Colin
Douglas
Colin
Douglas (28 July 1912 – 21 December 1991) was an English
actor. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Douglas was educated at the Farm
School in Cumberland. Following his elder brother Jock, he emigrated
to New Zealand when he was 16, working in sheep farming and lumberjacking, but only stayed for five years before auditioning to
study at RADA, after begging his father to let him return to try and
become an actor. He did some time in Repertory, but World War II
halted his career. In the military he went to Catterick and Royal
Military Academy Sandhurst, became Captain and Adjutant in the
Border Regiment, and served in the 1st Airborne Division (United
Kingdom). During the Allied invasion of Sicily his glider, like many
others, was released too early, and the crew were in the sea for two
days (many members of other crews perished). He was also dropped by
glider at Arnhem, during the ill-fated Operation Market Garden but
in late years was reluctant to talk about it. He was appearing on
stage in Alan Plater's play: Close the Coalhouse Door, when he heard
he had been chosen for a leading part in A Family at War. This
popular series ran for 52 episodes from 1970.
His film
credits include: The Trollenberg Terror (1958), The Valiant (1962),
Captain Clegg (1962) and Mister Ten Per Cent (1967).
His theatre credits include: One For The Pot, one of Brian Rix's
Whitehall farces in the 60's, a spell with the Royal Shakespeare
Company which included a production of Toad of Toad Hall with David
Suchet, and Exchange in the late 80's, with his good friend Martin
Jarvis.
His television credits include: Doctor Who (in the
serials The Enemy of the World and Horror of Fang Rock). Also the
1955 version of The Children of the New Forest. He also had roles in
Fire Crackers, The Buccaneers, Danger Man, Love Story, Follyfoot,
Telford's Change, The Sweeney, Dick Barton - Special Agent, The
Seventh Juror, The Flockton Flyer, Headmaster, Thicker than Water
(an instalment of the anthology series Play for Today), The Night
People, The Omega Factor, The Greenhill Pals and The Pickwick
Papers.
Colin Douglas had a lead role in the drama A Family
at War (1970–1972) where he played Edwin Ashton in a glum portrayal
of a Liverpool family in the 1930s and 1940s. Fifty-two episodes
were made by Granada TV and the series proved to be very popular and
often drew a weekly audience of over 22 million viewers, sometimes
knocking Coronation Street off the top spot. It was also loved by
audiences in Scandinavia, and the cast were treated like superstars
when they visited. Another lead role that he might prefer to forget
was Bonehead in the comical children's TV show Bonehead about three
blundering crooks.
Bonehead was a children's black and white
BBC TV series, which lasted two seasons between 1960-1962. It was
about three hopeless crooks. Paul Whitsun-Jones as Boss, Douglas
Blackwell as Happy and Colin Douglas as Bonehead. Boss would devise
a criminal scheme and along with the eternally miserable Happy and
the idiot Bonehead (whose catch phrase was: "Shall I bash 'im
Boss?"), they would try to carry the scheme out. But things always
went wrong, often thanks to Bonehead and the watchful eye of PC
Pilchard.
Colin Douglas's last role was as troubled Labour
Party veteran, Frank Twist in Alan Bleasdale's TV series G.B.H..
He was married to actress Gina Cachia for 40 years, until her
death in 1989. Their children are named: Timothy, Amanda (killed,
aged 20, in a traffic accident whilst at University of Kent,
Canterbury) Angus, Blaise and Piers. He and the family lived in a
large mansion block flat overlooking the park, in Battersea, London,
and his hobbies were sea fishing, golf and cooking. He also served
on the actor's Equity (trade union) Council for several years.
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted.
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