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 ''Howards' Way'' is a television drama series produced by BBC Birmingham and transmitted on BBC1 between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the wealthy yachting and business com ...

''. He is also known for roles in other television series such as ''

Gangsters A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level ...

'', ''

The Onedin Line ''The Onedin Line'' is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, nam ...

'', ''

The Day of the Triffids ''The Day of the Triffids'' is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people. A ...

'' and ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

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

Early life

Maurice Colbourne was born Roger Middleton in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, three weeks after Britain and France declared war on Germany upon the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and studied acting at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...

in London. He took his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

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, Colbourne co-founded, together with Michael Irving and

Guy Sprung Guy Sprung (born on April 17, 1947, in Ottawa, Canada) is a film and theatre director. He lives in the Mile End area of Montreal and was the artistic director of Infinitheatre for 22 years. He retired and was succeeded by Zach Fraser in March 202 ...

, the Half Moon Theatre near

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. The gate gave its name to ''Aldgate High Street'', the first stretch of the A11 road, that takes that name as it passes through the ancient, extramural Portsoken ...

, 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 ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

''. Colbourne first became well known when he played the lead in a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

drama series, ''

'', from 1975–78, and afterwards appeared regularly on television. This included a guest appearance in a 1977 episode of ''

Van der Valk ''Van der Valk'' is a British television crime drama series produced for the ITV network by Thames Television. It ran from 13 September 1972 to 19 February 1992, with the first three series produced between 1972 and 1977, and two more being c ...

'', "Everybody Does It". He played Charles Marston, the love interest of Lady Fogarty, in the seventh series of ''

'' screened from 22 July to 23 September 1979. He played a mercenary in an episode of the ''

Return of the Saint ''Return of the Saint'' is a British action-adventure television series that aired for one series in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States. It was co-produced by ITC Entertainment and the Italian b ...

'' called "Duel in Venice". He played the character Jack Coker in the BBC's television miniseries adaptation of

John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his name ...

's ''

'' (1981). He also twice appeared in ''

'' as the character Lytton (in ''

Resurrection of the Daleks ''Resurrection of the Daleks'' is the fourth serial of the 21st season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on BBC1 between 8 February and 15 February 1984. The serial w ...

'' (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 BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importa ...

'' from 1985 to 1989. During a break in filming of the fifth series, he died aged 49 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

while renovating a holiday home in

Dinan Dinan (; ) is a walled Brittany, Breton town and a commune in France, commune in the Côtes-d'Armor Departments of France, department in northwestern France. On 1 January 2018, the former commune of Léhon was merged into Dinan. Geography Inst ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, France, leaving behind his wife of 10 years Chan Lian Si, and their daughter Clara. ''Howard's Way'' 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

Television

Theatre

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