Charles Dickens Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are still widely read today. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of
Gerald Charles Dickens (actor) the Music Box Theatre in Minneapolis he played Charles Dickens in Jeffrey Hatcher's one-hander "To Begin With", which was adapted from Dickens' "The Life of Our Lord". He played the role again in a 2017 revival. In 2004, Dickens won the British TV show "The Weakest Link" during its 8th season in an episode where the contestants all had famous ancestors. Gerald Dickens lived in Goudhurst, Kent with his former wife Lucy Marsh, with whom he had a son, Cameron. He married his long-term partner Liz Hayes, a pianist who sometimes accompanies his performances, on 10 August 2015. They live