Lewis Collins
Encyclopedia
Lewis Collins is an English
actor
best known for his tough-guy role as Bodie in The Professionals
. He was educated at Bidston Primary and Grange School in Birkenhead. He started out as a ladies' hairdresser before playing drums and guitar in pop groups. He had a number of other jobs before deciding to become an actor. Collins trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art then went into Rep at Chesterfield and Glasgow, toured with Prospect Theatre Company and then to London's West End. He also did tours in America and Canada. Stage included City Sugar and The Three Penny Opera.
In 1982 he auditioned for the role of James Bond
but his audition was deemed "too aggressive". His best-known role outside The Professionals is that of SAS
officer Captain Peter Skellen in the 1982 film Who Dares Wins
. He subsequently applied to join the Territorial SAS, a unit open to part time weekend reservists (The regular SAS being only open to serving fulltime British army soldiers and having a far more difficult selection procedure) but was rejected because of his fame, despite passing the entrance tests. His preparation for the film gave him a passion for guns, and in 1981 he was fined £300 after discharging a shotgun in his living room. In 2002, after a tip-off from his estranged father, police searched his house in Chalfont St Peter
, discovering machine guns, pistols, shotguns and ammunition. Collins hadn't lived at the house for several years and was not charged over the matter.
. Collins holds a private pilot's licence and his hobbies include parachuting and sports shooting, rifle and pistol. He also holds a black belt in Ju-Jitsu and is trained in karate. He can also play some musical instruments, having played in The Mojos
before he became an actor. At one time, he lived in a converted (still mobile) ambulance.
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
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
best known for his tough-guy role as Bodie in The Professionals
The Professionals (TV series)
The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
. He was educated at Bidston Primary and Grange School in Birkenhead. He started out as a ladies' hairdresser before playing drums and guitar in pop groups. He had a number of other jobs before deciding to become an actor. Collins trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art then went into Rep at Chesterfield and Glasgow, toured with Prospect Theatre Company and then to London's West End. He also did tours in America and Canada. Stage included City Sugar and The Three Penny Opera.
In 1982 he auditioned for the role of James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
but his audition was deemed "too aggressive". His best-known role outside The Professionals is that of SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
officer Captain Peter Skellen in the 1982 film Who Dares Wins
Who Dares Wins (film)
Who Dares Wins is a 1982 British film starring Lewis Collins, Judy Davis, Richard Widmark and Edward Woodward, directed by Ian Sharp. The title is the motto of the elite Special Air Service ....
. He subsequently applied to join the Territorial SAS, a unit open to part time weekend reservists (The regular SAS being only open to serving fulltime British army soldiers and having a far more difficult selection procedure) but was rejected because of his fame, despite passing the entrance tests. His preparation for the film gave him a passion for guns, and in 1981 he was fined £300 after discharging a shotgun in his living room. In 2002, after a tip-off from his estranged father, police searched his house in Chalfont St Peter
Chalfont St Peter
Chalfont St Peter is a village and civil parish in Chiltern district in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts which also includes Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont. The villages lie between High Wycombe and Rickmansworth. Chalfont St Peter is...
, discovering machine guns, pistols, shotguns and ammunition. Collins hadn't lived at the house for several years and was not charged over the matter.
Personal life
Lewis Collins married school teacher Michelle Larrett in 1992, and the couple have three sons: Oliver, Elliot and Cameron. They now live in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Collins holds a private pilot's licence and his hobbies include parachuting and sports shooting, rifle and pistol. He also holds a black belt in Ju-Jitsu and is trained in karate. He can also play some musical instruments, having played in The Mojos
The Mojos
The Mojos are a British beat group from the 1960s, best known for their hit UK single, "Everything's Alright". In spite of having one of the best reputations among the Liverpool scene, "Everything's Alright" remained their only major hit, with only two other singles charting low in the UK Singles...
before he became an actor. At one time, he lived in a converted (still mobile) ambulance.
TV roles
- Z-CarsZ-CarsZ-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
, episode "Waste", 1974 - as Derek Cunningham - Marked PersonalMarked PersonalMarked Personal was a British daytime television drama created by Charles Dennis and starring Stephanie Beacham and Heather Chasen. The series was made by Thames Television and consisted of 90 episodes, shown twice weekly on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons during 1973-74...
, episodes "1.38" and "1.37", 1974 - as Len Thomas - Village Hall, episode "Friendly Encounter", 1974 - Jimmy Jackson
- Crown CourtCrown Court (TV series)Crown Court was an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984....
, episode "Arson", 1974 - as PC Henry Williams - WarshipWarshipA warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
, episode "Away Seaboat's Crew", 1974 - L/Sea. Steele - The Cuckoo WaltzThe Cuckoo WaltzThe Cuckoo Waltz was a British television sitcom made by Granada Television for the ITV network between 1975 and 1977 and in 1980.The series which was set in 1970s and Manchester, written by Geoffrey Lancashire, produced and directed by Bill Gilmour, dealt with the comic complications that ensue...
, Granada TV sitcom, 1975-1977 - as Gavin Rumsey - The New Avengers, Series 2 - episode 5 "Obsession", (with Martin Shaw), 7 October 1977 - as Kilner
- The ProfessionalsThe Professionals (TV series)The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
, 1977-1981 - as Bodie - This Is Your LifeThis Is Your LifeThis Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...
, 1 episode, 1982 - as himself - A Night on the Town, 1983 - as George, a photographer
- Robin of SherwoodRobin of SherwoodRobin of Sherwood , was a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 1984 to 1986 on the ITV network. In America it was retitled Robin Hood and shown on the premium cable TV channel...
, episode "The Sheriff Of Nottingham", 1986 - as Phillip MarkPhilip MarcPhilip Marc was a High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests in 1208. Marc has been proposed as a candidate for the role of Sheriff of Nottingham in the legend ofRobin Hood.-Biography:... - Carly's Web, 1987 - as Alexander Prescott
- Blue Blood, 1988
- Jack the RipperJack the Ripper (1988 TV series)Jack the Ripper is a 1988 four-part television movie/mini-series portraying a fictionalized account of the hunt for Jack the Ripper, the unidentified serial killer responsible for the Whitechapel murders of 1888...
, TV Drama, 1988 - as Sergeant George GodleyGeorge GodleyGeorge Albert Godley was a police officer of the Metropolitan Police who was involved in the hunt for Jack the Ripper in 1888.... - Alfred Hitchcock PresentsAlfred Hitchcock PresentsAlfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...
, 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 CarloA Ghost in Monte CarloA Ghost in Monte Carlo is a 1951 novel by Barbara Cartland, later adapted as a 1990 film starring Sarah Miles and Lysette Anthony....
, TV Drama, 1990 - as Lord Drayton - Cluedo, 7 episodes, 1991-1992 - as Col. Mustard
- TarzánTarzánTarzán was a half-hour syndicated series that aired 1991–1994. In this version of the show, Tarzan was portrayed as a blond environmentalist, with Jane turned into a French ecologist....
, 2 episodes, 1993-1994 - as Michael Hauser - The GrimleysThe GrimleysThe Grimleys is a nostalgic comedy-drama television series set on a council estate in Dudley, West Midlands, England in the mid-1970s. It was first broadcast by Granada TV for ITV in 1999, following a pilot in 1997, and concluded in 2001 after three series....
, 2 episodes, 1999 - as Digby's Dad - The BillThe BillThe Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
, episode 034, 2002 - Dr. Peter Allen
Film roles
- Must Wear Tights (1976)
- Confessions of a Driving InstructorConfessions of a Driving InstructorConfessions of a Driving Instructor is a 1976 British sex-farce film. This was the third instalment of the Confessions sequence on the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea, based on the novels published under the name by Christopher Wood.-Premise:...
(1976) - player in Monks Hill Rugger Team - Who Dares WinsWho Dares Wins (film)Who Dares Wins is a 1982 British film starring Lewis Collins, Judy Davis, Richard Widmark and Edward Woodward, directed by Ian Sharp. The title is the motto of the elite Special Air Service ....
(19821982 in film-Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T...
) - as Captain Peter Skellen - Code Name: Wild GeeseCode Name: Wild GeeseCode Name: Wild Geese is a 1984 Italian "macaroni combat" war film directed by Antonio Margheriti and starring Lewis Collins.- Plot :In Hong Kong, DEA man Fletcher heads up an operation to cut off the supply of opium to the west; to fund this operation Fletcher has found himself allied with...
(1984) - as Captain Robin Wesley - Commando LeopardCommando LeopardCommando Leopard is a 1985 Italian war film directed by Antonio Margheriti and starring Lewis Collins. It's the second film in the Margheriti/Collins trilogy, that started with Codename: Wildgeese and concluded with The Commander....
(1985) - as Enrique Carrasco - Der Commander (1988) - as Major Jack Colby
- 1066 (Feature film to be released in 2011) - as Earl Godwin