Who is charles dutton

He is perhaps best known for his roles as Fortune in the film Rudy and Dillon in Alien 3. He also starred in the television series Roc — and House M. Dutton was born January 30, , on the East side of Baltimore, Maryland, to a truck driver father. In his youth, Dutton dropped out of school before finishing middle school. He had a short-lived stint as an amateur boxer with the nickname "Roc. Dutton was charged and convicted of manslaughter, and he spent the next two years in prison.

Several months after being released from prison, Dutton was arrested for possession of a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to three years in prison. It was in prison that he finally found his passion, however.

Several months into his second prison term, Dutton was sentenced to six days of solitary confinement, which allowed prisoners to take one book. By accident, he grabbed an anthology of black playwrights. He enjoyed the plays so much that, upon his release from confinement, he petitioned the warden to start a drama group for the Christmas talent show. The warden agreed on the condition that Dutton go back to school and get his GED.

Dutton accomplished that and went on to eventually complete a two-year college program at Hagerstown Junior College now Hagerstown Community College in Hagerstown, Maryland. Prisoners who were kept in isolation were only given food once every three days and one book to read.

While serving his punishment in isolation, a book of plays sent by a girlfriend on the outside kept the actor busy. He had become an ardent reader, reading only leftist literature. However, he accidentally grabbed the book of plays while he was hauled off to isolation.

This book changed his entire life. After reading one of the plays, "Day of Absence" by Douglas Turner Ward, Dutton was intrigued and developed an interest in staging a drama troupe.

Thus, after spending a few years in prison and his release, he abandoned his life on the streets to pursue his new dream. Shortly after his graduation, Dutton sought to know more, and with advice from his drama coach, he applied to Yale drama school and was accepted. His love for theatre eventually led him to Hollywood, landing roles in many movies and series, including "Roc.

Often Dutton was asked about the secret to his change and he explained it was not related to rehabilitation but discovering his humanity and realizing that everyone had a short time to live. He has paid deaf ears to negative comments and drawn inspiration from pressure faced in Hollywood. Being more experienced in stage acting, Dutton once revealed he had jitters when filming the first episode of "Roc. He said ,.

Stage actors need advice. They give you the jokes and the set-up. You are out there on your own. At some point, the director questioned his choice of signing a TV contract, but he believed his role on "Roc" was a stepping stone to greatness. According to Dutton, he had no intentions of coming to Hollywood to be an ordinary actor who was doing financially well, but he wanted more.

He tried to use the opportunities to set things in place for his own production company, which he did. He also paid rapt attention to producing and directing shows. Apart from his onscreen performances, Dutton was also known for his previous union with American actress Debbie Morgan. Which I very well might be. In , then year-old Dutton was involved in a street fight with a man older than him. The veteran actor shared that the man he fought had nearly killed him.

Although he claimed the incident was a form of self-defense, Dutton was charged with manslaughter and sentenced to five years at the state prison in Jessup Correctional Institute in Maryland. However, he was released after serving 20 months in jail. He was back in prison not long after his release, allegedly due to robbery and weapon charges.

He earned a three-year sentence in Maryland State Pen. Unfortunately, Dutton earned additional eight years in prison after having a fistfight with a jail guard who prevented him from having a visitor, according to the TV legend.

But Dutton's violent behavior did not just harm the jail guard; one of his cellmates got a taste of his aggressive acts following an intense argument over which shows they would watch on TV. His roughness and rebellious ways affected his duties inside the jail. The two-time Tony-nominated actor was even placed in isolation for three days after refusing to clean toilets. While inside the isolation cell, a book of plays kept him company. After reading the book from a prison library, Dutton became interested in staging a drama troupe.

Stage play changed him and inspired him to discover his humanity. After serving seven and a half years in prison, he was released in and abandoned his life on the streets.