Colin Welland (1934 - 2015) RIP

Oscar-winning writer and actor Colin Welland has died aged 81 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years, his family has announced.

Welland won an Oscar for best original screenplay for Chariots of Fire in 1982. He famously used his acceptance speech to declare: "The British are coming."

As an actor, he won a Bafta for playing the sympathetic English teacher Mr Farthing in Ken Loach's Kes in 1969. He had found fame earlier that decade when he played PC David Graham in TV police serial Z Cars.

He went on to successfully combine acting and writing, and scooped a Bafta TV Award for writing TV plays in 1971. That was the same year he won the Bafta film award for best supporting actor for Kes. His film writing credits also include 1979's Yanks, which starred Vanessa Redgrave and Richard Gere, and 1985's Twice in a Lifetime.

As an actor, he played a vicar in Dustin Hoffman's 1971 thriller Straw Dogs and appeared in the big screen version of crime drama The Sweeney and 1980s sitcom Cowboys, about incompetent builders.

In a statement released via his literary agent Anthony Jones, his family said: "Colin will be desperately missed by his family and friends. Alzheimer's is a cruel illness and there have been difficult times but in the end Colin died peacefully in his sleep.We are proud of Colin's many achievements during his life but most of all he will be missed as a loving and generous friend, husband, father and granddad."

Welland, who died on Monday, is survived by his wife Patricia, four children and six grandchildren

In Z Cars didn't Colin work alongside Brian Blessed in one of the cars.
It's a wonder that he wasn't deaf in one ear.

Great actor and screenwriter. RIP

(03-11-2015 18:07 )Charlemagne Wrote:  In Z Cars didn't Colin work alongside Brian Blessed in one of the cars.
It's a wonder that he wasn't deaf in one ear.

Great actor and screenwriter. RIP

Yes, and Welland also wrote some of the episodes. Welland and Blessed returned to make a guest appearance in the last ever episode of Z-Cars in 1978 but didn't play their original characters .

As an aside, future Monkee Davy Jones also appeared in three early episodes of the show!