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''. He is also known for roles in other television series such as '' Gangsters'', '' The Onedin Line'', '' The Day of the Triffids'' and ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

''. He was usually cast as a villain in his career.

Early life

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 A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

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

In 1972, he co-founded, together with

Michael Irving Michael Irving is a stage and screen actor born on October, 19 1943 in Ipswich, Suffolk. In 1972 he was one of the co-founders of the Half Moon Theatre with Maurice Colbourne and Guy Sprung. It became thHalf Moon Young People's Theatrein 1990, a ...

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''. He first became well known when he played the lead in a BBC drama series, '' Gangsters'', from 1975–78, and afterwards appeared regularly on televsion. 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 ''

'' as the character Lytton (in '' Resurrection of the Daleks'' (1984) and ''

Attack of the Cybermen ''Attack of the Cybermen'' is the first serial of the 22nd season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on 5 and 12 January 1985. It was credited to the pseudonymous autho ...

'' (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 suddenly 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

References

External links

*
Maurice Colbourne
o
Stages of Half Moon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colbourne, Maurice 1939 births 1989 deaths 20th-century English male actors Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors Male actors from Sheffield