British actor Simon MacCorkindale died 14 October 2010 of cancer. Born 12 February 1952, he rebelled against his Royal Air Force captain father by not joining the military. Instead, he began acting in college, and went on to the British stage. He made his West End debut in 1974, in Pygmalion with Diana Rigg and Alec McCowen. His big break came when he was 25, he won the role of the murdered heriess’s husband (she was played by Lois Chiles) in Death on the Nile, the adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel, which co-starred Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, and Bette Davis.
He moved the US in 1980, but wouldn’t fake an American accent. He frequently played villains and charming Englishmen, including roles in Falcon Crest, Dynasty, and The Dukes of Hazard, and he won the title role in the short-lived series Manimal (1983). His biggest TV role was in the British hospital drama Casualty (he was on the show from 2002 until his cancer forced him to retire last year).
He also returned to live theatre as both an actor and a director, most recently as Captain von Trapp in the West End revival of The Sound of Music (2008).
MacCorkindale’s genre roles include: 13Hrs (2010), thirteen episodes of Adventure Inc. (2002-03, as co-producer), seven episodes of Relic Hunter (2001-02, as both actor and co-executive producer), Earth: Final Conflict, five episodes of Poltergeist: The Legacy (1999), Mentors (1999), Wing Commander (1999), NightMan (1998), The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), Fantasy Island (1981), Hammer House of Horror (1980), four episodes of Quatermass (1979), The Quatermass Conclusion (1979), and Beasts (1976).
He was married twice. His marriage to actress Fiona Fullerton lasted six years, ending in divorce in 1982. His second wife, actress Susan George (whom he married in 1984), survives him.