Colin Welland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Colin Edward Williams (1934-07-04)4 July 1934 Liverpool, England |
| Died | 2 November 2015(2015-11-02) (aged 81) Surrey, England |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1962–1998 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4[1] |
Colin Welland (bornColin Edward Williams; 4 July 1934 – 2 November 2015) was an English actor and screenwriter. He won theBAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Mr Farthing inKes (1969) and theAcademy Award for Best Original Screenplay for writingChariots of Fire (1981).
Welland was born Colin Edward Williams[2][3] at theMaternity Hospital[3] inLiverpool[4][5][6][7][a] on 4 July 1934, the son of Norah and John "Jack" Arthur Williams.[8] He spent his earliest years in theKensington district of Liverpool before moving toNewton-le-Willows in 1941. He passed hiseleven-plus in 1945 and attended Newton-le-Willows Grammar School, and, after hisNational Service, he studied atGoldsmiths College andBretton Hall College of Education. He gained a teaching diploma and qualified as a teacher,[9] then taught art at Manchester Road Secondary Modern school inLeigh, where he was known as "Ted" because of hisTeddy Boy curly hairstyle.[10] He began his stage career as an actor and assistant stage manager atManchester Library Theatre.[3]
As an actor, Welland appeared as PC David Graham in theBBC seriesZ-Cars from 1962 to 1965.[11] He was a sympathetic schoolteacher in aBAFTA-winning performance in the filmKes (1969), and a detective in theRichard Burton filmVillain (1971). He appeared as a villain in one 1975 episode ofThe Sweeney, and was in the series' first cinema spin-offSweeney! (1977) as Frank Chadwick, a newspaper editor. His other appearances includeDennis Potter'sBlue Remembered Hills (1979) as the character Willie, andDancin' Thru the Dark (1990) as the nightclub manager. He was also in the television seriesCowboys (1980), a comedy about a dodgy builder, withRoy Kinnear. He co-presentedSport Two onBBC 2, withIan Wooldridge, in the early 1970s.[citation needed]
Welland's screenwriting credits include the Granada TV play,Roll on Four O’Clock (1970) in which he also appeared as a member of the teaching staff; the teleplay about the strike for equal payLeeds United (1974), the filmYanks (1979), starringVanessa Redgrave andRichard Gere, which was directed byJohn Schlesinger, andTwice in a Lifetime (1985), starringGene Hackman,Ellen Burstyn andAnn-Margret.[11]
When Welland appeared onBBC Radio 4'sDesert 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 forBest Original Screenplay forChariots of Fire (1981) at the 1982 Academy Awards, and his acceptance speech included the phrase: "The British are coming!"[11][12] (a quotation fromPaul Revere).[10] In the filmChariots of Fire, the sign outside theChurch of Scotland inParis shows the preacher for the 9 am worship to be "C.M. Welland"; he had played a vicar inStraw Dogs (1971). FollowingChariots of Fire, he was again commissioned byDavid Puttnam to write the screenplay forWar of the Buttons (1994).
Welland married Patricia Sweeney in 1962, and they had a son and three daughters together.[13]
Welland was a lifelongrugby league fan and player who wrote of his support for the sport in newspaper columns.[14] He stood up for rugby league againstrugby union discrimination in the 1980s and 1990s.[citation needed]
Welland died in his sleep at a nursing home inSunbury on Thames on 2 November 2015, at the age of 81.[3] He had suffered fromAlzheimer'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-starBrian 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 |
