Lewis Collins

Theatre career On graduation from LAMDA Collins joined the Chesterfield Civic Theatre's Repertory Company in 1971, moving to the company of the Citizen’s Theatre, in Glasgow in 1972 under the director Giles Havergal. In 1972, he appeared in seven plays in Glasgow including the lead in Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great. In the mid-1990s he performed in an English provincial tour of the play Who killed Agatha Christie by Tudor Gates. His last performance in theatre was a 1999–2000 provincial tour in the English Midlands of J.B. Priestley's Dangerous Corner.

Move into television While appearing in The Farm at the Royal Court in 1973 Collins received an offer for his first television role in the British Broadcasting Corporation's police drama Z-Cars. His first major television role was in Granada Television's comedy series The Cuckoo Waltz from 1975 to 1977, By the mid-1970s he was regularly appearing on British television dramas in multiple roles. He had thought of Collins as an alternative after seeing a recently filmed episode of The New Avengers, in which Collins and Shaw (both trained at LAMDA) had appeared alongside one another and there had been a noticeable dynamic tension between them, both in their acting style and off-screen private personalities. After a screen test of Collins, he replaced Anthony Andrews as 'William Bodie'. Although not getting on particularly well with one another personally, the good-humoured antagonism and bravado between Collins and Shaw on-screen worked well and the series was highly successful on British television for the next six years, making household names of them both. The production came to an end in 1981, although new episodes continued to be shown onscreen until early 1983.

Military career Collins was a private in the 10th Battalion Parachute Regiment of the British Army (a Territorial Army unit) from 1979 to 1983. In 1983, he applied to join the Territorial SAS, but was refused because of his celebrity status. From 15 to 23 March 1980 Collins with several volunteers from the Parachute Regiment, along with the boxer John Conteh, took part in a loaded march in military service conditions from London to Liverpool up the A41 road, the funds raised from the event being donated to a charity for disabled children.

Acting career (1980s–1990s) In the 1980s, he auditioned for the role of 007 with Eon Productions, the producers of the James Bond cinema franchise, to succeed Roger Moore, but the audition with its producer Albert R. Broccoli did not go well In 1982 he moved into cinema starring in the role of a British Army officer confronting terrorists in the film Who Dares Wins.

As the 1980s progressed Collins attempted to maintain a cinematic career. An initial plan to continue to make feature films with the Who Dares Wins producer Euan Lloyd, including one set in the Falklands War provisionally entitled Task Force South, came to nothing, so he instead signed a German-Italian co-production contract to star in three mercenary war genre feature films directed by Antonio Margheriti set in the Third World, viz., Code Name: Wild Geese (1984), which had a television audience of over 14 million. In the early 1990s, seeking to extend his career options in drama to work beyond acting he attended courses in screenwriting and direction at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in Los Angeles, California, US, but this led to no subsequent professional employment. In the mid-1990s he moved his family to Los Angeles, where he was residing part-time, while he returned to England intermittently for the occasional provincial theatre tour and minor acting roles in television productions.

In March 1997, Collins announced in an interview on British television that he was in discussions with a production company to star in a new series based on The Professionals,

Collins' final acting performance was in an episode of the British television police drama series The Bill entitled "034" in 2002.

In early 2012, his return to acting was announced by his theatrical agent issuing a statement that he had been cast to play the role of the Earl Godwin in the historically based feature film production 1066, but in June 2013, it was announced by the same source that he had withdrawn from the production due to ill health. Shortly before his death, he returned to visit the United Kingdom, spending some time in Merseyside.

Collins' body was cremated. An urn holding his ashes is deposited in a memorial display cabinet at the North Pacifica Mausoleum section of Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

Personal life Collins married Michelle Larrett, a school-teacher, in 1992, the couple had three sons.

He held a private pilot's licence, a black belt in jujitsu and had trained in karate. His hobbies included parachuting, motorbikes, collecting firearms, sports shooting and playing musical instruments.

TV roles Z-Cars, episode "Waste", 1974 – as Derek Cunningham Marked Personal, episodes "1.38" and "1.37", 1974 – as Len Thomas Village Hall, episode "Friendly Encounter", 1974 – Jimmy Jackson Crown Court, episode "Arson", 1974 – as PC Henry Williams Warship, episode "Away Seaboat's Crew", 1974 – L/Sea. Steele The Cuckoo Waltz, Granada TV sitcom, 1975–1977 – as Gavin Ramsey The New Avengers, Series 2 – episode 5 "Obsession", (with Martin Shaw), 7 October 1977 – as Kilner The Professionals, 1977–1981 – as Bodie Must Wear Tights (TV musical), 1978 - as Lewis Blake This Is Your Life, 1 episode, 1982 – as himself A Night on the Town, 1983 – as George, a photographer Robin of Sherwood, episode "The Sheriff of Nottingham", 1986 – as Phillip Mark Carly's Web, 1987 – as Alexander Prescott Jack the Ripper, TV Drama, 1988 – as Sergeant George Godley Alfred Hitchcock Presents, episode "The Man Who Knew Too Little", 1989 – as Bill Stewart Blaues Blut, TV series, 1990 – as Hugh Sinclair (segment "Bounty") A Ghost in Monte Carlo, TV Drama, 1990 – as Lord Drayton Cluedo, 7 episodes, 1991–1992 – as Jack Peacock in Series 2; as Col. Mustard in Series 3 Tarzán, 2 episodes, 1993–1994 – as Michael Hauser The Grimleys, 2 episodes, 1999 – as Digby's Dad The Bill, episode 034, 2002 – Dr. Peter Allen (final appearance)

Film roles Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976) – (Extra as No.10 in the red- shirted rugby team) Who Dares Wins (1982) – Captain Peter Skellen Code Name: Wild Geese (1984) – Capt. Robin Wesley Commando Leopard (1985) – Enrique Carrasco The Commander (1988) – Maj. Jack Colby