Charles Okechukwu O. Venn (born 24 June 1973), formerly known by the stage names Chucky Venice and Chucky Venn, is a British actor, known for his roles as Ray Dixon in EastEnders, Jacob Masters in Casualty, Curtis Alexander in Sky One's Dream Team, and Tremaine Gidigbi in Footballers' Wives. He's co-starred with actors such as Michael Jai White, Tom Frederic & Erik Palladino. In 2018 he took part in BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with Karen Clifton.
Charles Venn | |
|---|---|
 Venn at the 9th Asian Awards in 2019 | |
| Born | Charles Okechukwu O. Venn 24 June 1973 Queens Park, London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2001–present |
Early life
editBorn in Queens Park, London, he grew up on the tough Mozart estate, which was at the time a notorious inner-London sink estate.[1] As a boy his passion was for athletics.[2] He attended West London College [formerly Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College] studying performing arts.[3]
Career
editThis section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (December 2018) |
Venn took a variety of roles as a jobbing actor, using the surname Venice. He got his big break in 2003 when he was cast as Curtis Alexander in the footballing drama Dream Team[2] on the satellite channel Sky One. Initially only contracted to appear in two episodes, he became part of the regular cast, appearing in 98 episodes in all until the character was killed off in 2005.
Venn moved to another football drama the following year, appearing as the cuckolded 'alpha male' Tremaine Gidigbi in the final season of Footballers' Wives.
In late 2006, Venn landed a role in the horror film sequel Return to House on Haunted Hill as Warren, he also had a role in 'Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead' as Walter and a small role in Bourne Ultimatum, as Agent Hammond, and The Dark Knight, as bodyguards of one of the film's main villains, Gambol. He can also be seen in the music video "Twisted" by Fredi Kruga. Venn guest starred in an episode of the series Little Miss Jocelyn, which aired in January 2008. Venn was also seen on an episode in the third season of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List where Kathy visits the UK and the pair go on a date. His on-screen time lasted just over a minute, and he was subtitled throughout when the episode aired 17 July 2007. Prior to the Hull City-Tottenham Hotspur game on Setanta Sports on 23 February, Venn performed a strange[according to whom?] monologue.
He appeared in the play The Brothers by Angie Le Mar at the Hackney Empire for several short runs from 2005. It was televised by MTV Base in March 2009 with Venn, MC Harvey and Jason Barrett in the line-up.[4]
Venn played the lead role in the film A.W.O.L also starring Jade Asha and Rough Copy.
Venn joined the cast of BBC One soap EastEnders[2] in the role of Ray Dixon, the father of Morgan Jackson-King, in November 2011, appearing in the series from 10 January 2012. He departed the show on 28 May 2013. He played a firefighter on the Miranda 2014 Christmas Special: I Do, But to Who?.
On 18 July 2015, Venn made his debut on BBC One's medical drama Casualty as the new nurse Jacob Masters. He later became a series regular.[2]
In January 2018, Venn participated in And They're Off! in aid of Sport Relief.
On 21 August 2018, Venn was announced as the fourteenth celebrity to join the Strictly Come Dancing line up of 2018. He was partnered with professional dancer Karen Clifton[2] and they finished in 6th place.
Partial filmography
edit- The Dark Knight (2008) - Gambol's Bodyguard #1
- Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (2009) - Walter
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | TV Choice Awards | Best Soap Newcomer | EastEnders | Nominated | [5] |
| 2012 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Newcomer | EastEnders | Nominated | [6] |
| 2012 | Inside Soap Awards | Sexiest Male | EastEnders | Nominated | [6] |
| 2013 | The British Soap Awards | Sexiest Male | EastEnders | Nominated | [7] |
| 2019 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Drama Star | Casualty | Nominated | [8] |
| 2021 | Inside Soap Awards | Best Drama Star | Casualty | Nominated | [9] |
| 2022 | 27th National Television Awards | Drama Performance | Casualty | Nominated | [10] |
References
edit- ^ "Chucky Venn: Working hard to live his dream". Flavourmag. 2009-04-20. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
- ^ a b c d e "Who is Strictly's Charles Venn? Find out everything you need to know". HELLO!. 2018-11-03. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
- ^ "A day in the life of Khali Best: Part 1" (video). EastEnders. BBC Online. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Chucky Venn, Harvey & Jason Barrett star in The Brothers". Flavourmag. 2009-03-19. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
- ^ Nickie (22 May 2012). "Vote in the TVChoice Awards". EastEnders. BBC. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
- ^ a b Kilkelly, Daniel (19 July 2012). "Inside Soap Awards 2012 - longlist nominees in full". Digital Spy. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (11 March 2013). "British Soap Awards 2013 voting opens, nominations revealed". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
- ^ "Inside Soap Awards 2019 longlist has been revealed". Digital Spy. July 2019.
- ^ Alexander, Susannah (28 September 2021). "Inside Soap Awards announces 2021 longlist as voting opens – here's who's up for prizes". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ Morris, Lauren (24 May 2022). "NTA 2022 longlist revealed as David Tennant and Sex Education nominated". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
External links
edit- Charles Venn at IMDb