Charles Dale is a Welsh actor, born on 4 February 1963 in Tenby, Pembrokeshire. His parents were both keen amateur actors, and his father ran a record shop in the town — a detail long remembered by locals who knew him before he found fame. After leaving school in 1979, Dale spent a year as an assistant stage manager at the Torch Theatre in nearby Milford Haven before moving to London to train at LAMDA, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Dale became a familiar face on British television through two long-running roles. Between 2000 and 2002 he played Dennis Stringer in ITV's Coronation Street, appearing in 167 episodes. He is perhaps best known for playing hospital porter and later Emergency Care Assistant Big Mac (Mackenzie Chalker) in BBC One's Casualty, a role he held from November 2007 to 2021 across 354 episodes, making him one of the show's longest-serving cast members.
His other television work includes Gary "Chef" Alcock in the BBC drama The Lakes (1997-1999), Clive Eustace in The Eustace Bros. (2002-2003), and a recurring role as Steve Lewis in the BBC Wales drama Belonging. In 2021 he returned to his home county on screen, playing DS Gareth Rees in the ITV true-crime drama The Pembrokeshire Murders.
Dale has also worked extensively on stage, including playing Hugo in the original run of the musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre in 2017.