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Maurice Colbourne

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Maurice Colbourne
Born
Roger Middleton

(1939-09-24)24 September 1939
Died4 August 1989(1989-08-04) (aged 49)
Dinan, Brittany, France
Alma materRoyal Central School of Speech and Drama
OccupationActor
Years active1970–1989
Spouse
Chan Lian Si
(m. 1989)
Children1

Maurice Colbourne (24 September 1939 – 4 August 1989) was an English stage and television actor who starred as Tom Howard in the BBC television series Howards' Way.[1] He is also known for roles in other television series such as Gangsters, The Onedin Line, The Day of the Triffids and Doctor Who. He was usually cast as a villain in his career.[2]

Early life

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Maurice Colbourne was born Roger Middleton in Sheffield, three weeks after Britain and France declared war on Germany upon the outbreak of the Second World War, and studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He took his stage name from that of an earlier film actor called Maurice Colbourne (24 September 1894 – 22 September 1965), who shared the same birthday (in a different year) as his.

Career

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In 1972, he co-founded, together with Michael Irving and Guy Sprung, the Half Moon Theatre near Aldgate, east London. This was a successful, radical theatre company, performing initially in an 80-seat disused synagogue in Half Moon Passage, E1. In 1985, the company moved to a converted chapel in Mile End Road, near Stepney Green. He performed in many productions at Half Moon Theatre, including In the Jungle of the Cities, Will Wat, If Not, What Will?, Heroes of the Iceberg Hotel, Sawdust Caesar, Dan Dare and Chaste Maid in Cheapside. He also directed several productions, including Silver Tassie, Alkestis, The Shoemakers and Pig Bank. He returned in 1979 to perform in Guys and Dolls.[3]

He first became well known when he played the lead in a BBC drama series, Gangsters, from 1975–78, and afterwards appeared regularly on television. This included a guest appearance in a 1977 episode of Van der Valk, "Everybody Does It". He played Charles Marston, the love interest of Lady Fogarty, in the seventh series of The Onedin Line screened from 22 July to 23 September 1979. He played a mercenary in an episode of the Return of the Saint called "Duel in Venice". He played the character Jack Coker in the BBC's television miniseries adaptation of John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids (1981). He also twice appeared in Doctor Who as the character Lytton (in Resurrection of the Daleks (1984) and Attack of the Cybermen (1985)).

Colbourne played lead character Tom Howard in 61 episodes of the successful BBC television drama Howards' Way from 1985 to 1989. During a break in filming of the fifth series, he died aged 49 from a heart attack while renovating a holiday home in Dinan, Brittany, France. The programme continued to the end of series five and for a sixth series, to tie up the storylines, with Colbourne's character being written out of the scripts.

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1970 Cry of the Banshee Villager
1970 Times For
1976 Escape from the Dark (aka The Littlest Horse Thieves) Luke Armstrong
1977 The Duellists Tall Second
1979 Bloodline Jon Swinton
1980 Hawk the Slayer Axe Man 1
Dead Man's Kit Lt Commander Kohbal
1981 Venom Sampson

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1975 Play for Today John Kline Episode: Gangsters
Churchill's People Dr. Dredge Episode: "A Bill of Mortality"
1976-8 Gangsters John Kline
1977 Van der Valk Nick Scholtz Episode: "Everybody Does It"
1978 Return of the Saint Jed Blacket Episode: "Duel in Venice"
1979 The Onedin Line Charles Marston Six episodes
1980 Armchair Thriller Lieutenant Commander Kobahl Episode: "Dead Man's Kit"
Shoestring Priest Episode: "The Dangerous Game"
Strangers John Rutter Two episodes
1981 The Day of the Triffids Jack Coker Four episodes
1983 Johnny Jarvis Jake Mini-series
1984, 1985 Doctor Who Commander Gustave Lytton Serials "Resurrection of the Daleks" and "Attack of the Cybermen"
1985 Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil SS Offficer TV Movie
1985-9 Howards' Way Tom Howard

Theatre

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Year Title Role Notes
1972 In the Jungle of Cities John Garga Half Moon Theatre
Alkestis Herakles
Will Wat, If Not, What Will? John Ball
Dan Dare Sondar/Treen
Punch Gorilla
The Silver Tassie Director
Sawdust Caesar Narrator/Genie of the Lamp/Third Conspirator
1973 Ripper!
Heroes of the Iceberg Hotel Policeman/Chairman
The Shoemakers Sajetan
Get Off My Back
Dick Tom King
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside Director
1974 The Pig-Bank
Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2 John Falstaff
Saint Joan of the Stockyards Meat Traders/Communist Leader
The Hammers
Stakeout/Homeworker
1979 Guys and Dolls Nathan Detroit
1980 Tom Fool Translator

References

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  1. ^ "Howards' Way actor dies". Herald Scotland. 7 August 1989. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  2. ^ Gerard Glaister; Ray Evans (1988). Howards' Way: The Story of the BBC TV Series. BBC Books. p. 79. ISBN 0-563-20712-4. Usually I get cast as a villain, which I have to say I quite enjoy playing
  3. ^ "Maurice Colbourne : Stages of Half Moon". www.stagesofhalfmoon.org.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
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