John Colicos

John Colicos was a Canadian actor. He was noted for his Shakespearean roles on stage, particularly with the Stratford Festival, but became well-known to science fiction fans for his roles as Klingon commander List of [Star Trek characters (G–M)#K|Kor] on Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: [Deep Space Nine], and as the villainous Baltar on the original [Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica].

Early life

Colicos was born in Toronto, Ontario, to a Greek father and a Canadian mother. He was raised in Montreal. He made his acting debut playing Jesus in a Christmas pageant, later joking "one of the first roles I ever played was the Son of God, and I've been going downhill ever since."
As a teenager, he acted with the Canadian Art Theatre and trained at the Brae Manor Playhouse in Knowlton, before making his professional debut with the Montreal Repertory Theatre.

Career

Theatre

Colicos worked on CBC Radio dramas with Douglas Rain. In 1951, Colicos won the Best Actor Award at the Dominion Drama Festival. He moved to England to work at the Old Vic for the 1951-52 season. At the age of 22 he played the title role in King Lear, the youngest actor to play the part at the Old Vic. He also starred in a production of Timon of Athens, then starred in The Ghost Writers on the West End.
In 1956, Colicos made his Broadway debut, playing Edmund in Orson Welles' production of King Lear. In 1957, he starred in Mary Stuart at the Phoenix Theatre. That same year, he joined the American Shakespeare Theatre for two seasons. In 1961, Colicos joined the Stratford Festival, for four seasons. He played King Lear in the Festival's first-ever production of the play in 1964.
His other New York theatre credits included The Devils, Serjeant Musgrave's Dance, and Soldiers. His role in the latter play, where he portrayed Winston Churchill, was described as "uncannily believable.... hypnotically interesting. The actor created, not a replica, but a strong impression of the great man."
In 1982, he played "Sir" in The Dresser at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton.

Film and television

Colicos made his screen acting debut in the Canadian film Forbidden Journey.
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 List of [Star Trek characters (G–M)#K|Kor] in the Original Series episode "Errand of Mercy". Colicos worked with Gene Roddenberry designing the look the Klingons have on Star Trek. 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.
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 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 in the Fox Kids animated X-Men television series in the nineties, and twice played rogue alien Quinn in the first season 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, 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 Baltar in the concept demonstration trailer Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming, exhibited at many science fiction conventions in 1999.

Personal life

Colicos wed Mona McHenry in 1956 and divorced in 1981. They had two sons, Nicolas and Edmund. The family lived at a Victorian-style mansion in Toronto, where Colicos owned a 4,000-volume theatrical research library.
Colicos received the Order of Ontario in 1997.

Death

Colicos died in Toronto on March 6, 2000, at the age of 71, after a series of heart attacks.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	Forbidden Journey	Student
1953	Appointment in London	Pip	Uncredited
1955	Barbados Quest	Mustachioed Henchman	U.S. title: Murder On Approval
1956	Bond of Fear	Dewar
1956	Passport to Treason	Pietro
1956	Breakaway	First Kidnapper
1957	War Drums	Chino
1964	The Naked Flame	Blackmailer	Uncredited
1969	Anne of the Thousand Days	Thomas Cromwell
1971	Doctors' Wives	Dr. Mort Dellman
1971	Raid on Rommel	Sgt. Allan MacKenzie
1971	Red Sky at Morning	Jimbob Buel
1972	The Wrath of God	Colonel Santilla
1973	Scorpio	McLeod
1976	Breaking Point	Vincent Karbone
1976	Drum	Bernard DeMarigny
1978	Battlestar Galatica	Count Baltar	125-minute Theatrical release
1979	King Solomon's Treasure	Allan Quatermain
1979	Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack	Lord Baltar	Theatrical release of a merger of 2 TV episodes
1980	Conquest of the Earth	Lord Baltar	Theatrical release of a merger of 2 TV episodes
1980	The Changeling	Captain DeWitt
1980	Phobia	Inspector Larry Barnes
1981	The Postman Always Rings Twice	Nick Papadakis
1986	The Last Season	Walter Batterinski	AKA L'Ultima Stagione
1987	Nowhere to Hide	General Clay Howard
1988	Shadow Dancing	Anthony Podopolis
1995	No Contest	Senator Donald Wilson
1999	Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming	Baltar	Short film