Ian Charleson

Ian Charleson (11 August 1949 – 6 January 1990) was a Scottish stage and screen 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. He performed numerous Shakespearean roles, and in 1991 the annual Ian Charleson Awards were established, particularly in honour of his final Hamlet. The awards 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 he 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, to publicise the condition. He won a scholarship to and attended Edinburgh's Royal High School; He also sang solo as a boy soprano in church and in the Royal High School choir, which performed on the radio and in Edinburgh Festival concerts.

Charleson won a scholarship to the University of Edinburgh, which he attended from 1967 to 1970, obtaining a three-year Scottish MA Ordinary degree. He changed his study concentration accordingly, In addition to his acting roles at Edinburgh University, he also directed many plays there, and he designed costumes for several as well.

Stage career

LAMDA, Young Vic, and Cambridge Theatre Company After graduating in 1970 from the University of Edinburgh – where he played leads in numerous productions, including several Shakespeare plays – Charleson won a place in the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), where he studied for two years.

From LAMDA, Charleson was hired by Frank Dunlop's Young Vic Theatre Company. He made his professional stage debut in 1972 with the Young Vic, as one of the ensemble of brothers in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1972), which was also televised in the UK that same year by Granada Television. In 1973, he starred as Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger, and that year he was also Hamlet and later Guildenstern in the first revival of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

West End and National Theatre debuts, Royal Shakespeare Company Charleson made his West End 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.

National Theatre spotlight

In the 1980s, Charleson won particular critical and popular acclaim for his starring roles at the National Theatre. He was a glowingly reviewed Sky Masterson in Richard Eyre's enormously successful revival of the musical Guys and Dolls (1982),

He received an Olivier Award nomination for Actor of the Year in a New Play as Eddie in Sam Shepard's gritty and very physical two-person drama, Fool for Love (1984–85), opposite Julie Walters as his on-again off-again love object. And he was a highly praised Brick, the repressed homosexual protagonist in Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1988), opposite Lindsay Duncan. Director Richard Eyre, with some initial misgivings based on Charleson's health, had brought him in to replace Daniel Day-Lewis, who had abandoned the production. audience members and the rest of the public were told that he was recovering from a sinus operation.

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 Charleson was truly the Best Actor of 1989, and he gave Charleson his statuette. 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). He 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.

He had a similar 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 numerous Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

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 Fire and Gandhi; nor did he 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. His 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 Golden Bear-winning "Irish question" film Ascendancy (1982), which starred Julie Covington; a small role as the abusive drunk Jeffson Brown in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan (1984); a comedic turn as Gerald Spong in the rather ill-fated Car Trouble (1985), opposite his friend Julie Walters; and opera director Marco in Dario Argento's horror film Opera (1987).

Television: Shakespeare, TV films, and teleplays Charleson performed in three BBC Television Shakespeare films: as Fortinbras in Hamlet (1980) starring Derek Jacobi; the protagonist Bertram in the acclaimed production of All's Well That Ends Well (1981); and Octavius Caesar in Antony & Cleopatra (1981) opposite his frequent co-star Jane Lapotaire as Cleopatra.

His other notable made-for-television film roles include: the titular Lieutenant Dorfrichter in the film adaptation of M. Fagyas's Austro-Hungarian pre-war mystery The Devil's Lieutenant (1983); Rakitin in Turgenev's A Month in the Country (1985) opposite Eleanor Bron; Kyril in the spy thriller Codename: Kyril (1988) opposite Edward Woodward, Richard E. Grant, and Peter Vaughan; and the protagonist Major Brendan Archer in the faithful screen adaptation of J. G. Farrell's Booker Award-winning Troubles (1988), opposite Ian Richardson.

Charleson's notable starring television roles in the 1970s include: Anthony in A Private Matter (1974), his first starring screen role, opposite Rachel Kempson; slick and cruel John Ross preying on Scottish immigrants to the New World in O Canada (1975) in the anthology series Churchill's People; and one of two British soldiers who find military life nearly unbearable in The Paradise Run (1976), directed by Michael Apted.

In the 1980s his notable starring TV roles included: Alexander the Great's close companion Hephaistion in the PBS miniseries The Search for Alexander the Great; serial killer Neville Heath in an episode of the murder-trial reenactment series Ladykillers (1981); naive Scot turned powerful South African magnate Jamie MacGregor in the miniseries Master of the Game (1984); romantic lead Clarence Dandridge in the period miniseries Louisiana (1984) opposite Margot Kidder; and protagonist Victor Geary in the stylish and clever Oxbridge Blues (1984), written by Frederic Raphael, directed by James Cellan Jones, and co-starring Amanda Redman, Rosalyn Landor, and Malcolm Stoddard.

Singing work Charleson used his tenor singing voice in musicals and other performances. He did notable solo singing work in productions including Much Ado About Nothing (1974), an episode of Rock Follies of '77 (1977), The Tempest (1978–1979), Piaf (1978–1980), 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.

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 Tempest, issued by the Royal Shakespeare Company; music by Guy Woolfenden The Original London Cast Album of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (ensemble only)

He also sings a solo ballad on an episode ("The Empire") of the television series Rock Follies of '77.

Death Charleson, who was gay, was diagnosed with HIV in 1986 during the AIDS pandemic, and died of AIDS-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 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, to publicise the condition.

At the 1984 Laurence Olivier Awards, he was nominated for Actor of the Year in a New Play, for his starring role as Eddie in Fool for Love.

In The Sunday Times, John Peter named Charleson the Best Male Actor of 1989 for his Hamlet, along with Ian McKellen for his Iago in Othello.

In his honour, the annual Ian Charleson Awards were established in 1991, to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30.

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, Ruby Wax, and David Rintoul, contributed to a book of reminiscences about him, called For Ian Charleson: A Tribute, published in October 1990. 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. The film stars Andrew Scott as Charleson and co-stars Olivia Colman as his doctor. The screenplay is by Stephen Beresford, the director is Simon Stone, the producer is Andrea Occhipinti, and the studio is StudioCanal.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1972 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Gad Televised stage musical, ensemble role 1973 Hopcraft into Europe Guillaume TV play (ITV Sunday Night Theatre), main cast 1974 A Private Matter (ITV Sunday Night Theatre) Anthony Black-Mathieson TV play, starring role Intimate Strangers Tom Anson TV series (2 episodes), small role 1975 O Canada John Ross TV play (in the anthology series Churchill's People), leading role 1976 The Paradise Run Henry TV movie, leading role 1977 Rock Follies of '77 Jimmy Smiles TV series; episode: "The Empire", singing role 1978 Jubilee Angel Feature film, supporting role 1980 Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Fortinbras BBC Television Shakespeare 1981 All's Well that Ends Well Bertram BBC Television Shakespeare, lead role Chariots of Fire Eric Liddell Feature film, starring role, film won the Academy Award for Best Picture The Search for Alexander the Great Hephaistion TV mini-series, supporting role Antony & Cleopatra Octavius Caesar BBC Television Shakespeare 1981 Ladykillers Neville Heath TV series (murder trial reenactment) ep: "Make It a Double", starring role 1982 ITV Playhouse: Something's Got to Give Ian Arthur TV play, lead role Gandhi Charlie Andrews Feature film, main cast, film won the Academy Award for Best Picture 1983 Ascendancy Lt. Ryder Feature film, supporting role, film won the Golden Bear Award Reilly: Ace of Spies Lockhart TV miniseries (3 episodes), small role 1984 The Devil's Lieutenant Lt. Dorfrichter TV movie, title role Master of the Game Jamie McGregor TV mini-series, leading role Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes Jeffson Brown Feature film, small role Scotland's Story Prince Charles Edward Stewart TV mini-series, small role Louisiana Clarence Dandridge TV mini-series, leading role Oxbridge Blues Victor Geary TV play, ep. "Oxbridge Blues", starring role The Sun Also Rises Mike Campbell TV movie, small role 1985 Royal Night of 100 Stars Himself Singing performance, "You're Just in Love" A Month in the Country Rakitin TV movie, leading role 1986 Car Trouble Gerald Spong Feature film, leading role 1987 Opera Marco Feature film, main cast 1988 Codename: Kyril Kyril TV movie, title role Troubles Maj. Brendan Archer TV movie, starring role

Major theatre credits Year Title Role Director Playwright Theatre 1972 Bible One, Part I: The Genesis Mediaeval Mystery Plays: The Creation to Jacob Angels / Noah's son Frank Dunlop Frank Dunlop (adapter) Young Vic Theatre Company at the Edinburgh International FestivalYoung Vic TheatreThe Roundhouse Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Gad Frank Dunlop Andrew Lloyd Webber Tim Rice Young Vic Theatre Company at the Edinburgh Festival Young Vic TheatreThe Roundhouse The Comedy of Errors Police Officer / Singer Frank Dunlop Shakespeare Young Vic Theatre Company at the Edinburgh FestivalYoung Vic Theatre 1973 Look Back in Anger Jimmy Porter Bernard Goss John Osborne Young Vic Theatre Hobson's Choice Freddy Beenstock Bernard Goss Harold Brighouse Young Vic Theatre 1973–74 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Hamlet Guildenstern Bernard Goss Tom Stoppard Young Vic Theatre 1974 Much Ado About Nothing Claudio Frank Dunlop Shakespeare Young Vic Theatre 1974 The Taming of the Shrew Lucentio Frank Dunlop Shakespeare Young Vic Theatre Company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York Scapino Ottavio Frank Dunlop Molière Frank Dunlop French Without Tears Brian Curtis Frank Dunlop Terence Rattigan 1974 The School for Scandal Moses Robert Lang Richard Brinsley Sheridan Cambridge Theatre Company (touring) 1974 Six Characters in Search of an Author Member of the Acting Company Richard Cottrell Pirandello Cambridge Theatre Company (touring) 1974–75 Hamlet Hamlet Richard Cottrell Shakespeare Cambridge Theatre Company (touring)1975–76 Otherwise Engaged Dave Harold Pinter Simon Gray Oxford Playhouse Richmond Theatre Queen's Theatre 1977 Julius Caesar Octavius John Schlesinger Shakespeare National Theatre (Olivier Theatre) Volpone Peregrine Peter Hall Ben Jonson The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Captain Phoebus Michael Bogdanov Ken Hill National Theatre (Cottlesloe Theatre) 1978–1979 The Tempest Ariel Clifford Williams Shakespeare Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon Aldwych Theatre, London The Taming of the Shrew Tranio Michael Bogdanov Love's Labour's Lost Longaville John Barton 1978–1980 Piaf Man at rehearsal / Pierre Howard Davies Pam Gems The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon Gulbenkian Studio, Newcastle Warehouse Theatre, London Aldwych Theatre, London Wyndham's Theatre, London 1979 Once in a Lifetime Lawrence Vail Trevor Nunn Moss HartGeorge Kaufman Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre The Innocent Joe Maguire Howard Davies Tom McGrath Warehouse Theatre 1982 Guys and Dolls Sky Masterson Richard Eyre Frank Loesser Abe Burrows Damon Runyon National Theatre (Olivier Theatre) 1984–85 Fool for Love Eddie Peter Gill Sam Shepard National Theatre (Cottlesloe Theatre)Lyric Theatre 1985–86 After Aida Boito Howard Davies Julian Mitchell Taliesin Theatre, Swansea Old Vic Theatre 1986 Cricket Donald Trevor Nunn Andrew Lloyd Webber Tim Rice Windsor Castle 1988 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Brick Howard Davies Tennessee Williams National Theatre (Lyttelton Theatre) 1989 Bent Greta / George Sean Mathias Martin Sherman Adelphi Theatre (benefit for Stonewall) Hamlet Hamlet Richard Eyre Shakespeare National Theatre (Olivier Theatre)