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Post by ripper on Nov 28, 2013 15:06:41 GMT
I was very sad to hear that Lewis Collins had passed away in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer at the age of 67. He is best known for playing Bodie in the hit TV series "The Professionals" alongside Martin Shaw and Gordon Jackson between 1977 and 1981. Before that, though, he had featured in the popular ITV comedy "The Cuckoo Waltz" with David Roper and Diane Keen, as well as a guest role in "The New Avengers." In 1988 he was DS George Godley alongside Michael Caine's Abberline in the mini-series "Jack the Ripper." In the early 1980s he made the action film "Who Dares Wins" as an undercover SAS soldier, and loosely based on the Iranian embassy siege. He starred in a trio of italian jungle actioneers with Klaus Kinski and Lee Van Cleef among others. He auditioned for the part of James Bond following Roger Moore's departure, but lost out to Timothy Dalton. In my opinion, he was a good actor who deserved to be a bigger international star than what he was. I think he would have made a good Bond, at least as good as Dalton and Brosnan were. By all accounts he seems to have been a genuinely nice bloke and it is very sad to have lost him at such an early age. RIP Lewis.
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Post by andydecker on Nov 28, 2013 17:36:14 GMT
I was very sad to hear that Lewis Collins had passed away in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer at the age of 67. He is best known for playing Bodie in the hit TV series "The Professionals" alongside Martin Shaw and Gordon Jackson between 1977 and 1981. Before that, though, he had featured in the popular ITV comedy "The Cuckoo Waltz" with David Roper and Diane Keen, as well as a guest role in "The New Avengers." In 1988 he was DS George Godley alongside Michael Caine's Abberline in the mini-series "Jack the Ripper." In the early 1980s he made the action film "Who Dares Wins" as an undercover SAS soldier, and loosely based on the Iranian embassy siege. He starred in a trio of italian jungle actioneers with Klaus Kinski and Lee Van Cleef among others. He auditioned for the part of James Bond following Roger Moore's departure, but lost out to Timothy Dalton. In my opinion, he was a good actor who deserved to be a bigger international star than what he was. I think he would have made a good Bond, at least as good as Dalton and Brosnan were. By all accounts he seems to have been a genuinely nice bloke and it is very sad to have lost him at such an early age. RIP Lewis. This is sad. I was a big fan of the man. He would have made a great Bond.
RIP Lewis Collins
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Post by pulphack on Nov 28, 2013 19:06:41 GMT
This is sad - he should have been bigger than he was as he was great at comedy as well as action. The Professionals was a big part of childhood, and always looked out for his work. Five years is a pretty long fight, but then he always was... The first mrs ph's younger brother used to do Collins' garden back in the late 70's/early 80's as they were from the Chalfonts where Collins lived. He was apparently a funny bloke in person, paid well, and was a bit too fond of a curry which meant he was always sweating off the weight with his chums from the real SAS. Aside from that, he was in early Merseybeat band The Mojos, who were not bad and have singles crop up on loads of beat compilations. From the Cavern to Hollywood - not a bad old trip, really.
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Post by dem bones on Nov 28, 2013 21:18:20 GMT
Such a shame. Never seen Who Dares Wins, but have been enjoying The Professionals re-runs on ITV4 - In the Public Interest is a particular favourite - and thought he made for a likeable DS Godley in the wildly entertaining shouting match that was the Jack The Ripper mini-seies. In recent years there was talk of Lewis making a comeback, but sadly, he was never well enough. Another 'seventies icon gone. RIP, Mr. Collins.
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Post by ripper on Nov 28, 2013 22:51:56 GMT
Dem, Who Dares Wins is well worth seeing imo. It has a good cast, including Richard Widmark, Edward Woodward, John Duttine and Ingrid Pitt as a crazed terrorist. The Iranian Embassy siege was its obvious inspiration, but here the hostage-takers are an anti-nuclear group. Some good action scenes and Collins is well cast as the SAS captain who goes undercover to infiltrate the group. I am a little surprised that there wasn't a follow-up, but sadly it never happened and Lewis then made 3 low-budget action movies: Codename Wildgeese, Commando Leopard and The Commander. It's a great pity that his film career wasn't more extensive. If that Bond audition had gone better then who knows how big an international star he would have become.
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Post by killercrab on Nov 29, 2013 12:17:15 GMT
Was gutted to read yesterday of Lewis' passing. Like the rest I've been a fan of The Professionals since it began and will certainly be upgrading to the Bluray set next year. I caught the end of today's ITV4 broadcast hoping for an In Memory Of ... but nothing - we live in sad times where advertising the next Darts competition is all that matters... KC
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Post by dem bones on Nov 29, 2013 18:14:39 GMT
Was gutted to read yesterday of Lewis' passing. Like the rest I've been a fan of The Professionals since it began and will certainly be upgrading to the Bluray set next year. I caught the end of today's ITV4 broadcast hoping for an In Memory Of ... but nothing - we live in sad times where advertising the next Darts competition is all that matters... KC The newspapers - those i've seen - have served him better, with a two page feature in today's Mirror, a half page in Metro and a respectful column in yesterday's Evening Standard. I missed the series as a kid, so the recent reruns were my first taste of The Professionals. Am glad to have finally caught up!
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Post by valdemar on Dec 4, 2013 19:27:33 GMT
A shock, to be sure. He always looked as if he was putting everything he had into the roles he played. 'Who Dares Wins' is a great fun movie, which, if I might be so bold, upped the ante for all action pictures that followed - bigger, faster, louder. I saw it at the cinema when it came out, and it was great, one of those flicks that you and your friends talk about for ages afterwards. Of course, I am of the generation that devoured 'gritty' TV shows like 'The Sweeney', and 'The Professionals' Any show that has credits opening with a big Ford winning an argument with a plate-glass window has got to be worth watching, right? I remember watching the first episode, and being amazed that the hardman character on screen was played by the same guy who had been in the gentle comedy 'The Cuckoo Waltz'. Another thing that enlivened 'The Professionals', was his genuine dislike of his co-star, Martin Shaw. This dislike was mutual, and I believe that Brian Clemens deliberately paired them as this animosity gave the show a tremendous energy. Yet another hero from my youth gone, and way too early. RIP.
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