Actor Charles Dance: sculptress

https://aboutactorcharlesdance.blogspot.com/

I was 19 when I met my ex-wife, Jo [Haythorn]. We were together for over 30 years and I changed a lot during that time, as you'd expect. I regret that the marriage ended; it was largely my fault. But sensibly, we're now the best of friends.

We have two children. Our son, Oliver, is 40, and our daughter, Rebecca, is 34. We shared a large chunk of our lives together and we stay in touch regularly and I'm very glad that is the situation.

What sort of women am I attracted to? Beautiful ones! Of course I am being facetious. I like independence, I like strong women, women who survive and thrive in what is still a male-dominated world in most professions. I think that description fits my ex-wife and my former fiancée, Eleanor [Boorman, with whom he has a daughter, Rose, 3].

http://aboutactorcharlesdance.blogspot.fr/2015/05/australian-interview-what-i-know-about.html

Dance himself once admitted: 'Marriage stabilised me. Jo is by nature an optimist, I'm much more of a pessimist and it's a turbulent relationship.'But it's lasted and will last, and that's about all I can say. I think people stay married because they want to, it's as simple as that

who is the greatest love of your life?

My children.

What has been your biggest disappointment?

My divorce.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/07/charles-dance-interview

Significantly, though, in an interview four years ago Dance said: 'There's a time of change coming up but I don't know what, yet.' And last November, at the premiere party for the French film 8 Women, the actor arrived alone

13 April 2004...from not reliable Daily Mail

Where other stars marry and remarry with alarming regularity, the Dances were believed to have one of the strongest, most refreshing, relationships in showbusiness.

But now The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the star of The Jewel In The Crown has left his wife Jo, a strikingly beautiful artist and sculptor for a woman 12 years older than he is.

The Dances have sold their vast Pounds 1million 17th Century Somerset mansion and moved into separate, comparatively modest flats in London.

One neighbour in the tiny village of Crickleaze, near Chard, said: 'He's managed to keep it quiet and out of the news but it's common knowledge in the village.

'Everyone knows they've split up. That's why they sold the house to go their separate ways

He does not take her to premieres or industry parties where he knows they will be photographed, preferring instead to dine out at quiet restaurants near his home in Kentish Town, North London.

One family friend said: 'It is amazing he has kept it so quiet. He even appeared on This Is Your Life a couple of years ago with Jo at his side but by then it was already all falling apart. If you look at the programme poor Jo looks so uncomfortable. It was just a nightmare for her.

In 1989 they bought a Pounds 1 million, 17th-century manor house in Somerset, set over five acres of grounds in which peacocks flaunted themselves and geese roamed....

in a 2007 interview

He used to say that his marriage stabilised him but now he says, 'It was ridiculous. I was far too young, I didn't know my arse from a hole in the ground, and I'd never lived on my own before that. Having my own space was something I should have done before getting married. I'd have learned more about myself.'....

.....In any event, the relationship ran into difficulties in 2001, and he and Jo finally divorced in 2004 after 33 years together. The house was sold and Dance moved back to London; he now lives on his own in Kentish Town.
Even though he says he and his ex-wife get on well, it seems terribly sad to walk away from a marriage of over three decades, but Dance shrugs away regret: 'I'm quite self-sufficient. I can cook; I can iron a shirt better than any woman I've come across.'....
.....He now occupies a terraced house with a small garden, rather than the five rolling acres he was used to. 'But it's my space,' he says with emphasis. 'I'm not answerable to anybody and I can double-lock the door and go away. A big house and dogs and cats and geese and ducks and all that stuff we had, they're a bit of a responsibility. Now I can concentrate on the job.' ....

in 2008 at Rolling Stone movie premiere