Colin Welland | |
---|---|
Born | Colin Edward Williams 4 July 1934 Liverpool, England |
Died | 2 November 2015 81) Surrey, England | (aged
Occupation(s) | Actor, screenwriter |
Years active | 1962–1998 |
Spouse | Patricia Sweeney (m. 1962) |
Children | 4 [1] |
Colin Welland (born Colin Edward Williams; 4 July 1934 – 2 November 2015) was an English actor and screenwriter. He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Mr Farthing in Kes (1969) and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for writing Chariots of Fire (1981).
Welland was born Colin Edward Williams [2] [3] at the Maternity Hospital [3] in Liverpool [4] [5] [6] [7] [lower-alpha 1] on Wednesday, 4 July 1934, the son of Norah and John "Jack" Arthur Williams. [8] He spent his earliest years in the Kensington district of Liverpool before moving to Newton-le-Willows in 1941. He passed his eleven-plus in 1945 and attended Newton-le-Willows Grammar School, and, after his National Service, he studied at Goldsmiths College and Bretton Hall College of Education. He gained a teaching diploma and qualified as a teacher, [9] then taught art at Manchester Road Secondary Modern school in Leigh, where he was known as "Ted" because of his Teddy Boy curly hairstyle. [10] He began his stage career as an actor and assistant stage manager at Manchester Library Theatre. [3]
As an actor, Welland appeared as PC David Graham in the BBC series Z-Cars from 1962 to 1965. [11] He was a sympathetic schoolteacher in a BAFTA-winning performance in the film Kes (1969), and a detective in the Richard Burton film Villain (1971). He appeared as a villain in one 1975 episode of The Sweeney , and was in the series' first cinema spin-off Sweeney! (1977) as Frank Chadwick, a newspaper editor. His other appearances include Dennis Potter's Blue Remembered Hills (1979) as the character Willie, and Dancin' Thru the Dark (1990). He was also in the television series Cowboys (1980), a comedy about a dodgy builder, with Roy Kinnear.
Welland's screenwriting credits include the teleplay about the strike for equal pay Leeds United (1974), the film Yanks (1979), starring Vanessa Redgrave and Richard Gere, which was directed by John Schlesinger, and Twice in a Lifetime (1985), starring Gene Hackman, Ellen Burstyn and Ann-Margret. [11]
When Welland appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in 1973 he said that most of his own plays "usually champion the individual against the system". He said: "I usually find that it's one man's effort to break through what is usually expected of an individual." [11]
Welland won the award for Best Original Screenplay for Chariots of Fire (1981) at the 1982 Academy Awards, and his acceptance speech included the phrase: "The British are coming!" [11] [12] (a quotation from Paul Revere). [10] In the film Chariots of Fire, the sign outside the Church of Scotland in Paris shows the preacher for the 9 am worship to be "C.M. Welland"; he had played a vicar in Straw Dogs (1971). Following Chariots of Fire, he was again commissioned by David Puttnam to write the screenplay for War of the Buttons (1994).
Welland married Patricia Sweeney in 1962, and they had a son and three daughters together. [13]
Welland was a lifelong rugby league fan and player who wrote of his support for the sport in newspaper columns. [14] He stood up for rugby league against rugby union discrimination in the 1980s and 1990s.[ citation needed ]
Welland died in his sleep at a nursing home in Sunbury on Thames on 2 November 2015, at the age of 81. [3] He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for several years before his death. [11] [10]
On his death, Chariots of Fire producer David Puttnam said Welland was "an unswervingly good man; a fine actor, and a seriously gifted screenwriter". Nigel Havers, who had appeared in the film, told BBC News: "I remember him being great fun with a great sense of humour and a very honest man. He had a tremendous honesty about everything he wrote. I'm just very surprised he never made more films in Hollywood. It's a great loss to us all." Z Cars co-star Brian Blessed described Welland as "a great writer and a very natural actor," adding "He had a tremendous ability for writing. He could write anything, any style." [11]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1969 | Kes | Mr. Farthing | |
1971 | Villain | Tom Binney | |
1971 | Straw Dogs | Rev. Barney Hood | |
1977 | Sweeney! | Frank Chadwick | |
1981 | Chariots of Fire | Writer | |
1990 | Dancin' Thru the Dark | Bransky's Manager | |
1994 | War of the Buttons | Writer |
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice. Ben Cross and Ian Charleson star as Abrahams and Liddell, alongside Nigel Havers, Ian Holm, John Gielgud, Lindsay Anderson, Cheryl Campbell, Alice Krige, Brad Davis and Dennis Christopher in supporting roles. Kenneth Branagh makes his debut in a minor role.
Ted Ray was an English comedian of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, on radio and television. His BBC radio show Ray's a Laugh ran for 12 years.
Barry Leslie Norman was a British film critic, television presenter and journalist. He presented the BBC's cinema review programme, Film..., from 1972 to 1998.
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA is a British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include Chariots of Fire, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, The Mission, The Killing Fields, Local Hero, Midnight Express and Memphis Belle. In 1982, he received the BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, and in 2006 he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish sprinter, rugby player and Christian missionary. Born in Qing China to Scottish missionary parents, he attended boarding school near London, spending time when possible with his family in Edinburgh, and afterwards attended the University of Edinburgh.
Ian Charleson was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire. He is also well known for his portrayal of Rev. Charlie Andrews in the 1982 Oscar-winning film Gandhi.
Ian Edmund Bannen was a Scottish actor with a long career in film, on stage, and on television. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), the first Scottish actor to receive the honour, as well as two BAFTA Film Awards for his performances in Sidney Lumet's The Offence (1973) and John Boorman's Hope and Glory (1987).
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Hugh Hudson was an English film director. He was among a generation of British directors who would begin their career making documentaries and television commercials before going on to have success in films.
Kenneth Lynch, OBE was an English singer, songwriter, entertainer, and actor. He appeared in many variety shows in the 1960s. At the time, he was among the few black singers in British pop music. He was appointed an OBE in the 1970 New Year Honours list.
Harry Bernard Cross was an English stage and film actor. He was best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire and for playing Billy Flynn in the original West End production of the musical Chicago.
Melody (originally titled S.W.A.L.K. is a 1971 British children's romantic comedy-drama film directed by Waris Hussein about puppy love. The film starred Jack Wild, Mark Lester and Tracy Hyde.
War of the Buttons is a 1994 comedy-drama adventure film directed by John Roberts. It was written by Colin Welland and based on the French novel La Guerre des boutons, by Louis Pergaud. The story, about two rival boys' gangs in Ireland, the Ballys and the Carricks, is set in County Cork, where it was filmed on location.
Paul Angelis was an English actor and writer, best known for his role as PC Bruce Bannerman in the BBC police series Z-Cars and as Navy Rum in Porridge as well as doing many voices in the film Yellow Submarine.
Grevel Charles Garrett Lindop is an English poet, academic and literary critic.
This is a list of events related to British television in 1934.
Evelyn Aubrey Montague was an English athlete and journalist. He ran in the 1924 Paris Olympics, placing sixth in the steeplechase race. Montague is portrayed in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, where he is portrayed by Nicholas Farrell. Contrary to the film, he attended Oxford, not Cambridge, and went by the name Evelyn (EEV-lin) rather than Aubrey.
Colin Vaines is a British film and Emmy-winning television producer whose credits include The Unforgivable, starring Sandra Bullock, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Gangs of New York, Coriolanus, The Young Victoria, and The Rum Diary.
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