Charles Carroll was born Daniel Patrick Charles Carroll in Los Angeles, California, to a Catholic family with Irish and Scottish ancestry. He grew up in Manhattan Beach, attended Our Lady Queen of Angels Seminary, and later Junipero Serra High School, where he received academic scholarships from the State of California and the Copley Foundation. He then studied Theatre at Loyola University, graduating in 1974, and was fortunate to receive an acting scholarship to pursue his professional training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, courtesy of actor Carroll O'Connor and Los Angeles attorney Charles Prince.
Following his studies in London, Carroll returned to the United States and toured as Alexander Hamilton in a production of Jefferson vs. Hamilton, a play that he co-authored. In 1979, he opened the Los Angeles Garden Theater Festival at the University of Southern California with the premiere of his own one-man show on the life of Walt Whitman, I Hear America Singing, and subsequently toured the country with the production.
Throughout his career, Carroll has performed with numerous regional theaters and Shakespeare companies across the country, including the North Shore Music Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts; Stage West and Shakespeare in the Park in Fort Worth; the Dallas Theatre Center, Stage #1, Theatre Three, and Shakespeare Festival Dallas in Texas; Shakespeare in the Park in Omaha, Nebraska; as well as the LA Shakespeare Festival and the Grove Shakespeare in California. He has had the privilege of working with renowned directors such as Edward Payson Call, Richard Risso, and Maurice Daniels of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
In 1986, while performing in the Shakespeare Festival in Dallas, Carroll was cast in "Robocop," his first major motion picture. In addition to his acting career, he has taught acting at California State University Dominguez Hills, Richland College in Richland, Texas, and given acting seminars across the United States and at Concordia University in Montreal. He developed a curriculum of on-camera acting classes at the Film Actors Lab in Las Colinas, Texas, where he taught with Adam Roarke and Spencer Milligan from 1987 to 1991.
Carroll has also produced and directed four short films using his acting students, utilizing entirely student film crews from local university and professional schools. In 1989, he was invited to join the faculties of K.D. Studios and S.T.A.G.E., incorporating his method into their curriculum. In 1991, he returned to Los Angeles, establishing his own On Camera Workshop, where he continues to coach numerous young actors, including several established professionals.
