Colin Tapley

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Colin Tapley

Colin Tapley, January 1, 1936
Born May 7, 1907(1907-05-07)
Dunedin, New Zealand
Died December 1, 1995 (aged 88)
Coates, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
Occupation actor
Years active 1933-1983

Colin Tapley (7 May 1907 – 1 December 1995) was a British actor. Born in New Zealand, he served in the Royal Air Force and an expedition to Antarctica before winning a Paramount Pictures talent contest and moving to Hollywood. He acted in several films before returning to Britain during the Second World War as a flight controller with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He returned briefly to New Zealand before returning once again to Britain to renew his acting career. His most famous role is as William Glanville in The Dam Busters but he spent much of his later career typecast as a police inspector, a role he played in several films and TV series before retiring to Gloucestershire.

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[edit] Early life

Tapley was born on 7 May 1907 at Dunedin, New Zealand. He took part in the first of Richard Byrd's expeditions to Antarctica before moving to the United Kingdom and joining the Royal Air Force. In 1933 he entered a talent contest organised by Paramount Pictures and was selected as one of thirty winners and one of only two from New Zealand. He was rewarded with a contract as a bit part actor and appeared uncredited in several films. During this time he shared a flat with Donald Gray and they would remain close friends until Gray's death in 1978.

[edit] World War Two

In 1940 Tapley wanted to return to Britain and help the war effort but found that he could not find transport direct from the United States due to war restrictions and so enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He found employment as a flight instructor due to his past experience in the RAF and was later transferred to Britain as a flight controller. During his service he was forced to parachute from a crashing aircraft and so was awarded membership of the Caterpillar Club. After demobilisation in 1945 he returned to his native New Zealand for the first time since 1933.

[edit] Post war

He intended to establish a launch rental service in Wanaka, South Island and to set up home there with his wife and children but soon tired of this and returned to England to re-establish his film career. With a post-war recession in the British film industry he did not find a role until he got a small part in Samson and Delilah. However his upper class accent placed him in good stead for the boom period of British war films in the 50's and 60's and he landed a role in The Dam Busters film of 1955 where he played William Glanville who helped to develop the famous bouncing bomb.

From 1954 to 1958 he worked with his good friend Donald Gray in The Vise (also Mark Saber), a detective series, as a police inspector. He was subsequently typecast and would play a police officer in many of his later films. His acting career ended in 1983, at the age of 74, and he retired to Coates, Gloucestershire. He died there on 1 December 1995 aged 86 and was survived by his wife, son and step daughter.

[edit] Selected films

[edit] External links