A former child actor with numerous stage and screen credits, Dexter Fletcher successfully made the transition to adult roles. He was only nine years old when Alan Parker cast him as Babyface in the gangster musical "Bugsy Malone" (1976). Stage and film work followed, including roles in "The Elephant Man" and "The Long Good Friday" (1980). The latter marked Dexter's first collaboration with Bob Hoskins. (Hoskins later cast the dark-haired actor in 1986's "The Raggedy Rawney" and Fletcher directed a short film in the late 1990s starring Hoskins.) After playing Gavroche in the 1978 CBS adaptation of "Les Miserables", he was cast as a young crew member of "The Bounty" (1984) and as Al Pacino's son in "Revolution" (1985). Fletcher began the transition to adult roles as the youthful incarnation of the artist in Derek Jarman's biopic "Caravaggio" (1986). Fletcher achieved cult stardom in the UK playing American Spike Thompson alongside Julia Sawahla in the children's series "The Press Gang" (1989-93). Around the same time, he landed his first adult leading role in films, as a teenager obsessed with losing his virginity in "The Rachel Papers" (1989). More recently, Fletcher appeared as a priest in Michael Winterbottom's "Jude" (1996) and co-starred with Sting, Steven Mackintosh and Jason Flemyng in "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (1998).
Profession(s):
Actor, director, screenwriter
Sometimes Credited As:
2004 Cast in "Stander" the true story of André Stander, a South African police captain who became a bank robber
2001 Was featured in the ensemble of "Band of Brothers" (HBO)
1999 Appeared in the short film "Let the Good Times Roll", directed by his wife Dalia Ibelhauptaite; Bob Hoskins co-starred
1998 Filmed role in the comedy thriller "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels"
1996 Portrayed a priest in "Jude"
1989 - 1993 Co-starred in the British children's series "The Press Gang" as American Spike Thomson
1989 First adult leading role in films, "The Rachel Papers"
1988 Had featured role in Bob Hoskins' directorial debut, "The Raggedy Rawney"
1986 Portrayed the younger artist in Derek Jarman's biopic "Caravaggio"
1982 Became one of the youngest permanent members of The Royal Shakespeare Company at age 16 (date approximate)
1981 First feature lead, in "4D Special Agents/4 D Kids"
1980 First worked with Bob Hoskins in "The Long Good Friday"
1978 Played Gavroche in the CBS TV adaptation of "Les Miserables"
1977 Stage debut with the Royal Shakespeare Company, played Cobweb in a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (date approximate)
1976 Had featured role as Babyface in Alan Parker's "Bugsy Malone"
1973 Acting debut, played Diana Dors' son in the British movie "Steptoe and Son Ride Again"
Directed a 15-minute short film starring Bob Hoskins
