CHARLES EDWARD POGUE
PLAYWRIGHT
Screenwriter-playwright Charles Edward Pogue began his career with a pair of scary classics, PSYCHO III and THE FLY. Hailed as a “masterpiece of horror”, THE FLY made the National Board of Review’s top ten films of the year. Both THE FLY and his fantasy swashbuckler, DRAGONHEART, starring Sean Connery as the voice of Draco (the CGI dragon), won Best Picture Saturn Awards from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. Mr. Pogue’s novel of DRAGONHEART has been published worldwide.
He also wrote DOA starring Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, KULL THE CONQUEROR, the mini-series HERCULES for NBC, and three Sherlock Holmes films. THE SIGN OF FOUR and HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES featured Ian Richardson as the master sleuth. SIGN took first prize at the Cattolica Mystery Film Festival and HOUND was hailed at the Moscow Film Festival as “the definitive Sherlock Holmes.” Leonard Maltin has called it “the best version of the Doyle classic.”
His third Holmes movie, HANDS OF A MURDERER, starring Edward Woodward, aired on CBS, and was acclaimed for its “snap, crackle-and-pop script.”
Mr. Pogue has also adapted Sherlock to the stage with his play, THE EBONY APE, touted as a “stylish adaptation…done with panache.” His prize-winning comedy, WHODUNNIT, DARLING?, written with Emmy-winning actor Larry Drake (Benny of LA LAW), has been celebrated in theatres across country and published by Dramatic Publishing.
As a stage actor, he's performed lead roles in such plays as HAY FEVER, CYRANO DE BERGERAC, DUCHESS OF MALFI, THE RAINMAKER, HECUBA, ANGEL STREET, THE UNDERPANTS, and MOONLIGHT & MAGNOLIAS. He has also performed in, oddly enough, a Sherlock Holmes play, THE CRUCIFER OF BLOOD, which starred Charlton Heston and Jeremy Brett. He has shared the stage with such notables as Martha Raye, Cyd Charisse, Shelley Berman, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Tony-winner Deanna Dunagan. Recent roles include Claudius in HAMLET and Orgon in his own adaptation of Moliere's TARTUFFE.
He has also written acclaimed new versions of Feydeau's A FLEA IN HER EAR, and Ibsen's rare history play, THE PRETENDERS, which is licensed and published through Dramatic Publishing.
Mr. Pogue has been featured in PEOPLE, PREMIERE, AMERICAN THEATRE, SCRIPT, and STAR-LOG, on the BBC, countless radio shows and websites. He received the first Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Kentucky, College of Fine Arts. A popular guest lecturer at universities and film festivals, he's spoken at Cannes, Beaune, Sao Paulo, and across the U.S. He is a member of SAG/AFTRA, Actors Equity, the Dramatist Guild, and WGA. His fierce advocacy for writers’ creative rights elected him to two terms on the WGA Board.
Recent work includes film scripts of two Rider Haggard novels, SHE and THE WORLD'S DESIRE, and a new play about Richard III, THE SHADOW KING.
Mr. Pogue lives in Kentucky with his wife, Julieanne, a psychotherapist, actress, director, and narrator of books on tape.