Author, playwright, filmmaker, journalist, actor, director, and screenwriter
Notable work
Hollywood Raj, The Magiker, Going On
Charles Dennis (born December 16, 1946) is a Canadian actor, playwright,[1] journalist, author, director, and screenwriter.
Background
Dennis is the third son of Sam and Sade Dennis. He attended Cedarvale Public School, Vaughan Road Collegiate, and University College at the University of Toronto, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1968.[1] He is on the Great Alumni List for the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Playwrights/Directors Unit of The Actors Studio, and married to producer and publisher Ulrika Vingsbo-Dennis.
He was Artistic Director of the University College Players Guild from 1967 to 1968,[1] and received the McAndrew Award for his contributions to campus drama (which included his own adaptation of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 and the Canadian premiere of Arthur Miller's Incident at Vichy).[2]
Career
Dennis (right) in Going On.
Radio
Dennis made his acting debut at 8 years old in 1954 on Marjorie Purvey's radio series, Peter and the Dwarf and performed on the series for five years. He has written a number of radio plays for BBC, and CBC, including Leslie and Lajos (CBC) (1982), Long Time Ago (BBC) (1974), and To an Early Grave (BBC) (1972).[3] In 2009 his play, The Alchemist of Cecil Street, starring Ron Orbach, Bryan Cranston and Ed Asner was produced by The Famous Radio Ranch. In 2010 The Famous Radio Ranch followed up with a production of Dennis's play "Tolstoy Was Never There" starring Kevin Dunn, Ross Benjamin, Ron Orbach, Rose Abdoo, Ed Begley, Jr., John O'Hurley, Leila Birch, Kim Eveleth, Becky Bonar. Patrick Pinney and Ethne Bliss.
Theatre
In 1963, Dennis made his professional stage debut at the Red Barn Theatre in Jackson's Point, Ontario playing Dr. Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace and Simon Bliss in Hay Fever. Later that year he adapted, directed and played Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye at the Coach House Theatre in Toronto.[1] While attending the University of Toronto he appeared in Hart House productions of "Heartbreak House", "Ondine", and "The Devils". In 1968, he wrote and appeared in his play, "Everyone Except Mr. Fontana", at the Colonnade Theatre in Toronto.[1] In 1971, he traveled to England, where he directed the Walter Scharf-Don Black- Lionel Chetwynd musical Maybe That's Your Problem at the Roundhouse Theatre in London.[1]
In 1990, Dennis recreated the role of Alfred in Going On opposite Maria O'Brien at the Callboard Theatre in Los Angeles,[1][8][9] and in 1997 wrote and starred in the play SoHo Duo, directed by Kenneth Welsh at the West Bank Theatre in New York.[1]
In 2003, Dennis created the role of Fred Ross in the Ed Begley, Jr. musical Cesar and Ruben at the El Portal Theater in Los Angeles, and in 2005, played George Sanders in his play High Class Heel, at The National Arts Club in New York.[1]
In 2011, he returned to the boards playing Gregory Wagner for the Open Fist Theater Company in their production of Room Service by Murray and Boretz, which the Los Angeles Times described as a "superb revival". Later that year he played Carlton Fitzgerald opposite Catherine Hicks in Moss Hart's Light Up the Sky at the JRTN in Las Vegas.
In 2016, Dennis revised his play Altman's Last Stand. It was directed by Charles Haid and produced by Racquel Lehrman at the Zephyr Theater in Los Angeles with Michael Laskin as Franz Altman. The production received great critical acclaim.
In 2022, Dennis rewrote Altman's Last Stand and retitled it King Solomon's Treasure. He also added a second character, Miss Carmichael, a writer for People Magazine. Dennis played the role of Franz Altman and Stevie Jean Placek played Miss Carmichael.The play was produced by Ulrika Vingsbo and presented at the Whitefire Theatre in Sharman Oaks, California. The play was filmed during its six week run. The film had its world premiere later in the year at the Studio City Film Festival and Dennis won the award for Best Actor in a Feature Film.
1968, Everyone Except Mr. Fontana (author/actor)[1]
Journalism
Author George Anthony wrote that Charles Dennis "was a talented young hotshot who wanted to do it all: write, produce, direct, star", and that he "worked as an entertainment writer for Toronto Telegram".[14] He was a film and theatre critic for them until his first play, Everyone Except Mr. Fontana presented in 1968.[1]
In 2002, Dennis wrote three articles for the Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times about Ivor Novello, Phil Gersh, and Julian Fellowes.[15] In February 2010 he wrote an article on Christopher Plummer in The Hollywood Reporter.
Author
His first novel, Stoned Cold Soldier was published in 1973. In 1997 (using the pseudonym Margaret Barrett), Dennis wrote the novels Given the Crime and Given the Evidence.[16] His works have received favorable response from Kirkus Reviews. His latest novel, Hollywood Raj, was published by Vingsbo Press in February 2018.
In 2022, Dennis's first non-fiction book, "There's a Body in the Window Seat", was published by Applause Books. A passion project of Dennis's, the book is a history of Arsenic and Old Lace, both the play and the movie.
In 2023, Vingsbo Press published his 14th novel, "Balm of Angels".
Bibliography
2023, "Balm of Angels" ISBN 978-0-9997683-2-7
2022, "There's a Body in the Window Seat" ISBN 9781493067855
In 2004, Dennis was the voice of Rico in Disney's animated feature Home on the Range.[18][22] In 2007, Dennis wrote and directed the motion picture Hard Four starring Ross Benjamin, Samuel Gould, Ed Asner, Dabney Coleman, Paula Prentiss, Ed Begley, Jr., Fayard Nicholas and Bryan Cranston.[18] In 2010 he wrote and directed The Favour of Your Company starring Carolyn Seymour, Neil Dickson and Ron Orbach, which was shown at the BAFTA/LA Short Film Showcase.
In 2011 he launched his own online interview show Paid to Dream, which can be read and heard at www.paidtodream.com.
In October, 2011 he won the first-ever Samuel Fuller Guerilla Filmmaker Award at the Buffalo International Film Festival for his short film Atwill starring Neil Dickson and Brent Huff. It was also an Official Selection of The Buffalo Film Festival in the same year. The film was shot entirely on an iPad and edited on iMovie.
In 2012, he began production on his first iPad feature, Chicanery featuring Brent Huff, Patty McCormack, Kenneth Welsh, Kate Vernon, Fred Melamed, Elya Baskin, Rose Abdoo, Ron Orbach, Ross Benjamin, Patrick Pinney and Mark Rydell. Film was completed in 2015 and won the Innovation Award at the first Durham Region Film Festival in Oshawa, Canada.[23]
A web series based on the prize-winning film Atwill debuted on YouTube in 2014 with Neil Dickson returning as Atwill, and Michael Swan joining the cast as Nelson. Brent Huff returned in several episodes as Atwill's nemesis Kobalt. The first season consisted of ten episodes, and series guest stars included Patty McCormack, Rick Podell, Kim Delgado, Lou Wagner, Patrick Pinney, and Nicole Ansari.
In 2017, Atwill became a TV series called Atwill at Large with Dickson and Swan continuing their roles as Atwill and Nelson. Guest stars included Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Fred Melamed, and Mauricio Mendoza. It played on YouTube for five episodes.
In July 2017 he returned to Canada to shoot the film Shortly to Go, starring Colin Fox and Kenneth Welsh. The film was shot on location in Elora, Ontario and later involved shooting in Studio City, California with Patty McCormack. Written, produced and directed by Dennis, the executive producer was Ulrika Vingsbo, who was also the film's editor.
In 2018, Dennis wrote and directed the film, Barking Mad, which starred Neil Dickson, Michael Swan, Patty McCormack, Edward Asner, Loren Lester, Mary Stavin, and Fred Melamed. It was produced for Foo Dog Films by Ulrika Vingsbo. The film was shot entirely on an iPad. The movie won an award for Best Ensemble Cast at the 2021 Studio City Film Festival.
In 2022, Dennis wrote and directed the feature film "Deadly Draw", which starred Brent Huff, Ulrika Vingsbo, Jack Maxwell, Fred Melamed, Gail O'Grady, Jeffrey Byron, Patty McCormack and Ed Asner (in his final screen appearance). Ulrika Vingsbo won for Best Actress at the 2023 Vegas Film Awards and Fred Melamed won for Best Supporting Actor. The film also won for Best Comedy feature at the 2023 Tarzana International Film Festival.
