Maurice Colbourne
Born: 1939-09-24 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK
Died: 1989-08-04
Known For: Acting
Biography
Maurice Colbourne (24 September 1939 – 4 August 1989) was a British stage and television actor who specialised in playing villains and hard men until 1985, when he took the key role of Tom Howard in the BBC Television serial, Howards' Way. Colbourne was born Roger Middleton but took his stage name after reading about the death of actor Maurice Colbourne who shared the same birthday as he did. Colbourne's biggest success in the 1970s was as the lead in the crime drama series Gangsters. In the 80s he starred in Johnny Jarvis and the acclaimed adaptation of John Wyndham's classic sci-fi novel, The Day of the Triffids. Staying with sci-fi, he had a recurring guest role in Doctor Who as the mercenary Lytton, playing opposite the fifth and sixth doctors (Peter Davison and Colin Baker) in adventures featuring the timelords deadliest foes; the Daleks and the Cybermen. But it was the leading role in Howards' Way that he will perhaps best be remembered for. He played Tom Howard until 1989, when he died suddenly aged 49 from a heart attack. The show ended a year later.
Filmography
1985
- Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil as SS Officer
- Howards' Way as Tom Howard
- Doctor Who: Attack of the Cybermen as Lytton
1984
- Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks as Lytton
1983
- Johnny Jarvis as Jake
1982
1981
- Venom as Sampson
- The Day of the Triffids as Jack Coker
1980
- Hawk the Slayer as Axe Man 1
- Dead Man's Kit as Lt. Cmdr. Kobahl
1979
- Shoestring
- Bloodline as Jon Swinton
1978
- Return of the Saint as Jed Blacket
1977
- The Duellists as Tall Second
1976
- Gangsters as John Kline
- The Littlest Horse Thieves as Luke Armstrong
1975
- Gangsters as John Kline
1974
- Churchill's People as Dr Gedge
1972
- Van der Valk as Nick Scholtz
1970
- Play for Today as John Kline
- Cry of the Banshee as Villager
- Times For as man
1963
- Doctor Who as Commander Lytton
1956
- Jesus of Nazareth as Zacharias