Colin Salmon

Early life

Colin Roy Salmon was born on 6 December 1961 in Bethnal Green, London, England, the son of Sylvia Ivy Brudenell Salmon, a nurse. He is of Jamaican descent. He grew up in Luton, Bedfordshire and attended Ashcroft High School.

On leaving school, Salmon became the drummer in the punk rock band the Friction, which he formed along with three friends from high school. The band released a 7-inch EP, a live cassette, a cassette-EP and performed regularly around Luton in 1979 and 1980. Salmon briefly worked with another band, the Tee Vees, and was also a singer and trumpeter in Luton-based band Catch in the mid-1980s. He plays trumpet and has his own jazz quartet, playing at venues such as the Dorchester Grill Room and at events such as the Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

Speaking about his quartet to Pete Lewis of the magazine Blues & Soul, in an interview prior to their performance at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival in May 2008, Salmon stated:

Career

Salmon is known for his role as Charles Robinson, a character in the James Bond films Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. He made his feature debut in 1992 as Sgt. Robert Oswald in the British mini-series Prime Suspect 2. Salmon also played Note Makoti in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and David Tyrel in the Sky One UK television series Hex. He appears as himself in the sixth episode of the BBC Three comedy, Little Miss Jocelyn. On February 28th 1996 - Sebastian Bird in Silent witness, series one, episode 4, part 2.

In 2006 he appeared in the eighth series of the ITV drama Bad Girls as Senior Medical Officer Dr. Rowan Dunlop. He played Dr. Moon in two episodes ("Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead") of the fourth series of the long running science fiction television series Doctor Who. There were rumours that he would take on the coveted lead role of The Doctor in 2008 after David Tennant, but the role went to Matt Smith. In 2020, writer Steven Moffat stated he envisioned Salmon's character as a future incarnation of the Doctor.

Salmon has also recorded the role of Kerr Avon in the audio series of Blake's 7. Salmon played James "One" Shade in the film Resident Evil (2002) (a documentary directed by Isaac Julien in which Salmon plays the French psychiatrist, philosopher and revolutionary, Frantz Fanon) (1996), The Wisdom of Crocodiles (1998), Fanny and Elvis (1999) and My Kingdom (2001).

In 2007, Salmon appeared in the season finale of the ITV2 series Secret Diary of a Call Girl, playing a client of the protagonist, a call girl named Hannah Baxter. In the 2008 film Clubbed, a film about nightclub bouncers in Coventry in the 1980s, Salmon plays one of the main characters, Louis.

In 2009, Salmon appeared in the UK version of the popular American drama Law & Order, as barrister Doug Greer in the episodes "Buried" and "Community Service". In 2012, Salmon appeared in Death in Paradise, as killer/businessman Leon Hamilton/Vincent Carter. He starred in the thriller film Exam, directed by Stuart Hazeldine.

Salmon was one of the celebrity contestants on the tenth series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with professional dancer Kristina Rihanoff. He was eliminated as a result of the "dance-off" in Week 5, in which he competed against Richard Arnold. In 2015, he played a fictional version of himself in the Netflix series Master of None, alongside Aziz Ansari's main character. On 9 May 2015, Salmon gave a reading at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember in Horse Guards Parade, London. In 2018, he portrayed the role of Chudleigh Pomeroy in Mortal Engines.

In 2023, Salmon joined the cast of the BBC soap opera EastEnders as George Knight, a newly introduced co-owner of the Queen Vic.

Personal life

Salmon is a patron of the African-Caribbean Leukaemia Trust and the Richard House Children's Hospice and an ambassador for The Prince's Trust. He is also the chairman of governors at St Anne's Nursery. He is involved in the Notting Hill Carnival and is the dance captain of the Fox Carnival Band.

Salmon married visual artist Fiona Hawthorne in 1988 and the couple have four children.

In September 2010, Salmon was invited by his friend Samuel L. Jackson to Switzerland for Shooting Stars Benefits 2010 Golf Tournaments. The golf competition raised money for the Samuel L. Jackson Foundation and the Swiss Red Cross to go towards a new hospital in Takéo Province, one of Cambodia's poorest provinces. In 2009 he became a co-founder of Cage Cricket with Trevor McArdle.

In an August 2021 interview, Salmon spoke about how becoming ill with COVID-19 had affected him and his family, praising doctors for having saved his life.

Filmography

Film

Television

Voice work

References

References

1. "Who is Colin Salmon? Meet the James Bond star joining EastEnders".
2. (22 May 2023). "Colin Roy SALMON".
3. Green, Alex. (29 August 2021). "Bond star Colin Salmon reveals he suffered serious case of Covid-19". [[Irish Independent]].
4. [http://www.filmreference.com/film/78/Colin-Salmon.html Colin Salmon Biography (1961–)] {{Webarchive. link. (13 October 2007 . Retrieved 9 August 2011.)
5. [http://ashcrofthighschool.co.uk/student-performances/ "The new Ashcroft; Grand opening"]{{Webarchive. link. (3 December 2014 , Ashcroft High School.)
6. Ogg, Alex (2006), "Friction", in ''No More Heroes: A Complete History of UK Punk from 1976 to 1980'', Cherry Red Books, {{ISBN. 978-1-901447-65-1, pp. 254–255.
7. "Fade to Grey Catch 1984 Live at the Red Lion Luton – YouTube".
8. Pete Lewis, [http://www.bluesandsoul.com/feature/276/colin_salmon_swimming_against_typecasti... "Colin Salmon: Swimming Against Typecasting" (interview)], ''Blues & Soul'', April 2008. {{Webarchive. link. (11 September 2012 .)
9. (2020). "Colin Salmon Licence to Thrill". BBC.
10. (24 January 2008). "New guest stars announced for series 4.". [[bbc.co.uk]].
11. [https://www.wired.com/underwire/2008/11/colin-salmon-fi/ "Colin Salmon Fishes for Doctor Who Role"] {{Webarchive. link. (6 November 2012 , Underwire. Wired.com)
12. (2 May 2020). "Doctor Who: Steven Moffat reveals there's a secret future Doctor hidden in one of his old episodes".
13. (2007). "Discogs:Blake's 7 – Rebel".
14. link. (12 February 2011 , California Newsreel.)
15. (2009-11-28). "Trailer for UK Thriller 'Exam' Drops in a Little Late". BloodyDisgusting.
16. Patterson, Stephen. (28 March 2023). "EastEnders spoilers: TV legend Colin Salmon leads new family as Queen Vic owners are confirmed". [[Metro (British newspaper).
17. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130315091236/http://www.tedxhousesofparliament.com/2013/speakers/colin-salmon "Colin Salmon, Actor"], TEDx Houses of Parliament.
18. [http://www.avondalepark.rbkc.sch.uk/Documents/Avondale%20&%20St%20Anne's/Avondale%20Park%20Primary%20and%20St.%20Anne's%20Nursery.pdf "Avondale Park Primary and St. Anne's Nursery"] {{Webarchive. link. (4 March 2016 , The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.)
19. [http://www.foxcarnival.com/History/FoxCarnivalBand/WhoIsInvolved.html "Who Is Involved"] {{Webarchive. link. (11 January 2016 , Fox Carnival Band.)
20. [http://www.fionahawthorne.com/Biography/Biography.html Biography] {{webarchive. link. (18 February 2015 , Fiona Hawthorne website.)
21. "Colin Salmon (1965–), Actor".
22. Maureen Coleman, [http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/bond-actor-colin-salmon-reveals-secret-of-his-success-a-beloved-northern-irish-wife-28922641.html "Bond actor Colin Salmon reveals secret of his success... a beloved Northern Irish wife"], ''[[Belfast Telegraph]]'', 16 November 2012.
23. [http://www.wewomen.com/news-celebrities/samuel-l-jackson-swings-for-charity-s862169.html "Samuel L. Jackson swings for charity"] {{webarchive. link. (11 January 2016 , weWomen, 23 September 2010.)
24. [http://www.cagecricket.com/2013/08/05/cage-cricket-features-on-bbc-breakfast/ "Cage Cricket Features on BBC Breakfast"] {{webarchive. link. (17 January 2015, Cage Cricket, 5 August 2013.)
25. (29 August 2021). "James Bond star Colin Salmon opens up about near-death experience – EXCLUSIVE".
26. (30 August 2021). "COVID-19: James Bond star Colin Salmon felt he was 'slipping away' during battle with coronavirus".
27. BBC Studios. (30 December 2016). "Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage". [[BBC Two]].
28. Burlingame, Russ. (5 October 2019). "First Look at CW Seed's Michael Chiklis-Led Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons".