Simon Charles Pendered MacCorkindale[1] was a
British actor,
director,
writer and
producer died from bowel cancerhe was , 58,. After a career in theatre, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, MacCorkindale starred in a variety of films and serials, including
Quatermass (1979),
Death on the Nile (1978),
The Riddle of the Sands (1979),
The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) and
Jaws 3-D (1983). Through the rest of 80s and early 1990s, he starred in several television shows, among them the short-lived series
Manimal as the lead character Dr. Jonathan Chase in 1983, as well as longer-running roles in
Falcon Crest and
Counterstrike. MacCorkindale also directed and produced numerous stage and TV productions. In 2002 he joined the cast of the
BBC medical drama
Casualty as
Harry Harper, remaining in the role for six years. He was married to the actress
Susan George from 1984 until his death from
cancer in 2010.
(12 February 1952 – 14 October 2010)
Early life
MacCorkindale was born 12 February 1952 in
Ely, Cambridgeshire, England,
[1][2] to Scottish parents Gilliver Mary (née Pendered) and Peter Bernard MacCorkindale
OBE.
[3][4][5][1] He had a brother, Duncan.
[6] His father died in September 2007.
[5] His father was a
Group Captain in the
Royal Air Force (RAF) and a station commander. MacCorkindale spent part of his childhood in Edinburgh where his father was stationed,
[7] and moved from place to place, as his father posted in seventeen different places across Europe over MacCorkindale's childhood.
[1] As a result he became an "independent" child.
[4] He attended the exclusive
Haileybury and Imperial Service College in
Hertfordshire from 1965–70, where he was Head Boy. He also joined the
Air Training Corps and initially had plans to join the RAF, but at 13 his eyesight began to deteriorate. He considered joining the diplomatic corps and becoming an ambassador but became a fan of theatre and instead opted to become a stage director.
[8][2] Convincing his parents that he would get a "sensible job" if by 25 a directing career was not sustaining himself, MacCorkindale attended the Studio 68 drama school at London's Theatre of Arts, rather than university.
[8][1] He took acting classes there as well so he "could better understand actors and, hopefully, be a more competent director." He became a "star pupil" and continued acting after graduating "until [he] felt confident enough to" direct "a seasoned performer".
[8]
Career
Early career and United States
"I had an enormous amount of fun. I was very lucky. I got to work in a lot of popular shows, got to know a lot of well-known people and as a result I got into that whole A-list circle. I went to some extraordinary parties, made a name for myself and managed to make it last for 30 years. I'm a lucky bunny and long may it last."
—MacCorkindale on his career
[7]MacCorkindale began an acting career and toured the country with a repertory theatre group. His first professional stage part came in 1973 in
A Bequest to the Nation at the
Belgrade Theatre in
Coventry and he made his
West End debut in a production of
Pygmalion, alongside
Alec McCowen and
Diana Rigg in 1974 as the "Sarcastic Bystander".
[8][6][2] His television debut came in the series
Hawkeye, The Pathfinder in 1973.
[9] After appearing in a number of UK television productions such as
Within These Walls,
Sutherland's Law,
[2] I Claudius as
Lucius Caesar and
Jesus of Nazareth as Lucius,
[7] and making his film debut in 1974's
Juggernaut,
[2] his break came when he was cast as Simon Doyle in the 1978 film adaptation of
Agatha Christie's
Death on the Nile at the age of 25. He became friends with co-star
Bette Davis and noted: "There was a feeling of being in awe of these people but I had a certain amount of pioneer courage so I didn't let it get to me. But there were days when I thought, 'I'm about to do a scene with this cinema legend, am I up to it?' But people were very gracious. I was never the whipping boy because I was less experienced."
[7] MacCorkindale won the
London Evening Standard Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer for the part.
[2] The following year he played astronomer Joe Kapp in
Quatermass, the fourth serial in
Nigel Kneale's
Quatermass series, starring alongside
John Mills. MacCorkindale had previously appeared in an episode of Kneale's series
Beasts and was delighted with the part of Kapp, finding it a break from the
typecast romantic roles he was used to playing,
[10] while noting that playing the character's strong
Jewish faith was "challenging".
[8] Kneale later stated he was disappointed with MacCorkindale's performance: "We had him in
Beasts playing an idiot and he was very good at that".
[11] He also starred as sailor Arthur Davies in
The Riddle of the Sands in 1979.
[9][12]
Following the success of
Death on the Nile he moved to the US in 1980. Although told it was a "negative", MacCorkindale refused to put on an American accent, believing his English accent would help fill a "niche".
[7][2] However, for two years he failed to get past the audition stage for any major parts because he was English.
ABC told him he was not "an eight o'clock actor" which meant "at that time of night they didn't want viewers watching someone who sounded intellectual or who had an accent that was alien to their ears and, therefore, hard work when it came to listening."
[8] He was eventually cast in the lead role of the
NBC adventure television series
Manimal in 1983. He played Professor Jonathan Chase, an English character who helped the police solve crime with his ability to transform into animals. The role impressed MacCorkindale as Chase was "a very cerebral individual"
[8] and also meant he "found himself in the first wave of UK stars to make it big in America," along with
Joan Collins in
Dynasty which led to a further influx of British actors finding work there.
[7][2] Filming often lasted 14–16 hours a day while MacCorkindale often worked weekends for the prosthetics for the transformation sequences. The show was cancelled after one season of eight episodes due to low ratings (NBC initially put the show on opposite
Dallas where it lost out) and budget cuts as it was the network's most expensive series. It has since become a cult series that enjoys popularity around the world.
[8][13]
He appeared in
Caboblanco (1980) and starred in the film
The Sword and the Sorcerer in 1982 as Prince Mikah.
[14] He followed this up with the role of Philip FitzRoyce in 1983's
Jaws 3-D,
[15] but his film career stalled somewhat after the latter.
[9] His television career bloomed with, as well as
Manimal, parts in series such as
Dynasty,
Fantasy Island,
Hart to Hart,
Matt Houston and
The Dukes of Hazzard.
[9][8][2] He also played David Clement, an aristocrat, in the mini-series
Manions of America.
[8][2] In the 1980s he directed three performances of the play
Sleuth, starring
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.,
Howard Keel and
James Whitmore.
[7] He also directed a
Los Angeles production of
The Merchant Of Venice and starred in the one man show
The Importance of Being Oscar at the
Globe Playhouse in 1981.
[2] His biggest role yet came in 1984 when he cast as Angela Channing's (
Jane Wyman) lawyer Greg Reardon in the
soap opera Falcon Crest, without requiring an audition. MacCorkindale had the character changed from an American named to Brad to an Englishmen, and also directed one episode. He rejected a contract extension and left the show in 1986 because he "felt that the work I was doing was fun and lucrative but not as stretching as I felt I wanted or needed. I also was finding fault with much of the work, not only
Falcon Crest, but everything. I was actually ready to quit acting and try producing so I could put myself on the line."
[2] He appeared in 59 episodes of the show.
[9] In the mid-1980s he was touted as a possible successor to
Sean Connery and
Roger Moore in the role of
James Bond but was never cast in the role.
[1]
Canada and return to United Kingdom
MacCorkindale returned to the UK in 1986, once he had left
Falcon Crest, to form a production company and the following year set up Amy International Artists based at
Shepperton Studios alongisde his wife
Susan George; he also owned Anglo Films International.
[9] He subsequently directed, wrote and produced a number of projects with their company.
[8][16] These included the 1988 film about
Abelard and
Heloise entitled
Stealing Heaven,
[2] and the 1989 film
Djavolji raj (
That Summer of White Roses), starring George, for which MacCorkindale also composed music.
[9] The two purchased the rights to each project because they wanted to "make the pictures that we just totally and literally believe in," regardless of their commercial success.
[17] MacCorkindale continued to get acting roles and began making a lot of projects in Canada, which he felt "could be at the crossroads of international production."
[13] He played former
Scotland Yard inspector Peter Sinclair on the
USA Network series
Counterstrike from 1990-1993; the show was filmed in
Toronto.
[2][13] MacCorkindale was offered the part by the show's producer
Robert Lantos, who had wanted to work with him. MacCorkindale had wanted to return to acting after three years running Amy International; after several episodes he felt the show was "too plot-driven rather than character-driven" and so was allowed to aid the show's writers and was giving the role of executive production consultant which ensured he "could make quicker [on set] judgments on behalf of the production."
[18] After
Counterstrike ended, he had a part in the finale of
E.N.G.; his "media tycoon" character was supposed to star in a spin-off alongside
Sara Botsford but the project was dropped.
[13] MacCorkindale also wrote the screenplay for and planned to produce and star in a
biopic of the missing
peer Lord Lucan, but the project was shelved in 1996 over financial issues.
[1] He starred in numerous TV movies throughout the 1990s, including Canadian production
The Girl Next Door, as the villain. MacCorkindale was glad to "gradually [switch] to villains" as "that's more fun than [playing] the straitlaced hero."
[13] MacCorkindale also reprised his role as Chase in an episode of
Night Man in 1998, using CGI for the transformation instead of makeup, and directed an episode of the show.
[8] Other parts included an appearance on
Earth: Final Conflict and the 2000 TV film
The Dinosaur Hunter.
[13][19] Together with
Chris Bryant, MacCorkindale wrote and directed the TV film
The House That Mary Bought in 1995,
[2] and with Paul Stephens he co-produced the 1998 feature film
Such a Long Journey, for which he was nominated for the
Genie Award for Best Motion Picture.
[13] He served as co-executive producer for the 2000
syndicated TV series
Queen of Swords, and as co-producer the 2002 syndicated series
Adventure Inc..
[9] MacCorkindale also co-produced the third series of
Relic Hunter in 2002.
[20][21]
After rejecting the chance to play Captain
Jonathan Archer in
Star Trek: Enterprise,
[22] MacCorkindale settled in the UK once again, joining the cast of the
BBC One medical drama
Casualty in 2002, portraying clinical lead consultant
Harry Harper.
[23] Following his casting, he told the
Daily Record that he was a long-standing fan of the series, commenting that it was "great to be joining an established show with a great bunch of people."
[24] Neil Bonner of the
Liverpool Daily Post conflictingly quoted MacCorkindale as stating that he had never seen an episode of the show in its sixteen year history. He was surprised to be offered the role of Harry, having spent years beforehand working in the
United States, but found its Bristol location ideal having recently moved to the
West Country.
[25][26] MacCorkindale commented that he "loved [his] time on
Casualty," and spent time researching all of the medical terminology he used to ensure he understood it.
[16] He also appeared as Harper on
Casualty spin-offs
Holby City and
Casualty@Holby City.
[2] In January 2007, MacCorkindale was given a five month sabbatical from
Casualty due to a storyline and toured the UK in a revival of the
Agatha Christie thriller
The Unexpected Guest. He returned to
Casualty, but, having re-discovered his "taste" for theatre, left in 2008 to take the role of Andrew Wyke in a production of
Sleuth which toured the UK.
[16] He had appeared in 229 episodes of
Casualty by the end of his run on the show.
[27] On 25 August 2008, he replaced
Simon Burke as Captain
Georg Ludwig von Trapp in the
London Palladium production of
The Sound of Music and remained with the show until its closure on 21 February 2009.
[28][29] He returned to television with an appearance as Sir David Bryant in the 2010 series of
New Tricks, in what was his final television appearance.
[27][30][1]
Personal life
He lived on and ran an Arabian stud-farm on
Exmoor with his wife, British actress
Susan George.
[16][23] They met in 1977 and married in secret in
Fiji in October 1984,
[29][31] later holding a second ceremony with family and friends in Berkshire.
[32][33] They had no children.
[33] They lived together in Buckinghamshire near the
River Thames, and from 1995 on a farm in Northamptonshire.
[33] MacCorkindale was previously married to the actress
Fiona Fullerton between 1976 and 1981, when they divorced.
[34]
MacCorkindale was diagnosed with
bowel cancer in 2006, undergoing an operation to remove a section of his bowel during a two-week
Casualty filming break. It was thought to have been cured but a year later the cancer spread to his lungs. MacCorkindale continued working during his treatment: he returned to film his final series of
Casualty in late 2007, but did not disclose his illness to his colleagues, and found it surreal when scripts required his character to inform patients that they had cancer or an incurable disease.
[29] He spent much of his fortune on private cancer treatments in the US.
[35] In November 2009, he publicly revealed that the disease was
terminal,
[23][29] and died on 14 October 2010 at clinic in London.
[30]
Filmography
Films
Television
| Year | Series | Role | Notes |
| 1973 | Hawkeye, the Pathfinder | Lieutenant Carter | Appeared in three episodes |
| 1974 | Play of the Month | Rolf | Episode 9.8: "The Skin Game" |
| 1975 | Sutherland's Law | Ian Sutherland | Episode 4.5: "No Second Chance" |
| 1976 | Romeo and Juliet | Paris | TV film |
| Hunter's Walk | Houseman | Episode 3.1: "Intent" |
| I, Claudius | Lucius | Episode 1.2: "Waiting in the Wings" |
| Beasts | Peter Gilkes | Episode 1.4: "Baby" |
| 1976–78 | Within These Walls | Dr. Dady | Appeared in three episodes |
| 1977 | Romance | Paul Verdayne | Episode 1.2: "Three Weeks" |
| Jesus of Nazareth | Lucius | TV mini-series |
| Just William | Charlie | Episode 1.12: "William and the Sleeping Major" |
| 1978 | The Doombolt Chase | Lt. Cmdr. Madock | Episode 1.1: "Court of Shame" |
| Will Shakespeare | Sir Thomas Walsingham | Episode 1.1: "Dead Shepherd" |
| 1979 | Quatermass | Joe Kapp | TV serial; appeared in all four episodes |
| The Dukes of Hazzard | Gaylord Duke | 2.13: "Duke of Duke" |
| 1980 | Hammer Film Productions | Harry Wells | Episode 1.11: "Visitor from the Grave" |
| 1981 | Manions of America | David Clement | TV mini-series |
| Fantasy Island | Gaston du Brielle | Episode 5.3: "Cyrano/The Magician" |
| 1982 | Hart to Hart | Arthur Roman | Episode 4.3: "Million Dollar Harts" |
| Dynasty | Billy Dawson | Episode 3.4: "The Will" |
| Falcon's Gold | Hank Richards | TV film |
| 1983 | Manimal | Dr. Jonathan Chase | Appeared in all eight episodes |
| 1984 | Obsessive Love | Glenn Stevens | TV film |
| Matt Houston | Robert Tyler | Episode 3.3: "Eyewitness" |
| 1984–86 | Falcon Crest | Greg Reardon | Appeared in 59 episodes |
| 1989 | Pursuit | Manley-Jones | TV film |
| 1990–93 | Counterstrike | Peter Sinclair | Appeared in 65 episodes |
| 1994 | E.N.G. | Maxwell Harding | Episode 5.14: "Cutting Edge" |
| 1995 | The Way to Dusty Death | Johnny Harlow | TV film |
| At the Midnight Hour | Richard Keaton | TV film |
| Family of Cops | Adam Novacek | TV fim |
| The House That Mary Bought | N/A | Director and writer |
| 1996 | No Greater Love | Patrick Kelly | TV film |
| 1997 | While My Pretty One Sleeps | Jack Campbell | TV film |
| La Femme Nikita | Alec Chandler | Episode 1.4: "Charity" |
| 1998 | La guerre de l'eau | Peter Gregory | TV film |
| Running Wild | Walton Baden Smythe | TV film |
| Night Man | Professor Jonathan Chase | Episode 2.6: "Manimal" |
| 1999 | The Girl Next Door | Steve Vandermeer | TV film |
| Poltergeist: The Legacy | Reed Horton | Appeared in five episodes |
| Mentors | Oscar Wilde | Episode 1.6: "Wilde Card" |
| 2000 | Earth: Final Conflict | Dennis Robillard | Episode 3.14: "Scorched Earth" |
| The Dinosaur Hunter | Jack | TV film |
| 2001 | Dark Realm | Brad Collins | Appeared in two episodes |
| Queen of Swords | Captain Charles Wentworth | Episode 1.15: "Runaways"; also series co-executive producer |
| 2001–02 | Relic Hunter | Fabrice De Viega | Appeared in three episodes; also co-executive producer |
| 2002-2003 | Adventure Inc. | N/A | Co-producer |
| 2002–08 | Casualty | Dr. Harry Harper | Appeared in 229 episodes |
| 2004–05 | Holby City | Dr. Harry Harper | Appeared in two episodes |
| 2005 | Casualty@Holby City | Dr. Harry Harper | Appeared in three specials |
| 2010 | New Tricks | Sir David Bryant | Episode 9.5: "Good Morning Lemmings" |
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the second child of actor Reginald Sheffield (February 18, 1901 - December 8, 1957) and Louise Van Loon (January 21, 1905 - April 14, 1987). His older sister was Mary Alice Sheffield Cassan and his younger brother was William Hart Sheffield Cassan (actor Billy Sheffield).
