Micky Quinn, who became a professional footballer. Charles has two brothers, Dean and Emile. He attended West Derby Comprehensive School followed by Childwall Hall College of Further Education.

Career

Early career

Charles began his career as a contemporary and urban performance poet on the British cabaret circuit. His performances were considered original, with Charles described as having a natural ironic wit which appealed to talent scouts. He began to appear on television, including the day-time chat show Pebble Mill at One and the late-night comedy programme, Saturday Live, and later became a presenter of children's television programmes, such as What's That Noise on BBC1. He appeared, weekly, as a John Cooper Clarke-style 'punk poet' on the BBC1 pop music television programme The Oxford Road Show.

Red Dwarf fame

Charles acquired cult status in 1988, in his acting debut as the Liverpudlian slob Dave Lister, in BBC2's long-running science fiction comedy television series Red Dwarf. This was a role he played in all eight series, until 1999, and in the 2009 three part special, Back to Earth, for television channel Dave. Charles' younger brother Emile Charles guest-starred in the Series 3 episode Timeslides. Charles has resumed his role for Red Dwarf Series X, which is due to air on Dave from September 2012. The audiobook edition of the Red Dwarf novel Last Human is read by Charles.

Coronation Street

In 2005, Charles joined the cast of ITV's long-running soap opera Coronation Street, playing philandering taxicab driver Lloyd Mullaney. In November 2011, Charles took a break from Coronation Street to film a new series of Red Dwarf. He is due to return to The Street in early 2012.

Other television work

Charles has appeared briefly in a number of television shows such as EastEnders, Holby City, The Bill, Lexx, The 10 Percenters and Doctors. He was also involved in the highly acclaimed, but controversial, mockumentary Ghostwatch in 1992. He has appeared on celebrity editions of University Challenge, Can't Cook, Won't Cook and The Weakest Link, and comedy panel shows such as Have I Got News For You and They Think It's All Over. Charles was a team captain on the sci-fi quiz show series Space Cadets (1997) on Channel 4. Charles' other acting work includes playing the title role in the short-lived Channel 4 pirate sitcom Captain Butler (1997).

Charles has presented a number of television programmes, most notably at the end of the 1990s and early 2000s. Among his credits as a presenter are the virtual reality game show Cyberzone (1993) on BBC2; the late-night entertainment show Funky Bunker (1997) on ITV; the reality television show Jailbreak (2000) on Channel 5; the late-night chat show Weapons of Mass Distraction (2004) on ITV; and, most notably, the cult TV hit Robot Wars on BBC2 from 1998–2003, and on Channel 5 from 2003–2004.

Charles provided the voice-over for the UK version of the Japanese hit TV show Takeshi's Castle, shown on Challenge and Ftn between 2002 and 2004. In 2005, Charles participated in the Channel 4 reality sports game show, The Games, coming fourth overall in the men's competition.

Stand-up comedy

Charles returned to stand-up comedy between 1995 and 2002, touring his one-man adult-rated shows nationally, and releasing the videos Craig Charles: Live on Earth (1995) and Sickbag (2000). Charles also appeared in the pantomime Dick Whittington at the Hull New Theatre, in 1997.

Radio work

In 1990, Charles could be heard on the London Radio Station Kiss 100 as the Breakfast show presenter. Since 2002, he has been a DJ on BBC 6 Music, presenting The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show, a funk and soul music radio show. Craig also sits in for Janice Long, Steve Wright and Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2.

Film roles

Charles starred in two feature films in 2007: the gangster movie Clubbing to Death and fantasy film Fated.

Writing

In 1993, Craig worked with Russell Bell on the Craig Charles Almanac of Total Knowledge writing about his 'streetwise' sense of humour on a range of topics, from the world's most embarrassing stories to how to explain the mysteries of the universe. In 1997, he and Russell wrote Charles' Red Dwarf character's book The Log, in which Lister decides to leave a log detailing mankind's greatest achievements. In 1998, Craig worked with Philippa Drakeford on his next book, No Other Blue, an illustrated collection of Charles' poetry on the subjects of prison, his mother's final illness, love, and politics at home and abroad.

In 2000, Charles wrote his first autobiography about his experiences growing up in Liverpool, titled No Irish, No Niggers. In 2007, he announced he would release his autobiography, planned for March 2008, published by Hodder Headline and titled On the Rocks, which would cover the recent incidents in his life. The autobiography would be based on much of his journal, which he said he kept while in rehab.

Charles has been a monthly columnist for the Liverpool Echo newspaper.

Personal life

Relationships

This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. Find sources: "Craig Charles" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In 1984, at the age of 20, Charles married English actress Cathy Tyson. Their son Jack Charles was born in 1988. The couple divorced in 1989.

Afterward, Charles dated Irish singer-songwriter Suzanne Rhatigan, co-writing some lyrics for her album To Hell with Love and directing a video for her. Rhatigan also appeared alongside Charles in the fourth series of Red Dwarf for the episode "Camille".

In August 1997, Charles married his second wife, Jackie, with whom he has two daughters Anna-Jo (born 1998) and Nellie (born 2003).

Rape allegation

In 1994, Charles and a friend were arrested and remanded in custody for several months on a rape charge. In February 1995, both Charles and his friend were acquitted in their trial. While in prison, Charles was attacked by a man wielding a knife. During this time, BBC Two were showing repeats of every Red Dwarf episode, and most episodes were edited as the BBC weren't keen to show Charles engaged in any sexual activity. After being cleared, Charles spoke of the need to restore anonymity for those accused of rape. He stated that "the fact that my name and address along with my picture can appear on the front of the papers before the so-called victim has even signed a statement proves that anonymity for rape defendants is a must and that the law must be changed."

Drug use

In June 2006, allegations of drug use resulted in Charles being suspended from Coronation Street until February 2007, and from BBC 6 Music (returning to present the show from 4 November 2006), while the production companies investigated allegations of crack cocaine usage. Charles was arrested in August 2006 on suspicion of possession of a Class A drug, and later released on bail pending further enquiries. On 22 September 2006, he accepted a caution for possession of a Class A drug.

Filmography

Bibliography

• 1993 Craig Charles Almanac of Total Knowledge by Craig Charles and Russell Bell (Penguin Books Ltd)
• 1997 The Log by Craig Charles and Russell Bell (Penguin Books Ltd)
• 1998 No Other Blue by Craig Charles and Philippa Drakeford (Penguin Books Ltd)

Autobiographies

• 2000 No Irish, No Niggers (Penguin Books Ltd, unpublished)
• 2008 On the Rocks (Hodder Headline, unpublished)

References

1. "Actor Craig's tribute to much-loved father, Liverpool Echo, 22 November 2005".
2. Craig Charles bbc.co.uk
3. "Education: Passed/Failed Craig Charles, The Independent, 11 February 1999".
4. "Craig Charles returns to Birmingham for the Mostly Jazz festival, Birmingham Mail, 2 July 2011".
5. "'Hull In Print: The show must go on', Hull County Council, 2009".
6. "Charles writing Autobiography". Official Red Dwarf Website. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
7. "The trauma of being falsely accused". London: BBC News. 31 July 2003. Retrieved 27 December 2006.
8. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19950306/ai_n13969745. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
9. "Charles to make Street comeback". London: BBC News. 29 September 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2006.
10. "Actor Charles given drugs caution". London: BBC News. 22 September 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2006.
11. "Craig Charles CV, United Agents".
12. "Charles, speaking to Simon Fitzpatrick and Ema Lea, PlanetSmeg, 2010".

External links

• Craig Charles at IMDb
• Template:Worldcat id
• The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show BBC 6Music

Template:Persondata

• Use dmy dates from February 2012
• 1964 births
• Living people
• Actors from Liverpool
• Comedians from Liverpool
• Black British actors
• English actors
• English comedians
• English people of Irish descent
• English poets
• British radio DJs
• English soap opera actors
• English television actors
• English television presenters
• English writers
• People acquitted of rape