 In earlier decades tall, blond Charles Dance would have become a big romantic star, instead of an intermittently interesting character actor. Despite his patrician persona, he had a disturbed lower-middle-class childhood in Plymouth (sometimes given as his birthplace). Born in Redditch on 10 October 1946, he trained at art school at Plymouth and later Leicester, he was privately coached in acting and joined the RSC in 1975, entering films in For Your Eyes Only (d. John Glen, 1981). His role as a British soldier in turbulent India in the TV miniseries, The Jewel in the Crown (ITV, 1984), made him famous, establishing him as a thinking woman's sex symbol. However, his film roles have not generally promoted this image, though there were elements of it in White Mischief (d. Michael Radford, 1987), in which he played a corrupt British colonial. His international films include The Last Action Hero (US, d. John McTiernan, 1993) and Michael Collins (US, d. Neil Jordan, 1996), but these have been in supporting roles. In Britain, his best work was as Meryl Streep's sorely tried diplomat husband in Plenty (d. Fred Schepisi, 1985), and a subdued cameo as Derek Du Pré in Hilary and Jackie (d. Anand Tucker, 1998). He seems to choose his roles carefully and remains a star manqué as far as the cinema goes. Brian McFarlane, Encyclopedia of British Film
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