BIO

Ian Charleson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1949.   His father was a printer.   Charleson was interested in acting from an early age and received scholarships to attend Edinburgh’s Royal High School as well as the University of Edinburgh where he initially studied architecture.   His love of acting finally won out and Charleson continued his dramatic studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

He made his professional stage debut in 1972, at the age of 23, and first appeared in the West End in 1975.   By the 1980s, Charleson was winning critical acclaim for his acting and singing abilities and received an Olivier Award nomination for Actor of the Year in a New Play for Fool for Love (1984-1985).

He made his small screen debut in a 1972 TV movie and appeared in his first feature film in 1978 for Whaley-Malin Productions.   He appeared in 7 productions through 1987.

Charleson, who was gay, contracted HIV in 1986 and died of AIDS in 1990 at the age of 40.

Additional English stage history is available at:

Additional biographical information is available at:

NOTED FILMS

Complete filmography at: