Colin Welland

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Male

Birthday 1934-07-04

Deathday 2015-11-02 (81 years old)

Place of Birth Liverpool, England

Colin Welland

Biography

Actor and writer Colin Welland will perhaps be forever remembered for his triumph at the 1982 Academy Awards, when he won the Best Screenplay Oscar for his screenplay for the hit film Chariots of Fire, proclaiming "The British are Coming!" As an actor, his first film appearance is perhaps still his best-loved, the sympathetic Mr Farthing in Kes (1969), for which he won a BAFTA. Born in Liverpool, but raised in Leigh, Welland initially started out as an art teacher before moving into acting and becoming a household name playing the role of PC Graham in the long running BBC police serial Z Cars. Aside from Chariots of Fire, he wrote many other plays and films including the BAFTA winning Kisses at Fifty (later remade for Hollywood with Gene Hackman as Twice in a Lifetime), Leeds United! based on the rag trade strike that his own mother-in-law was active in, Yanks, A Dry White Season and War of the Buttons. As a film and TV actor his credits include Kes, Straw Dogs, Blue Remembered Hills, Cowboys and Sweeney! He died at the age of 81 on November 2, 2015, having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for several years.

Known For

Actor

1997
The Fix

as Harry Catterick

1995
Bramwell

as Mr. Barclay

1993
Femme Fatale

as Martin Harty

1990
1990
1987
1981
United Kingdom

as Chief Constable James McBride

1980
Cowboys

as Geyser

1979
1978
1977
Sweeney!

as Frank Chadwick

1976
1975
1975
The Sweeney

as Tober

1971
Straw Dogs

as Rev. Barney Hood

1971
Villain

as Tom Binney

1970
Roll On Four O'Clock

as Lennie Brown

1970
Kes

as Mr. Farthing

1970
Play for Today

as Willie

1962
Z-Cars

as PC David Graham

Writer

1994
1994
Bambino Mio

as Writer

1989
A Dry White Season

as Screenplay

1985
1981
1979
Yanks

as Story

1979
Yanks

as Screenplay

1974
Leeds United!

as Writer

1973
Kisses at Fifty

as Writer

1973
Jack Point

as Writer

1972
Bank Holiday

as Writer

1970
1970
Play for Today

as Writer

1956