CHARLEY BOORMAN

Actor

Being the son of the acclaimed film director John Boorman, Charley’s acting career started as a child first appearing in the film ‘Deliverance’ in 1972. Since then he has appeared in ‘Excalibur’, ‘The Emerald Forest’, ‘Hope and Glory’, ‘Karoke’, ‘The Serpent’s Kiss’ and ‘The Bunker’. It was on the set of ‘The Serpent’s Kiss’ that he met friend and fellow motorcycle enthusiast Ewan McGregor, a relationship that sparked a series of adventures followed by fans across the world.

Travel Adventurer

Charley is now one of the faces of modern TV adventuring having successfully produced adventure travel documentaries for the BBC, SKY and National Geographic Channel since 2004. His first big adventure was the iconic award winning series Long Way Round (2004) biking overland from London to New York via Europe and Asia alongside Ewan McGregor.

Charley returned to the saddle with Ewan McGregor in 2007 for the Long Way Down, which saw the duo travel from John O’Groats to Cape Town. This also proved an instant hit and produced a best-selling book and DVD. Charley’s love of motorcycles and racing has also led him in 2006 to take part in one of the most demanding and dangerous motor races on earth, the Dakar Rally, documented in the TV series and best selling book Race to Dakar. With fatalities most years at the Dakar, it was a big risk to take on this challenge, and Charley seriously damaged his hands in a crash in the desert. Charley took on the role of team manager and managed to get one rider of the team of three, Simon Pavey, over the finish line, which in a race where an average of only forty percent of entries finish, was still a considerable result.

One of Charley’s biggest challenges to date, captured in the best selling DVD By Any Means (2008), saw him travel solo from Ireland to Australia using any method of transport he could find. Covering some of the world’s most exciting and dangerous terrains including Nepal, Iran, Thailand, and Indonesia using modes of transport ranging from trains to container ships, dugout canoes, cement barges and solar cars.

Charley ended the adventure on his best-loved form of transport, the motorcycle, with a visual feast of a convoy of over three hundred bikes across Sydney’s spectacular Harbour Bridge. In the wake of the success of By Any Means Charley undertook By Any Means 2 in 2009 travelling from Sydney to Tokyo.

Extreme Frontiers (2011) followed Charley’s 10,300 mile journey across Canada, the world’s second largest country. Travelling principally on motorbikes, the series sees Charley traversing each of the 10 Canadian Provinces, 2 Frontiers, 3 Oceans and 4 Extreme Frontiers from East to West revealing a unique insight into this beautiful country. Each episode sees him embark on a series of dangerous, frightening, inspiring and hilarious tasks from canoeing to rodeo, heli-mountain biking to ice hockey. Charley braved the impressive 8,000m peak Mount Fable in Alberta and overcame his claustrophobia whilst wreck diving in Lake Huron. Every challenge reveals the breathtaking wilderness of Canada, its people and its diverse culture. It sees the team delve into its rich history whilst being pushed to the limit in a series of often tough challenges.

Charley continued his Extreme Frontiers series with Charley Boorman’s South African Adventure (2012) which saw Charley travel mainly on motorbikes from the southernmost coastline of the African continent, moving inland across the South African frontier with Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia, before heading back down the West coast of the continent to complete an entire circuit of the South Africa border – a journey of 6,200 miles – with many, many adventures along the way. Traversing the vast and varying landscapes, Charley experienced the sights, sounds, smells, history and culture of the people, the places, the wildlife and the wilderness. From detonating dynamite deep underground, cage diving with Great White Sharks and searching the ocean floor for the perfect diamond, Charley’s South African adventure provides with him some of his greatest challenges yet.

Charley’s then travelled to the USA for Charley Boorman’s American Adventure (2013) where he and the crew got into some fairly hairy situations! From walking across lava fields next to a live volcano, to building an igloo in Alaska and bringing the rain to Death Valley Charley experienced the dramatic scenery of the USA travelling from Hawaii up to Alaska and then over to Boston and all along the Southern Belt to California with the traditional biking convoy into LA. In 2014 Charley embarked on an adventure of a different kind by taking part in the highly acclaimed and indeed highly competitive Master Chef competition. Competing alongside the likes of Sophie Thompson, Wayne Sleep and Jodie Kidd Charley achieved the incredible accolade of coming runner up in the show. This experience sparked a real passion in Charley for great cooking and today he continues to cook up a storm.

In February 2016, Charley suffered a major road traffic accident in Portugal. Having spent all of his life on some form of motorbike, his world came crashing down after he was knocked off a Triumph Tiger Explorer, shattering his left leg and breaking his hand and ankle. It was unclear if he would ever walk properly again, let alone ride a motorbike. Since then he has battled through countless operations to get back to strength.

In September 2017, he lead his first motor biking expedition since his accident and is delighted to back on his bike. His autobiography – The Long Way Back – was launched in 2017 charting his recovery and looks back at his life in a typically humorous but reflective way.

In 2019 after many years of waiting and planning, Charley headed off again with his dear friend actor Ewan McGregor for the final of their motorbiking trilogy - the Long Way Up. Keep in touch for more on this epic adventures which is currently under wraps.

Motorbike and Motoring enthusiast Charley is often seen as perhaps ‘the adventure rider’; however his love of bikes and his riding skills bridge many aspects of the genre. Charley has been described by the motorcycle news journalist, himself a circuit racer, as a ‘natural race rider’. Growing up with bikes in Ireland, racing, rallying, and adventure travel have fused bikes into the very fabric of Charley Boorman. He uses a bike every day as his daily transport in London, hail rain and snow, you’ll often see him crossing Hammersmith Bridge heading for another meeting.

In 2019, Charley and Ewan took to the road again in the third part of their Long Way series. Journeying from the bottom of South America up to LA; The Long Way Up. The adventure, which is due to air globally on Apple TV in September 2020, sees the pair travel through the wilds of Latin America on electric motorbikes. Finding the ways and means to charge electric vehicles in these remote areas proved more than challenging but it has fuelled a passion in Charley to encourage others to take the plunge and go green.

Charley is a proud Ambassador for Triumph motor cycles, the British watch brand Bremont and Belstaff clothing. His natural and intrinsic passion for motoring and travel as well as his quintessentially British personality makes him the perfect fit for such legendary brands.

Charity Ambassador

In January 2011, Charley Boorman participated in the reality TV game show Famous and Fearless presented by Chris Evans and Claire Baldwin, in which eight celebrities competed in extreme sporting events for charity. Charley won this highly challenging competition raising £70,000, £40,000 he donated to UNICEF, and the rest he split between the charities of his fellow contestants Jonah Lomu, Rufus Hound, and Sam Branson. Charley has been an ambassador for UNICEF alongside Ewan McGregor for many years now, and describes UNICEF as “a fantastic bunch of people with hearts and capability absolutely in the right place”. Charley is furthermore a fervent supporter of Help for Heroes.

In December 2009, he went to Afghanistan to visit the troops for Christmas and was overwhelmed by the courage of the soldiers. Having had testicular cancer in 2010, Charley is an ambassador for Movember and is very keen to increase awareness of men’s health.

Family Man

Born in London in 1966, Charley grew up in Ireland, LA and the UK, spending much of his childhood riding motorcross cycles. Husband to Ollie with two daughters, Doone and Kinvara, he is very much a family man, and when he is not travelling the world, for which he spends six months of his year, he can be found at his home in Barnes, London. With his love of cooking he is frequently cooking up a storm in their kitchen drawing on his years of experience sampling international cuisines!

Films, Documentaries and Books Films