|
|
|
26 January 2010
16 March 2009
23 September 2008
10 July 2008
26 May 2008
31 January 2008
16 January 2008 –
9 October 2007 – 'Shadowlands' opening night accolades
5 August 2007 – UPDATE FROM CHARLIE
21 March 2007 – UPDATE FROM CHARLIE
28 June 2006 – Charlie received an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) on the Queen's Birthday Honours List. (Her Majesty's official birthday was celebrated on 17 June.) This is his first honour and long overdue. WAY TO GO, CHARLIE!
31 March 2006 – The discerning Broadcasting Press Guild Awards have honored Charlie with its Best Actor award today for his role as Mr. Tulkinghorn in BBC1's 'Bleak House'.
28 March 2006 – Charlie will appear with Suzi Quatro in 'The Exonerated' today (March 28) through April 2 at Riverside Studios in London.
28 December 2005 – BBC's production of 'BLEAK HOUSE' will be airing on PBS in N. America starting January 22. The miniseries stars, among many others, Charlie as Mr. Tulkinghorn and Gillian Anderson as Lady Dedlock, and will appear in six parts concluding February 26. Charlie tells me that around the same time he and Gillian will be cruising the US chat/entertainment show circuit to promote the PBS broadcast, so keep your eyes open for them, US Angels!
24 November 2005 – From December 1st-3rd, Charlie will be taking part in a reading of British playwright Harold Pinter's "Celebration" at the Albery Theatre in London. If you're interested in attending, please visit the London Theatre Guide for performance and ticket information.
17 October 2005 –
15 October 2005 – For Charlie's birthday on 10 October, we Angels decided to make a contribution to one of his favorite charity organizations: Naomi House Children's Hospice in southeast England. My personal thanks to every Angel who helped us pool £300.00 for Naomi House in Charlie's name. And in case you're wondering, Charlie is pleased with our gift as well! Here, in his own words, is the latest from Charlie:
For the curious -- or the strategically located looky-loos in the crowd -- I've learned from the Internet Movie Database that Starter for Ten (an adaptation of David Nicholls' bestseller of the same title) is currently being filmed at Bristol University and environs. And a heads up on Ladies in Lavender, which will have its US DVD release on December 6! See Amazon.com to pre-order. Finally, congratulations and celebrations to our Favourite Director on the film award for Ladies in Lavender! Clever people these French, non?
16 September 2005 – The Message Board will be inaccessible for a major portion of the day today. This is a scheduled outage, part of Network54's continued upgrade of its servers and software, and nothing to do with the Charles Dance site. Apologies for the inconvenience!
16 August 2005 – I've just had a wonderful update from Charlie! He tells me Ladies in Lavender is still enjoying enormous success and has now grossed some $16m world-wide, with all territories sold and some still to open. It's re-couped its cost and is about to go into profit. No mean feat for a low-budget independent British film that was made for grown-ups...but with such talent at the helm, this Angel isn't surprised! He says that he continues to introduce Ladies in Lavender at various film festivals. This week it's Copenhagen, and after that he'll be chairing a debate at the Edinburgh Festival about the exploitation of lower paid members of the film business. Then, on Sunday 21st August, he's introducing Ladies in Lavender at the Rex Cinema in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, with a Q&A; afterwards. This, the Rex says, is their "best-selling film (over 2,500 since January. Seating capacity 294)". Sorry, Angels, but on checking I find this engagement is already sold out! Charlie reports he's now getting his next directorial project off the ground, an adaptation of Alice Thomas Ellis' THE INN AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD. (If you're not familiar with the story, you can read reviews and buy a copy through Amazon.) He hopes to start shooting sometime next year. Shooting has finished for Charlie's villainous role in 'Bleak House' for the BBC. He says he believes it will air in the UK in October. He's also done his bit ('bit' being the operative word, he says) for Woody Allen. As yet the film has no title other than Woody Allen's Summer Project. As Doc recently noted on the message board, Charlie will be going to Rome next month to play one of Pope John Paul II's cardinals in a four-hour mini-series for CBS. It stars John Voight and Cary Elwes; Charlie says the other parts are cameos. After that he has a "risque" role in the British film adaptation of David Nicholls' best-seller STARTER FOR TEN. See this link at Amazon UK for more about this book. On top of all this he's doing a couple of evenings of a recital, written by pianist Lucy Parham, about the life of Robert Schumann. I think describing Charlie as "busier than a one-armed paper hanger" at the moment is an understatement...But there's no denying that his love of his craft gives us Angels plenty to look forward to!
12 January 2005 – Charlie recently let me know that Ladies in Lavender has been picked up for US distribution by Roadside Attractions. Gretty, our resident film authority and general Angel in-the-know, illuminated for us: "Roadside has distributed such box-office hits as Fahrenheit 9/11, Motorcycle Diaries, Control Room, Super Size Me, Remember Me (French language), Bowling for Columbine, and a very big MGM-made special film, Walk on Water. These are just for this year, although Bowling... is a holdover from 2003, due to Moore's hit Fahrenheit 9/11. Charlie is grateful to everyone who asked Sony to pick up distribution. The US release date for Ladies in Lavender is yet to be announced.
27 December 2004 – ACTION ALERT! Warm holiday greetings from Charlie, Angels! In a recent phone call, Charlie mentioned that Ladies in Lavender will be premiering at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 16, 2005. (This is a correction; I originally said it was the 17th which is wrong. Also, Doc Kathryn has confirmed with the Film Festival that LiL will also be screening on January 13th...So there will be TWO screenings!) Charlie then said they still don't have a distributor in the USA. Although they're schmoozing with Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) for a distribution deal, nothing solid has yet materialized...which means there's no telling when we might see a stateside release! I've since learned that SPC acquisition reps will be attending next month's film festival. (It's what they do). However, it's my considered opinion that we Angels can raise Sony's interest level in LiL beforehand with a letter-writing campaign, and Charlie agrees! Here's my idea: we each SPC and urge them to pick up the US distribution rights for Ladies in Lavender. What to write? Well, SPC says they look for "director-driven, fresh, original, often sophisticated stories that can touch contemporary audiences" -- so if you've already seen Ladies in Lavender, tell them how much you enjoyed it and why you think Sony would be the perfect US distributors. I encourage overseas Angels to write as well! Even if you haven't seen LiL yet, you can mention the other films Sony Classics have produced/distributed in the US that you may have seen, which include "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Nil by Mouth", and "Dark Blue World"!! Or simply say you're a great fan of Mr. Dance and you're hopeful SPC will distribute his directorial debut in the USA. Basically, whet their appetite for LiL's premiere at next month's film festival. Compliment and thank them for considering adding LiL to their stable for US distribution. And it goes without saying but I will anyway -- be polite! :) This action has Charlie's seal of approval (he was very enthusiastic about it) so I hope you'll take a few minutes to write to Sony Pictures Classics and help ensure Ladies in Lavender is distributed in the US.
23 October 2004 – Let's hear it for our favourite director! As all of you know, Ladies in Lavender has been chosen for The Royal Film Performance 2004. It premiers on 8th November in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen at Odeon Leicester Square, London, in aid of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund. So...would you like to attend? (Silly question...) If you're already on the phone/computer booking a flight, you'll also want to visit Splendid! Tickets: Royal Film Performance 2004, Ladies in Lavender for event ticket information. Go forth and applaud rapturously!
13 July 2004 – Ladies in Lavender news from Charlie, who writes: "Judi [that's Dame Judi to the rest of us! - contact] and I opened the Taormino Festival in Sicily with a gala screening of Ladies in Lavender. This was in a Greek Amphitheatre that seats around two thousand people, a screen the size of Westminster Abbey, and stars twinkling above us. Heady stuff, I can tell you! The film received a rapturous reception and we picked up a rave review in Variety that I could almost have written myself. We then had a duff review in Screen. Well that's life, you can't please all of the people all of the time. However, the film is being talked about in the most glowing terms and most of the world territories have been sold. The big one, namely 'Uncle Sam', will hopefully happen at the Toronto Festival in September. Meanwhile we had a screening for the UK distributors and the cast and crew in London recently which also went down a storm. The official opening is scheduled for November 19, with a premiere happening a couple of days before that. Whilst I would rather it were sooner, we don't want to get caught up with a load of mega-budget block-busters which are due to open before that. "If at least one of 'The Great Dames' (if not both of them!) don't pick up an award I'll eat my hat! They are so wonderful and incredibly moving - so take lots of tissues when you see it! "Meanwhile I've just done a bit of acting for an Italian Telvision bio-pic on one of the Vatican's good guys, Don Bosco. Needless to say I play the quite nasty Prefect of Turin. I needed to put a few Euros in the bank, don't you know! "I'm now writing 'The making of....' to coincide hopefully with the release of the film. Not much other acting around at the moment, but when there is I'll let you know." For several photos and an interest piece about the LiL filming that took place in Cadgwith Cove, Cornwall last September, go here: Ladies in Lavender. (Very pretty place, Cadgwith. You can also rent a cottage on this site!) And see Lavender Ladies Light Up the Town for more about the film crew's activities, plus a nice photo of Charlie with Judi Dench.
16 March 2004 – I received a nice letter from Charlie today, and in it he updates us on his film, Ladies in Lavender. Rather than try to paraphrase I'll just let him tell everyone in his own words: 'Ladies In Lavender is almost put to bed, and I screen it for the Cannes selectors on Friday and then again in Paris next week. Fingers crossed! I am very pleased with how the film has turned out. Apart from a couple of award winning performances from 'the Dames' (Maggie Smith and Judi Dench), Nigel Hess, our composer, has written some glorious music, most of which is played by the great Joshua Bell and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Sony Classic are to release the soundtrack and a concert is planned to coincide with the opening (don't know when that is yet) featuring the music from the film.' I know for a fact that Charlie's been pouring heart and soul into this project, and from what I hear, the result is outstanding. Let's keep our wings crossed for him and Ladies in Lavender. First Cannes, then the world!!
14 March 2004 – The Message Board has been unstable for a few days now. Despite an e-mail from myself and numerous questions posted to their Support Forum from other board owners, Network54, who host our board and many others, are not answering any queries on the status of their servers. This utter lack of customer service is something I will be addressing with Network54...whenever they show their faces again. Onto other things. Some of you may have heard, from myself or elsewhere, that I was planning on turning care of this website over to Doc (Kathryn). The reasons for that are long and complicated, and are moot in any case, as I've decided to continue handling the site myself. But let me reiterate two points for those who might not have got it yet: The Message Board is NOT going away. There was never any danger of either of those things happening. I don't care who you heard it from. I never said it. I would never allow the site and/or the message board to just vanish forever without prior notice. If you thought that could happen then you don't know me! Anyway, what you will find 'new and different' is that a PayPal Donate button now graces the bottom of the Homepage, along with a link to my explanation of the need for this. I hope you'll read it (some of the statistics are interesting, if you like that stuff), and perhaps even find a way to contribute. If not, don't feel bad. I know what it's like not to have pocket change! :) Now, quitcher frettin', quitcher moanin', and get back to enjoying the Homepage!!
9 February 2004 – The auction of celebrity doodles on Ebay (including Charlie's) has now been announced to begin on February 13, 2004. At the moment you can check out the "National Doodle Day" Ebay Auction info page or, for more information about the event, go to http://www.nationaldoodleday.org.uk/. Today I've also received a copy of the doodle Charlie has contributed for your viewing pleasure. It's quite sweet! Happy bidding starting 13 February... :)
24 January 2004 – February 27th is "National Doodle Day" in the UK, a month-long fundraising event in support of Epilepsy Action and The Neurofibromatosis Association that actually kicks off on February 2nd. To do your bit, go to your nearest Lloyds Pharmacy (UK) any time during the month, purchase a doodle card (£1 each), and submit your doodle for judging. Celebrities including Charlie are taking part as well, with all celebrity doodles being auctioned on Ebay during February. I'll be receiving a copy of Charlie's doodle for display purposes; look for it here after February 2nd, and then be sure to check out Ebay if you'd like to own an original 'Charles Dance' work of art! Thanks to Roberta Tweedy, the Chief Executive of The Neurofibromatosis Association, for all this information.
The Rubix Cube is is not the only twisty puzzle. Learn about Pyraminx, the 2x2 and 4x4 cubes, the Megaminx on Ruwix.com.
About | What's Up? | CV/Credits | Archive | Reviews | The Stalls | On-line Resources | The Notice Board Fun stuff -- Trivia Quiz | Dance Conundrum | Home |
Today I received a very kind letter from Naomi House in response to our donation of £300.00. (Click on the thumbnail to read the letter). Thanks again to each Angel who helped mark the occasion of Charlie's birthday in this very special way!