Colin McCormack

Who was Colin McCormack?

Colin McCormack was a professional Welsh actor who enjoyed considerable success in classical stage performances and television shows over a career approaching fifty years from his debut as a child actor in a BBC TV's Dixon of Dock Green episode, a show he returned to twenty years later when he played a police constable. Later his presence and bearing as a stage actor and member of the Royal Court Theatre and Bristol Old Vic companies and the Royal Shakespeare Company was admired by audiences and fellow performers alike. McCormack also appeared in several feature films during his career.

As a celebrity, McCormack was probably little known to the public who may well have recognised his face but been unable to place a name to it, but as a character actor he was part of that high-quality and essential fabric that binds the elements of any production or a company together. McCormack was probably best known to a whole generation of British teenagers for his recurring role as Alan in the 1984 science fiction series Chocky. Older viewers may remember him better from his 1991 stint playing Kevin Masters in EastEnders.

In his close to fifty TV roles McCormack's electric presence and square jaw coupled with his imposing athletic build usually placed him in roles like soldiers, policemen or criminal types. However, he could also demonstrate a light and sympathetic capability that fitted equally into comedy roles in programmes like Man About the House, The Good Life and Yes, Minister. He was generous with his skills as an actor and was always keen to nurture budding talent, as shown by his regular time spent tutoring and coaching at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where his students included Ewan McGregor, Daniel Craig and Damian Lewis.