The Professionals Lewis Collins Genuine Signed Card

Lewis Collins (born 27 May 1946 in Bidston, Birkenhead, Cheshire) is an English actor. He is best known for his tough-guy role as Bodie in The Professionals.

Biography

Collins' decided early to try for career in music, perhaps because his father was once a road manager for The Beatles. He learned to play the guitar, and appeared in a number of Merseybeat bands such as The Renegades, The Eyes, and The Georgians. In December 1964 he joined The Mojos as bassist. The band split in September 1966. Collins then took a number of sales jobs before moving into acting.

Acting career

In 1968 he began study at LAMDA, appearing in a production of Romeo and Juliet during his three years study. After graduation Collins made several theatre appearances which resulted in a number of minor TV roles in shows such as Z-Cars, Rooms, and Marked Personal. It was after this initial period of success that he enlisted in the TA Reserve 10th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment.

Collins first came to the attention of the wider public in 1975 when he starred in Granada TV's popular comedy series The Cuckoo Waltz as Gavin Rumsey, the lodger living with newlyweds David Roper and Diane Keen. Collins left the show in 1977.

The Professionals

The producers of the The Professionals had cast Martin Shaw as Ray Doyle, but Anthony Andrews, their first choice for the role of Bodie, was dropped after three days of filming, and Collins hired to replace him. Shaw and Collins had worked well together in Obsession- an episode of the popular ITV series The New Avengers, producing a chemistry that the producers of The Professionals recalled and felt would work well for the new show. Filming of The Professionals commenced in June 1977, and lasted for four series until 1981 when the viewing figures dropped and Shaw left to develop his career.

Plans to revive The Professionals first arose in 1994, after ex-producer David Wickes sought support to produce a new series. A 1996 Nissan car advert which parodied Bodie and Doyle had proven extremely successful, suggesting that the characters remained popular and well known, and Collins began negotiations with the producers which would have seen him return to the series as Bodie, but now in Cowley's former role as Head of CI5. The talks fell through and the eventual revival CI5: The New Professionals appeared with none of the original cast, Collins having been replaced by Edward Woodward.

After The Professionals

After completing the fifth and final series of The Professionals in 1981, Collins struggled to find work, possibly because of typecasting: he found himself cast in macho, hard-man roles in foreign films. He was considered for the role of James Bond to have replaced Roger Moore in For Your Eyes Only and later The Living Daylights. Collins drew on his experiences in the Territorial Army to portray an SAS officer in the lead role as 'Peter Skellen' in the 1982 film Who Dares Wins (U.S. title: The Final Option). Whilst making the film he suffered a broken nose during a fight scene. It was criticised by some journalists for possibly being a 'Lewis Collins vehicle'.

He then starred in a trio of mercenary films all directed by Antonio Margheriti Code Name: Wild Geese (1984), Commando Leopard (1985), and The Commander (1987).^[1]

One of his finest roles after The Professionals came in 1988 in the ITV Jack the Ripper mini-series, in which he played Sergeant George Godley alongside Michael Caine. In the late 1980s Collins based himself in Los Angeles, taking minor parts in several American mini-series while he studied for and passed film directors' exams. He spent much of the 1990s in theatre productions, and in a number of TV shows in brief guest appearances, including Colonel Mustard in ITV's third mini-TV Cluedo series.

He continues to work an actor and director, with a recent TV appearance in August 2002 as Dr Peter Allen in an episode of the ITV1 series The Bill.

Personal life

Lewis Collins married school teacher Michelle Larrett in 1992, and the couple have three sons: Oliver, Elliot and Cameron.

He now holds his own private pilot's licence and his hobbies include parachuting and sports shooting. He also holds a black belt in Ju-Jitsu.

TV roles

• Z Cars, episode "Waste", 1974 - as Derek Cunningham
• Marked Personal, episodes "1.38" and "1.37", 1974 - as Len Thomas
• Village Hall, episode "Friendly Encounter", 1974 - Jimmy Jackson
• Crown Court, episode "Arson", 1974 - as PC Henry Williams
• Warship, episode "Away Seaboat's Crew", 1974 - L/Sea. Steele
• The Cuckoo Waltz, Granada TV sitcom, 1975-1977 - as Gavin Rumsey
• The New Avengers, episode 5 "Obsession", season 2, 7 October 1977 - as Kilner
• The Professionals, 1977-1983 - as William Andrew Philip Bodie
• This Is Your Life, 1 episode, 1982 - as Himself
• A Night on the Town, 1983 - as George, a photographer
• Robin Of Sherwood, episode "The Sheriff Of Nottingham", 1986 - as Phillip Mark
• Carly's Web, 1987 - as Alexander Prescott
• Blue Blood, 1988
• Jack the Ripper, TV Drama, 1989 - as Sergeant George Godley
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents, episode "The Man Who Knew Too Little", 1989 - as Bill Stewart
• Blaues Blut, TV series, 1990 - as Hugh Sinclair (segment "Bounty")
• A Ghost in Monte Carlo, TV Drama, 1990 - as Lord Drayton
• Cluedo, 7 episodes, 1991-1992 - as Col. Mustard
• Tarzán, 2 episodes, 1993-1994 - as Michael Hauser
• The Grimleys, 2 episodes, 1999 - as Digby's Dad
• The Bill, episode 034, 2002 - Dr. Peter Allen

Film roles

• Must Wear Tights (1976)
• Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976) - Player in Monks Hill Rugger Team
• Who Dares Wins (1982) - as Captain Peter Skellen
• Codename: Wildgeese (1984) - as Commander Robin Wesley
• Commando Leopard (1985) - as Enrique Carrasco
• Commander, Der (1988) - as Major Colby