Maurice Colbourne

Born: 1939-09-24

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.


Placeholder

The Duellists

as Tall Second
Released: 1977-08-31

In 1800, as Napoleon Bonaparte rises to power in France, a rivalry erupts between Armand and...

Movie page

Venom

as Sampson
Released: 1981-11-28

International terrorists attempt to kidnap a wealthy couple's child. Their plan comes unstuck...

Movie page

Bloodline

as Jon Swinton
Released: 1979-06-29

A pampered heiress inherits her father's pharmaceutical empire when he dies in a suspicious...

Movie page

Hawk the Slayer

as Axe Man 1
Released: 1980-08-27

Hawk the Slayer, after seeing both his father and bride die at the hands of his malevolent...

Movie page

Cry of the Banshee

as Villager
Released: 1970-07-22

In seventeenth century England Lord Whitman wages unending war on what he sees as the...

Movie page

The Littlest Horse Thieves

as Luke Armstrong
Released: 1976-05-26

When the owner of a Yorkshire coal-mine decides to mechanize to increase profits, the mine's pit...

Movie page

Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil

as SS Officer
Released: 1985-02-17

The two-part TV movie Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil crystallizes that evil by concentrating on...

Movie page

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks

as Lytton
Released: 1984-02-15

Captured in a time corridor, the Doctor and his companions are forced to land on 20th century...

Movie page

Doctor Who: Attack of the Cybermen

as Lytton
Released: 1985-01-12

An alien distress call draws the Doctor and Peri to Earth, 1985, where they uncover a Cyberman...

Movie page

Dead Man's Kit

as Lt. Cmdr. Kobahl
Released: 1980-09-30

After shore-leave in Lisbon for the crew of HMS Diana, Master-at-Arms 'Toby' Toberman makes an...

Movie page

Times For

as man
Released: 1970-10-11

A sexually frustrated man complies with the emotional and erotic wishes of four women, but...

Movie page

Gangsters

as John Kline
Released: 1975-01-09

Birmingham is a melting pot of races and every community has a stake in the city's underworld....

Movie page

Doctor Who

as Commander Lytton
First aired: 1963-11-23

The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores...

TV Show page

Doctor Who

as Lytton
First aired: 1963-11-23

The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores...

TV Show page

Howards' Way

as Tom Howard
First aired: 1985-09-01

The BBC's answer to Dynasty, Howards' Way was launched in 1985 with an enormous 1 million pound...

TV Show page

Van der Valk

as Nick Scholtz
First aired: 1972-09-13

Van der Valk is a British television series that was produced by Thames Television for the ITV...

TV Show page

Return of the Saint

as Jed Blacket
First aired: 1978-09-10

Follow the swashbuckling exploits of Simon Templar, a modern-day Robin Hood of sorts.

TV Show page

Shoestring

as uncredited
First aired: 1979-09-30

Shoestring was a BBC television show set in Bristol. It featured a private detective with his...

TV Show page

The Day of the Triffids

as Jack Coker
First aired: 1981-09-10

Following mysterious bright lights in the sky, the human race is rendered blind and helpless....

TV Show page

Johnny Jarvis

as Jake
First aired: 1983-11-10

Johnny Jarvis and Alan Lipton are two teenagers in their final year of secondary school at a...

TV Show page

Gangsters

as uncredited
First aired: 1976-09-09

A pioneering show starring Maurice Colbourne as Birmingham gangster John Kline. The show was...

TV Show page