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Lewis Collins dies


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#1 Simon

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Posted 28 November 2013 - 01:33 PM

Jim has posted a link in Quick News to the BBC site announcing such.

 

Suffice to say, I am beyond shocked.  I wasn't aware he was suffering from Cancer and for someone exemplifying such physical fitness, it is a sad way to go.

 

I loved the Professionals TV show when it was introduced, and it is one of only two old TV series I have on DVD.  British TV making at its height that introduced one Martin Campbell to directing.  To this day, I still watch this show.

 

And, relating to Bond, I still wonder how his portrayal of Bond might have been - certainly it would have erred towards Dalton and more so, Craig.

 

RIP Lewis.



#2 SecretAgentFan

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Posted 28 November 2013 - 02:26 PM

R.I.P. 

 

Very sad. "Bodie" was one of my childhood heroes.



#3 Turn

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Posted 28 November 2013 - 02:56 PM

Although the only exposure I ever had to Lewis Collins being the film The Final Option, I always felt in the early '80s he could be the right replacement for Moore. He just had that look and in those pre-Internet and limited cable TV days we just didn't have a lot to go on other than pictures and what we read. Sadly, I've never seen The Professionals as it has never had much of a profile here in the U.S. I was intrigued enough by it to buy a book on the series back in the late '80s as I knew it was produced by the Avengers' team, a show I was infatuated with, and it only made me want to see it more. Back then we didn't have anything even close here. We were stuck for the most part with shows like Today's FBI, Magnum PI and Matt Houston.

 

Back around 1990 I saw a VHS tape for rent at a gas station no less and never rented it and haven't seen or heard anything else of it, although these days pretty much everything is available if you look hard enough.

 

Sad to hear about Lewis Collins' passing.



#4 Dustin

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Posted 28 November 2013 - 03:09 PM

Terrible.

 

R.I.P.

 

To those who never had a chance to see THE PROFESSIONALS, there should be the odd snippet on YouTube.



#5 chrisno1

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Posted 29 November 2013 - 01:10 AM

Lewis Collins : a very under rated actor and a consummate star.

 

Mr Collins will always be remembered in the UK (and abroad) for his role as Bodie in The Professionals, the late '70s early '80s police show which focused on a secret department known as CI5. His performances always had an edge. Bodie was a tough ex-SAS soldier who was still adjusting to civilian(ish) life. The episodes and scenes where his character went AWOL and tested the patience of his boss Cowley (Gordon Jackson) or his partner Doyle (Martin Shaw) were always some of the most anti-establishment and helped give the series a non-conformist edge that many police shows didn't. The seventies and early eighties was a particularly fine time for shows of this type (Sweeney, Hazel, Chinese Detective) and while The Professionals tended to concentrate on action it was never at the expense of character. It lasted until 1983 because audiences enjoyed the relationship between the central pair and also their boss, who was very much like OO7's M, as well as the violence. Some of the stories still feel relevant today. The show is repeated on TV here and its fun to spot the London landmarks - some are still bomb damaged from WW2!

Lewis Collins' place in James Bond history will always be one of lost opportunities. Cubby Brocolli didn't like him and that was that. It's rather sad as - for me - Collins had everything in 1983 that Daniel Craig had in 2005. I accept he perhaps doesn't possess the gravitas, but if you look at Craig, how he responds to the camera, frames his face and expressions, holds his posture, it is remarkably similar to Collins in some of those reflective scenes in The Professionals.

Oh Cubby.....

We can't turn the clock back.

But we can always dream.

RIP Lewis Collins.

 

 



#6 Guy Haines

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Posted 29 November 2013 - 03:59 PM

Lewis Collins : a very under rated actor and a consummate star.

 

Mr Collins will always be remembered in the UK (and abroad) for his role as Bodie in The Professionals, the late '70s early '80s police show which focused on a secret department known as CI5. His performances always had an edge. Bodie was a tough ex-SAS soldier who was still adjusting to civilian(ish) life. The episodes and scenes where his character went AWOL and tested the patience of his boss Cowley (Gordon Jackson) or his partner Doyle (Martin Shaw) were always some of the most anti-establishment and helped give the series a non-conformist edge that many police shows didn't. The seventies and early eighties was a particularly fine time for shows of this type (Sweeney, Hazel, Chinese Detective) and while The Professionals tended to concentrate on action it was never at the expense of character. It lasted until 1983 because audiences enjoyed the relationship between the central pair and also their boss, who was very much like OO7's M, as well as the violence. Some of the stories still feel relevant today. The show is repeated on TV here and its fun to spot the London landmarks - some are still bomb damaged from WW2!

Lewis Collins' place in James Bond history will always be one of lost opportunities. Cubby Brocolli didn't like him and that was that. It's rather sad as - for me - Collins had everything in 1983 that Daniel Craig had in 2005. I accept he perhaps doesn't possess the gravitas, but if you look at Craig, how he responds to the camera, frames his face and expressions, holds his posture, it is remarkably similar to Collins in some of those reflective scenes in The Professionals.

Oh Cubby.....

We can't turn the clock back.

But we can always dream.

RIP Lewis Collins.

Agreed. Lewis Collins always seemed "likely to become Bond" when I was a lad, but of course never did. It was said on the radio this morning that his Bond audition was too agressive and his Bond would have been too "rough hewn". But what was Sean Connery's Bond at first? Not exactly smooth as silk. And Daniel Craig's take on Bond isn't without its rougher edges either. I think Lewis Collins could have had a decent go at 007, but as you say, we'll never know.

 

He'll be sorely missed by his family, friends and fans, but he'll live on on TV as Bodie - notably on ITV 4!