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Who is Mark Charnock and how long has the Emmerdale actor played Marlon Dingle?

MARK Charnock came to prominence thanks to his long-running role on Emmerdale as Marlon Dingle.

Here we take a look at Mark's story and how he found his way onto the much-loved ITV soap.

 Mark Charnock became a household name thanks to his role as Marlon Dingle on Emmerdale
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Mark Charnock became a household name thanks to his role as Marlon Dingle on EmmerdaleCredit: Getty Images

Who is Mark Charnock?

Mark Charnock was born in August 1968 and studied at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

He made his television debut in 1992 playing the character Duane in an episode of 2point4 Children.

The actor went on to star in shows such as Watching, Cadfael and Coronation Street.

He has also hosted a podcast with Paul Coates in which they respond to their audience's problems and quandaries by suggesting out-of-the-box solutions.

In March 2023 the soap star from Bolton jumped on social media after getting wind of a scam using his fame to promote cryptocurrency investments.

Mark shared a picture of a private Instagram account with his name, photo and almost 2,000 followers before letting his fans know that his identity had been used in fake articles and ads to entice people into investing in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

The 55-year-old added a screenshot of a message that had been sent to an oblivious follower in his name, saying: "Hello my beautiful fan. Thanks for the love and support."

He captioned the post with: "Sigh…this is someone pretending to be me. It’s exhausting. Why do people do this? It’s SO weird. Please report and unfollow. Thank you."

How long has Mark Charnock played Marlon Dingle on Emmerdale?

Mark bagged the part of Marlon Dingle in Emmerdale in 1996.

Marlon has been married three times on the show, first to Tricia Fisher, then to Donna Windsor, and thirdly to Laurel Thomas.

He won the award for Best Dramatic Performance at the 2004 British Soap Awards for the heartbreaking storyline which saw Marlon switch off the life-support for his first wife, Tricia.

What storylines has Mark Charnock been involved in on Emmerdale?

In 2010, Marlon dated Rhona Goskirk and the pair became parents to a baby with Down's Syndrome named Leo.

His character is also father to April Windsor and they featured in an informative choking fit storyline.

In February 2016 Marlon learned from Cain that Aaron was repeatedly raped by his father Gordon during his childhood.

In March 2022 Marlon Dingle suffered a stroke.

Speaking to Digital Spy about the slow approach to the storyline, Mark said: “[Soap is] the only form of drama where you can do it like that, really. Where you can do day by day changes – literally. So we’re very lucky in that respect.

“These small, incremental changes that take place – the downs and the ups. I do feel that soap is the only form of drama where you can tell a story like this in such detail.”

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