Colin Douglas (actor)
Encyclopedia
Colin Douglas 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.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, Douglas was educated at the Farm School in Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
. Following his elder brother Jock, he emigrated to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
when he was 16, working in sheep farming and lumberjacking, but only stayed for five years before auditioning to study at RADA
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
, after begging his father to let him return to try and become an actor. He did some time in Repertory
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
, but World War II halted his career. In the military he went to Catterick
Catterick Garrison
Catterick Garrison is a major Army base located in Northern England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world with a population of around 12,000, plus a large temporary population of soldiers, and is larger than its older neighbour...
and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
, became Captain and Adjutant in the Border Regiment, and served in the 1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom). During the Allied invasion of Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
his glider
Military glider
Military gliders have been used by the military of various countries for carrying troops and heavy equipment to a combat zone, mainly during the Second World War. These engineless aircraft were towed into the air and most of the way to their target by military transport planes, e.g...
, 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
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time....
but in late years was reluctant to talk about it. He was appearing on stage in Alan Plater
Alan Plater
Alan Frederick Plater, CBE, FRSL was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s.-Career:...
's play: Close the Coalhouse Door, when he heard he had been chosen for a leading part in A Family at War
A Family At War
A Family At War is a British drama series that aired on ITV from 1970 to 1972. It was created by John Finch and made by Granada Television for ITV. The director was David Giles....
. This popular series ran for 52 episodes from 1970.
His film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
credits include: The Trollenberg Terror
The Trollenberg Terror
The Trollenberg Terror is the title of both a 1956 "Saturday Serial" ITV UK television programme and a better-known 1958 black and white science fiction film. The latter is also known as The Crawling Eye, Creature from Another World, The Creeping Eye, and The Flying Eye...
(1958), The Valiant
The Valiant (1962 film)
The Valiant is a 1962 film directed by Roy Ward Baker, and starring John Mills, Ettore Manni, Roberto Risso, Robert Shaw, and Liam Redmond. Based on the Italian manned torpedo attack against two British battleships at the port of Alexandria in December 1941.- See also :*HMS Valiant*Luigi Durand de...
(1962), Captain Clegg (1962) and Mister Ten Per Cent
Mister Ten Per Cent
Mister Ten Per Cent is a 1967 British comedy film, directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring Charlie Drake.-Plot:Percy Pointer, a construction worker and amateur dramatist, writes a drama 'Oh My Lord' and hopes to have it professionally produced. A dishonest producer agrees to back the play,...
(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
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
which included a production of Toad of Toad Hall
Toad of Toad Hall
Toad of Toad Hall is the first of several dramatisations of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows. It was written by A. A. Milne, with incidental music by Harold Fraser-Simson....
with David Suchet
David Suchet
David Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
, and Exchange in the late 80's, with his good friend Martin Jarvis.
His television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
credits include: Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
(in the serials The Enemy of the World
The Enemy of the World
The Enemy of the World is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 23 December 1967 to 27 January 1968...
and Horror of Fang Rock
Horror of Fang Rock
Horror of Fang Rock is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 September to 24 September 1977.-Synopsis:...
). Also the 1955 version of The Children of the New Forest
The Children of the New Forest
The Children of the New Forest is a children's novel published in 1847 by Frederick Marryat. It is set in the time of the English Civil War and the Commonwealth.-Plot summary:...
. He also had roles in Fire Crackers, The Buccaneers
The Buccaneers (TV series)
The Buccaneers was a 1956 Sapphire Films television drama series for ITC Entertainment, networked by CBS in the US and shown on ATV and selected ITV companies in the UK....
, Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
, Love Story, Follyfoot
Follyfoot
Follyfoot was a children's television series co-produced by the majority-partner British television company Yorkshire Television and the independent West German company TV Munich...
, Telford's Change
Telford's Change
Telford's Change was a 1979 BBC television series by Brian Clark starring Peter Barkworth.Barkworth played a bank manager, Mark Telford, who took a backward step in his career in order to retreat from the rat race...
, The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
, Dick Barton - Special Agent, The Seventh Juror, The Flockton Flyer
The Flockton Flyer
The Flockton Flyer was a children's TV series made by Southern TV for the ITV network. There were two series, each of six episodes. Series 1 was first transmitted in spring, 1977 and Series 2 followed in early 1978. Programmes were shown at 4.45 pm on Monday afternoons...
, Headmaster, Thicker than Water (an instalment of the anthology series Play for Today
Play for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
), The Night People, The Omega Factor
The Omega Factor
The Omega Factor is a British television series produced by BBC Scotland in 1979...
, The Greenhill Pals and The Pickwick Papers
The Pickwick Papers (1985 television series)
The Pickwick Papers is a twelve-part BBC adaption of The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, made in 1985. It starred Nigel Stock, Alan Parnaby, Clive Swift and Patrick Malahide, with narration spoken by Ray Brooks.- Central characters :...
.
Colin Douglas had a lead role in the drama A Family at War
A Family At War
A Family At War is a British drama series that aired on ITV from 1970 to 1972. It was created by John Finch and made by Granada Television for ITV. The director was David Giles....
(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
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
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
Bonehead
Bonehead can refer to:* an idiot* Bonehead, a derogatory term in the skinhead and punk subcultures, referring to white power skinheads.* Bonehead, a derogatory term in the United Kingdom, used by traditional skinheads to describe punk rock-influenced skinheads* Bonehead, a derogatory term in South...
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
Paul Whitsun-Jones
Paul Whitsun-Jones was a Welsh actor.He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, Middlesex.-Career:Whitsun-Jones played the role of Mr Bumble in the original West End production of the musical Oliver!...
as Boss, Douglas Blackwell
Douglas Blackwell
Douglas Blackwell was an English actor with many television and film credits.Douglas blackwell is also the name pod many children it is the 17 most common first namee...
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
Alan Bleasdale
Alan Bleasdale is an English television dramatist, best known for writing several social realist drama serials based on the lives of ordinary people.The Bleasdales live in prescot,liverpool,wales and london.-Early life:Bleasdale is an only child; his father worked in a food factory and his mother...
'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.