Craig Joseph Charles was born in Liverpool on the 11th of July 1964, the son of a merchant seaman from British Guiana, then a lorry driver, and an Irish mother. Moved from their old terraced home, he grew up on the the new Cantril Farm estate in the 1960s, (now Stockbridge Village), the third of four sons Dean, Jimmy and Emile. They were the only black family on the Cantril Farm estate and as it became notorious for violence and robbery his mum decided enough was enough so in 1975 they moved back into Liverpool where his dad bought their new home after winning £1,800 on the horses. Craig attended West Derby Comprehensive School and then Childwall Hall College of Further Education, where he studied for his History, Government and Politics, English Literature and General Studies 'A' levels. At the age of 12 he won the 'Guardian's Poetry Award', the runner up being thirty three years old! Upon leaving school, Craig spent time working in a studio at Central Hall on Renshaw Street in Liverpool and at 15, was regularly performing on stage with famous city poets like Roger McGough, Adrian Henri and Brian Patten.. By the time he was 17 he was opening gigs with his poetry for the post-punk band the 'Teardrop Explodes' after he had initially climbed on stage at a concert and recited a humorous, but derogatory, poem about the band's singer, Julian Cope. Before long he was the resident poet on Terry Wogan’s TV Chatshow, married to the actor Cathy Tyson, (they divorced in 1989, and have a musician son, Jack), and touring the country as a standup with the anti-Thatcher collective Red Wedge. Cathy has said she believes the main reason their marriage failed was that both she and Craig were too young. She was just 19 and he was 18 when they wed in 1984.
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| Red Dwarf cast |
Having first appeared on television as a performance poet, this led to minor presenting and acting roles, such as 3 episodes of 'The Marksman' (1987), a moody and somewhat stylized three part thriller alongside Michael Angelis, Andrew Schofield and Eithne Brown. However his first major television acting role was the Liverpudlian slob, Dave Lister, in the science fiction comedy series 'Red Dwarf' (1988-2017). He was introduced to the show by Saturday Live and 'Red Dwarf ' producer Paul Jackson, who wanted his opinion on whether the black character Cat was a racist stereotype. Craig, who like all of the eventual main cast had no acting experience, was eventually offered an audition after begging Paul. He appeared in all twelve series as well as 'Red Dwarf: The Promised Land' and his younger brother, Emile Charles, guest-starred in the Series III episode 'Timeslides' with the songs 'Bad News' and 'Cash' in this episode were written by Craig and performed by his band. In the series, Craig played a variety of alternative characters, including a gangster, a cowboy and angelic and evil versions of Lister and carried out a wide range of stunts, and acting involving special effects. He also reads the audiobook editions of both the 'Red Dwarf' novel Last Human and his book The Log: A Dwarfer's Guide to Everything and regularly attends sci-fi, comedy and memorabilia conventions in connection with the 'Red Dwarf' franchise.
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| In Coronation Street |
After finding fame in Red Dwarf, he regularly featured on national television with celebrity appearances on many popular shows while he continued to host a wide variety of programmes. His acting credits include playing inmate Eugene Buffy in the ITV drama 'The Governor' (1996), 'Captain Butler' (1997) and as Joel Brookes in 'Dream Team' (2004-05). In 2005, he joined the main cast of 'Coronation Street' staying there for 10 years playing the philandering taxicab driver, Lloyd Mullaney. In it Craig introduced aspects of the character himself, making Lloyd a Northern Soul DJ and record collector, and funk music enthusiast and chose funk and soul songs to play as backing tracks during scenes, with posters for The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Club and 'Red Dwarf' appearing in the background. The character was popular with viewers as he portrayed Lloyd as a tough, but kind hearted romantic and he added a comedy element to the role, but was also involved in traumatic and emotional scenes with intricate storylines. In 2010, his character was involved in the show's dramatic 50th anniversary tram crash storyline, which was broadcast live. He presented documentaries for the show, including '50 Years of Corrie Stunts' (2010), which is included on the Tram Crash DVD. In November 2011, he took time off from 'Coronation Street' to film a new series of 'Red Dwarf', returning in April 2012. In February 2014 an online mini-series, 'Steve & Lloyd's Streetcar Stories', ran alongside the television show's storyline. In May 2015, Craig announced he would be leaving the show for 'Red Dwarf', BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 6 music. Lloyd left in a red Cadillac during the live episode on the 23rd of September, although his final pre-recorded farewell scenes with Steve were shown during the following episode. During the Red Dwarf episode of 'Back to Earth' (2009), Lister visits the set of 'Coronation Street', where he meets the actor Craig Charles.
Craig re-married in 1999 to journalist Jackie Flemingwed and they have had two children together, Anna-Jo and Nellie. Craig has also had leading roles in the British films 'Fated' (2006) and 'Clubbing to Death' (2008). Interviewed by Dock in 1922 Craig said of his future plans, "I've got these Scary Fairies poems I've written, which go back to the way I started. It's children's nursery rhymes through the eyes of a fairy. It's all set in the dark woods; we've got music from the Philharmonic Orchestra. They're 30 minute epic poems with a 95 piece epic orchestra. We've got all the music, all the words, we're just trying to make them in to 30 minute long animated films. That's what I'd really like to do next."
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/08/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-mark.html
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