Colin Gordon

For other people named Colin Gordon, see Colin Gordon (disambiguation).

Colin Gordon
Born	(1911-04-27)27 April 1911 Ceylon
Died	4 October 1972(1972-10-04) (aged 61) Haslemere, Surrey, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1934–1972
Spouse(s)	Sidney Eileen Short (1936–1943; divorced, 1 child) Zena Howard (1945–unknown; separated)

Colin Gordon (27 April 1911 – 4 October 1972) was a British actor born in Ceylon.

Biography

He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of Toad of Toad Hall. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory Company in Brixton. He served in the army during the Second World War for six years.

Career

Gordon had a long career in British cinema and television from the 1940s to the 1970s, often playing government officials. His films include The Pink Panther and Casino Royale (both with Peter Sellers, alongside whom he made five films). In the ITC series The Prisoner (1967) he portrayed Number Two twice, in "A. B. and C." and later in "The General".

Gordon was a regular in another ITC production, The Baron, playing civil servant Templeton-Green opposite Steve Forrest. He also starred in The Invisible Man (1958 TV series) episode "Play to Kill", (series 1, episode 6, 1959); was the host and occasional narrator of the 1969 London Weekend Television series The Complete and Utter History of Britain, (which arose from a pre-Monty Python collaboration between Michael Palin and Terry Jones); and, was the Airport Commandant in the 1967 Doctor Who story The Faceless Ones. He was also in Bachelor Father and made two notable guest appearances in Steptoe and Son, once in "The Holiday" and again in the 1972 episode "Live Now, P.A.Y.E Later" as a tax inspector whom Harold and Albert manage to get drunk when he calls with a query about the old man's income tax return. In 1961 he appeared as the Doctor in "The Lift" episode of Hancock's Half Hour. In 1970 he appeared in the UFO episode "The Cat with Ten Lives". He also appeared as Walpole Gibb in the ATV/ITC series Hine in 1971.

Selected filmography

• Jim the Penman (1947) as Roberts
• Bond Street (1948) as Clerk in Travel Agency
• The Winslow Boy (1948) (uncredited)
• It's Hard to Be Good (1948) as Neighbour with Baby (uncredited)
• Edward, My Son (1949) as Ellerby
• Helter Skelter (1949) as Chadbeater Longwick
• Golden Arrow (1949) as Connelly
• Traveller's Joy (1949) as Tom Wright
• The Third Visitor (1951) as Bill Millington
• The Long Dark Hall (1951) as Pound
• Circle of Danger (1951) as Col. Fairbairn
• Laughter in Paradise (1951) as Station Constable
• The Man in the White Suit (1951) as Hill
• The Lady with a Lamp (1951)
• Green Grow the Rushes (1951) as Roderick Fisherwick
• Mandy (1952) as Woollard (Junior)
• The Hour of 13 (1952) as MacStreet
• Folly to Be Wise (1952) as Prof. James Mutch
• Grand National Night (1953) as Buns Darling
• Innocents in Paris (1953) as Customs Officer
• The Heart of the Matter (1953) as Secretary (uncredited)
• Up to His Neck (1955) as Lt. Cmdr. Sterning
• Little Red Monkey (1955) as Harry Martin, reporter
• John and Julie (1955) as Mr. Swayne
• Escapade (1955) as Deeson, reporter
• Jumping for Joy (1956) as Max, 1st Commentator
• Keep It Clean (1956) as Peter, Marquess of Hurlingford
• The Green Man (1956) as Reginald Willoughby-Cruft
• A Touch of the Sun (1956) as Cecil Flick
• Up in the World (1956) as Fletcher Hetherington
• The Extra Day (1956) as Sir George Howard
• The Key Man (1957) as Larry Parr
• The One That Got Away (1957) as Army Interrogator
• The Safecracker (1958) as Dakers
• Virgin Island (US: Our Virgin Island, 1958) as The Commissioner
• The Doctor's Dilemma (1958) as Newspaper Man
• The Crowning Touch (1959) as Stacey
• Alive and Kicking (1959) as Bird Watcher
• The Mouse That Roared (1959) as BBC Announcer
• Bobbikins (1959) as Dr. Phillips
• Please Turn Over (1959) as Maurice
• Carry On Constable (1960) (uncredited)
• The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960) as Benge
• The Big Day (1960) as George Baker
• Make Mine Mink (1960) (uncredited)
• His and Hers (1961) as TV Announcer
• Seven Keys (1961) as Mr. Barber
• House of Mystery (1961) as Burdon
• Very Important Person (1961) as Briggs
• Don't Bother to Knock (1961) as Rolsom
• Three on a Spree (1961) as Mitchell
• Crooks Anonymous (1962) as Drunk
• Night of the Eagle (1962) as Lindsay Carr
• Strongroom (1962) as Mr. Spencer
• In the Doghouse (1962) as Dean
• The Devil's Agent (1962) as Count Dezsepalvy
• The Boys (1962) as Gordon Lonsdale
• The Running Man (1963) as Solicitor
• Heavens Above! (1963) as Prime Minister
• Bitter Harvest (1963) as Charles
• The Pink Panther (1963) as Tucker
• The Counterfeit Constable (1964) as Le dentiste W. Martin
• The Liquidator (1965) as Vicar
• The Psychopath (1966) as Dr. Glyn
• The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1966) as Noakes
• The Trygon Factor (1966) as Dice
• The Family Way (1966) as Mr. Hutton
• Casino Royale (1967) as Casino Director
• Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968) as Mr. Hartford
• Subterfuge (1968) as Kitteridge
• Mischief (1969) as Mr. Crawford
• The Body Beneath (1970) as Graham Ford

External links

• Colin Gordon at IMDb