Canadian actor (1928?2000)
John Colicos
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Born
| (
1928-12-10
)
December 10, 1928
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Died
| March 6, 2000
(2000-03-06)
(aged 71)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Occupation
| Actor
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Years active
| 1950?1999
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Spouse
|
Mona McHenry
(
m.
1956;
div.
1981)
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Children
| 2
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John Colicos
(December 10, 1928 ? March 6, 2000) was a Canadian actor.
[1]
He performed on stage and television in the United States and Canada.
Early life
[
edit
]
Colicos was born in
Toronto
, Ontario, to a
Greek
father and a
Canadian
mother.
[2]
Career
[
edit
]
Colicos began his acting career with the Canadian Art Theatre,
[3]
before the
Montreal Repertory Theatre
, later winning a
Dominion Drama Festival
award.
[4]
Colicos was named best actor at the 1951 Dominion Drama Festival.
[4]
[5]
Colicos worked briefly at the Old Vic company in England.
[4]
Colicos worked CBC Radio, with Andrew Allen, and later appeared in CBC dramas.
[4]
In 1957 he appeared in
Mary Stuart
at the
Phoenix Theatre
in New York City and in 1963 he appeared in
Troilus and Cressida
at the
Stratford Festival
in
Stratford, Ontario
, Canada.
[6]
His other New York theatre credits are
King Lear
(1956),
The Devils
(1965?1966),
Serjeant Musgrave's Dance
(1966), and
Soldiers
(1968).
[7]
[8]
Colicos' skill in acting resulted in his being chosen to play the title role in a memorable and first-ever production of
King Lear
(1964) at the Stratford Festival.
[9]
He appeared as
Monks
in a television version of
Oliver Twist
for the
DuPont Show of the Month
series in 1959. He also gave memorable performances in 1966 on the
CBS
soap opera
The Secret Storm
; as the unscrupulous
Thomas Cromwell
in the 1969 movie version of
Anne of the Thousand Days
; and as the governor of Umakran in the episode "The Goddess Calabra" from the 1973 TV show
The Starlost
.
On
American television
, he established himself as a
science-fiction
villain icon, portraying the first
Klingon
ever seen in the
Star Trek
franchise,
Commander
Kor
in the
Original Series
episode "
Errand of Mercy
" (1967).
[10]
Colicos worked with Gene Roddenberry designing the look the Klingons have on
Star Trek
(1966). Budget constraints prevented the extensive makeup the Klingons were supposed to have so Colicos suggested they have a leathery Genghis Khan look, dark skin and hair. He also portrayed
Lord Baltar
in the original
Battlestar Galactica
movie and
television series
. Over a quarter-century after his initial appearance in the
Star Trek
franchise, Colicos reprised his role as the 140-year-old Kor in three episodes of
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, telecast between 1994 and 1998.
[11]
Aside from his science-fiction roles, Colicos also appeared numerous times in episodic television from the 1960s onwards, including the portrayal of the villain on three episodes of
Mission: Impossible
. He appeared in four episodes of the
CBC
docu-drama
The National Dream
as the "railway general"
William Cornelius Van Horne
and appeared in seven episodes of
Mannix
. The last person shot and killed in the television series
Gunsmoke
(1955?1975) was Judge Flood, played by Colicos in episode 631, "Hard Labor".
Several years after his
Battlestar Galactica
tenure, Colicos again ventured into science fiction. In August and September 1981, he portrayed
Mikkos Cassadine
, a demented, power-mad businessman bent on freezing the world, on the
ABC
soap opera
General Hospital
. He was also the voice of the
X-Men
villain
Apocalypse/En Sabah Nur
(1993?1995) in the
Fox Kids
animated
X-Men
television series in the nineties, and twice played rogue alien Quinn in the first season (1988?1989) of
War of the Worlds
.
In 1982 he ventured into educational TV with
TVOntario
's award-winning production of
Prophecy with John Colicos
. The writer/director,
Dr. Robert Gardner
, recalled his initial meeting with the actor: "I had seen him scores of times in movies and television and I was very nervous. In truth, though, he was a joy to work with. Once he sensed that you were prepared he was thoroughly professional. His presence in the ninety-minute production was the main reason it went on to win the prestigious Gold Medal at the Atlanta International Film Festival."
He appeared in TV commercials during the 1990s for
America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses
. Colicos' final acting appearance was his reprise of Count Baltar in the concept demonstration
trailer
Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming
, exhibited at many
science fiction conventions
in 1999.
[12]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Colicos wed Mona McHenry in 1956 and divorced in 1981. They had two sons, Nicolas (also an actor) and Edmund.
[12]
Colicos died in Toronto on March 6, 2000, at the age of 71, after a series of heart attacks.
[13]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"John Colicos"
.
BFI
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-07-20.
- ^
Moskos, Charles C.
(1989).
Greek Americans: Struggle and Success
. Transaction Publishers. p. 150.
ISBN
9781412824835
– via Google Books.
- ^
"Colicos, John"
.
Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
. Retrieved
13 August
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Actor noted for Stratford roles"
.
The Globe and Mail
. 7 March 2000
. Retrieved
13 August
2023
.
- ^
"John Colicos"
.
The Canadian Encyclopedia
. Retrieved
13 August
2023
.
- ^
"Actor noted for Stratford roles"
.
The Globe and Mail
. March 7, 2000
. Retrieved
March 1,
2018
.
- ^
"Theater: 'Lear,' as Colicos Sees Him; Portrait of Tragic King Given on Ontario Stage"
.
The New York Times
. June 19, 1964
. Retrieved
March 1,
2018
.
- ^
Simonson, Robert (March 8, 2000).
"Stage and Film Actor, John Colicos, Dead at 71"
.
Playbill
. Retrieved
March 1,
2018
.
- ^
"King Lear (1964, Stratford Festival of Canada)"
. Internet Shakespeare Editions
. Retrieved
March 16,
2018
.
- ^
Laurie Ulster (March 11, 2021).
"13 Original Series Actors Who Couldn't Get Enough Trek"
.
StarTrek.com
.
- ^
Spelling, Ian (September 8, 1995).
"LOOKING BACK WITH A FORMIDABLE KLINGON"
.
Chicago Tribune
. Retrieved
March 1,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
"John Colicos, TV, Film and Stage Actor, 71"
.
The New York Times
. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. March 8, 2000. Archived from
the original
on December 25, 2018
. Retrieved
March 1,
2018
.
- ^
"John Colicos"
.
The Guardian
. March 7, 2000
. Retrieved
March 16,
2018
.
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Academics
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Other
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