Colin Salmon

Colin Roy Salmon (born 6 December 1961) is an English actor. He is known for playing Charles Robinson in three James Bond films and James "One" Shade in the Resident Evil film series. He has had roles in many television series such as Doctor Who, Merlin, Arrow, and The Musketeers. He also played General Zod on the Syfy series Krypton and provided his voice and likeness as Agent Carson in the PlayStation VR video game Blood & Truth. In 2023, he joined the BBC soap opera EastEnders as George Knight.

Early life Colin Roy Salmon was born on 6 December 1961 in Bethnal Green, London, England, the son of Sylvia Ivy Brudenell Salmon, a nurse. He is of Jamaican descent. He grew up in Luton, Bedfordshire and attended Ashcroft High School.

On leaving school, Salmon became the drummer in the punk rock band the Friction, which he formed along with three friends from high school. The band released a 7-inch EP, a live cassette, a cassette-EP and performed regularly around Luton in 1979 and 1980. He plays trumpet and has his own jazz quartet, playing at venues such as the Dorchester Grill Room and at events such as the Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

Speaking about his quartet to Pete Lewis of the magazine Blues & Soul, in an interview prior to their performance at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival in May 2008, Salmon stated: In terms of recording, we've done none. We've mostly just done very occasional performances – usually at very special events. You know, keeping a consistent band going is a bit like getting the Aston Martin out the garage – you have to run it every now and then! And what's made that particularly difficult in the last year, for example, is that I've literally just spent an entire 12 months travelling the world acting – from China through to Montreal to Botswana. But, having said that, with the children being older I do have more time when I am at home these days. So we have been able to do some rehearsing together. And, while we've always mostly performed standards, I have actually for the first time written some new stuff in time for this upcoming Cheltenham gig. He made his feature debut in 1992 as Sgt. Robert Oswald in the British mini-series Prime Suspect 2. There were rumours that he would take on the coveted lead role of The Doctor in 2008 after David Tennant, but the role went to Matt Smith. In 2020, writer Steven Moffat stated he envisioned Salmon's character as a future incarnation of the Doctor.

Salmon has also recorded the role of Kerr Avon in the audio series of Blake's 7. Salmon played James "One" Shade in the film Resident Evil (2002) (a documentary directed by Isaac Julien in which Salmon plays the French psychiatrist, philosopher and revolutionary, Frantz Fanon) (1996), The Wisdom of Crocodiles (1998), Fanny and Elvis (1999) and My Kingdom (2001).

In 2007, Salmon appeared in the season finale of the ITV2 series Secret Diary of a Call Girl, playing a client of the protagonist, a call girl named Hannah Baxter. In the 2008 film Clubbed, a film about nightclub bouncers in Coventry in the 1980s, Salmon plays one of the main characters, Louis.

In 2009, Salmon appeared in the UK version of the popular American drama Law & Order, as barrister Doug Greer in the episodes "Buried" and "Community Service". In 2011, Salmon appeared in Death in Paradise, as killer/businessman Leon Hamilton/Vincent Carter. He starred in the thriller film Exam, directed by Stuart Hazeldine.

Salmon was one of the celebrity contestants on the tenth series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with professional dancer Kristina Rihanoff.

Personal life Salmon is a patron of the African-Caribbean Leukaemia Trust and the Richard House Children's Hospice and an ambassador for The Prince's Trust. He is also the chairman of governors at St Anne's Nursery. He is involved in the Notting Hill Carnival and is the dance captain of the Fox Carnival Band.

Salmon married visual artist Fiona Hawthorne in 1988 and the couple have four children.

In September 2010, Salmon was invited by his friend Samuel L. Jackson to Switzerland for Shooting Stars Benefits 2010 Golf Tournaments. The golf competition raised money for the Samuel L. Jackson Foundation and the Swiss Red Cross to go towards a new hospital in Takéo Province, one of Cambodia's poorest provinces. In 2009 he became a co-founder of Cage Cricket with Trevor McArdle.

In an August 2021 interview, Salmon spoke about how becoming ill with COVID-19 had affected him and his family, praising doctors for having saved his life.

Filmography Film Year Title RoleNotes 1994 Captives Towler 1995 All Men Are Mortal Chas 1997 Tomorrow Never Dies MI6 Deputy Chief of Staff Charles Robinson 1998 Immortality Martin 1999 The World Is Not Enough MI6 Deputy Chief of Staff Charles Robinson Fanny and Elvis Alan 2001 My Kingdom "The Chair" 2002 Resident Evil James "One" Shade Die Another Day MI6 Deputy Chief of Staff Charles Robinson 2003 The Statement Father Patrice 2004 Freeze Frame Detective Mountjoy Alien vs. Predator Maxwell Stafford 2005 Match Point Ian 2008 The Bank Job Hakim Jamal Credo Dr. Reynolds Clubbed Louis Punisher: War Zone FBI Agent Paul Budiansky Blood: The Last Vampire Powell 2009 Exam The Invigilator K Vaughn 2010 Freestyle Carter Shank "Boogie" Just for the Record Maynard Stark Devil's Playground Peter White Stalker Leo Fox 2011 Moving Target Ralph High Chicago Sam How to Stop Being a Loser Dennis 2012 Resident Evil: Retribution James "One" Shade Clone 2015 The Rapture Jean-Paul Meet Pursuit Delange: The Movie Sergeant Gabriel / Archangel Gabriel 2016 London Has Fallen Commissioner Sir Kevin Hazard Criminal The Warden 2018 Mortal Engines Chudleigh Pomeroy 2020 The Bet Cal Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons William Wintergreen Direct-to-video film 2021 Nobody "The Barber" Zone 414 Hawthorne 2022 Prey for the Devil Father Quinn 2023 Hammarskjöld Ralph Bunche2025 Nobody 2The Barber

Television Year Title RoleNotes 1992 Prime Suspect 2 Sergeant Bob Oswald 1993 Lovejoy Rathbone Episode: "The Kakiemon Tiger" Between the Lines Eric Hutchinson Episode: "The Fifth Estate" 1994 Murder Most Horrid Lambert Episode: "Overkill" Soldier Soldier Colour Sergeant Dennis Ryan 2 episodes 1995 All Men Are Mortal Chas Shine on Harvey Moon Noah Hawksley Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask Frantz Fanon Documentary 1996, 2019 Silent Witness Sebastian Bird Noah Taylor 4 episodes 1996 Tales from the Crypt Jimmy Picket Episode: "Cold War" 1997 No Child of Mine Paul Television film Band of Gold Raymond 2 episodes 2001 Mind Games DCI Ricky Grover Television film Judge John Deed Willy Radcliff 2 episodes 2002 Dinotopia Captain Oonu TV miniseries The Red Phone: Manhunt Cooper Television film Murder in Mind Alex Treeve Episode 3.7: "Justice" 2003 Red Phone 2 Cooper Television film Keen Eddie Superintendent Nathanial Johnson Main role 2004 Trial & Retribution Colin Thorpe 2 episodes Hex David Tyrel Main role 2005 Sea of Souls Peter Locke 2 episodes 2006 Bad Girls Dr. Rowan Dunlop Series 8 Little Miss Jocelyn Unknown Episode 1.6 The Outsiders The Trainer Television film 2007 Party Animals Stephen Templeton Secret Diary of a Call Girl Mitchell Episode 1.8 2008 Doctor Who Dr. Moon Episodes: "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead" 2008–2009 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Note Makoti 2 episodes 2009–2014 Law & Order: UK Doug Greer 4 episodes 2009 The Omid Djalili Show 007 3 episodes Merlin Aglain Episode: "The Nightmare Begins" Annihilation Earth Raja Rahim Bashir Television film 2010 Strike Back James Middleton 4 episodes Rev. Leon Episode 1.5 Spooks Alton Beecher 2 episodes 2010–2016 The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret Hudson 6 episodes 2011 Death in Paradise Vincent Carter Episode 1.5 2011–2012 Single Ladies Jerry Waters 7 episodes 2012–2014 Arrow Walter Steele 14 episodes Some Girls Rob Bennett Recurring role 2013 Rita Colin Paige Television film NTSF:SD:SUV:: Graham Episode: "U-KO'ed" 2014 24: Live Another Day General Coburn 7 episodes 2015 No Offence Superintendent Darren MacLaren Main role The Musketeers Tariq Alaman Episode: "The Good Traitor" A.D. The Bible Continues Gabra 2 episodes Master of None Colin Salmon Episode: "The Other Man" 2015–2016 Limitless Jarrod Sands Recurring role2016Judi Dench: All the World's Her StageHimselfNarrator of BBC documentary about Judi Dench 2017 Henry lX Major Recurring role Tracey Ullman's Show Various 2017–2018 Sofia the First Orion Recurring role; series 4 2018–2019 Krypton General Dru-Zod Main role; 18 episodes 2021–2023 Midsomer Murders Gerard King 2 episodes 2023–present EastEnders George Knight Regular role Changing Ends Ron Main role; 11 episodes2023 The Lazarus Project Robin Lerner Recurring role; 7 episodes, series 2Pointless CelebritiesContestantSeries 16, Episode 8 2025 EastEnders: 40 Years on the Square Himself Interviewed guest

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