Charlie Clausen was born in Melbourne on July 31st, 1978 into a family of women. The youngest of nine children, Charlie has 6 sisters, and considers his upbringing in a large family an advantage to him and his career.
Today, Charlie stands at five feet ten inches, and can now be heard over the dinner table. He lives in inner city Melbourne with his artist girlfriend Gemma, and the dog they recently adopted.
Charlie first appeared on Blue Heelers in episode 461 - ‘The Walking Wounded’ which aired on February 23, 2005, and he was the second last major cast member to ever join the show. Previous to Blue Heelers, Charlie had appeared in just a handful of shows on the Aussie idiot box, the most notable being the role of Jake Harrison in McLeod’s Daughters, where he is fondly remembered for getting his gear off in one particularly enjoyable episode.
But before this Charlie had kept busy earning a media arts degree, which allowed him to immerse himself into his love of writing and directing, and appearing in shows such as Head Start and On the Beach.
One quirky fact that Charlie has had on his resume for some time now though is his ‘first’ appearance on Blue Heelers, one way before Alex Kirby was ever dreamt up. Charlie played a cameo role in the drama, but viewers wouldn’t have known it because all that was shown was his hand! Charlie had scored the cameo role of a grave digger on Blue Heelers in an early episode, and casting had become mixed up when someone else was given the same role. To keep everyone happy, the lines Charlie had been given were deleted and both actors who had been given the grave digger role were simply shown brushing dirt off a coffin as it was lowered into the ground. Given the number of episodes of Blue Heelers where funerals and cemetaries have featured, the one in which Charlie’s hand appeared may never be known!
Charlie’s role as Leading Senior Constable, then Acting Sargeant Alex Kirby, was probably what made him the most known to the Australian public however. He was Evan Jones’ best mate, a larrikin, a ladies man and sometimes too nice for his own good. He rubbed Tom Croydon the wrong way the moment they met, and then didn’t quite leave the impression he’d hoped for on Detective Fox.
Things got hot and heavy as 2005 progressed for Alex Kirby as he became involved with Susie, unbeknownst to him that she was Jones property. What followed was months of tense, awkward, passionate moments between Susie and Alex, which Susie and Jonesy devotees suffered greatly through. It all came to a head when Jonesy discovered the truth, and Alex was left with a bloody nose in the episode ‘Dangerous Animals’.
It did little to their friendship though and soon they were back to the best mates they had always been, and unfortunately Susie was neither Alex’s nor Jonesy’s. The boys shared PJ’s old place when he moved to Melbourne in August of 2005 and lived the lives of bachelors to the fullest. When PJ informed them from his desk at the Cold Case Squad that he was selling the house and it was theirs to buy if they wanted it (but they better be quick), they were thrown into chaos when they realised some cleaning would have to be done.
Hope seemed on the horizon when it was revealed Susie had purchased the house from PJ, and was about to move in with the two single men. But as always, hopes were dashed, and she didn’t, and the boys were left to their own devices once again. This however, did not last long, because in the season finale of 2005, Alex received the biggest shock of his life when a son he didn’t know he had was suddenly on his doorstep.
Rory quickly became a viewer favourite, not just for his sweet looks, but for the way he mellowed Jonesy and tightened up Alex. Alex tried his hardest to be the model father but it often fell by the wayside, especially when his and Rory’s lives were so often put in danger. It didn’t help of course that Rory seemed to bond so much better with Jonesy than with Alex.
One of the things viewers miss most about Blue Heelers today is that terrible trio thing Jonesy, Alex and Rory had going on in the final season of the stellar drama. But Charlie has gone onto better things. He has appeared on the ABC’s now defunct talk show The Glasshouse and he is currently filming Resident Evil: Extinction, a blockbuster US film starring Milla Jovovich and fellow Aussie Chris Egan. Resident Evil’s release date in the US is expected to be September 21, 2007.