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July 12, 2005
Michael Billington, actor, was born on December 24, 1941. He died of cancer on June 3, 2005, aged 63.
James Bond folklore has it that Michael Billington screentested for the role of 007 more than any other actor. Instead he played Bond's would-beassassin, Sergei Barsov, who pursues him down a mountain in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
He acquired a cult following after UFO (1970-73), Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's attempt to move beyond puppet shows such as Thunderbirds and on tolive-action drama. Billington played Colonel Foster, one of the principal agents of Shado: Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organization. More prestigious and popular at the time was The Onedin Line, the BBC's Sunday-nightperiod drama about a Liverpool shipping company. He appeared from 1971 to 1974 in the role of Daniel Fogarty.
Billington was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, and trained initially as an engineer, while pursuing acting as a hobby. Determined to break into showbusiness he worked in Warner's distribution department, danced in West End shows, appeared in cabaret and served as Danny La Rue's straight man.
He also wrote the story for the David Essex motorbikeracing film Silver Dream Racer (1980). During the early 1980s he relocated to California and appeared on Hart to Hart, Fantasy Island and Magnum PI.
Ed Bishop, actor, was born on born June 11, 1932. He died on June 8, 2005, aged 72.
Ed Bishop, who played Commander Ed Straker on the cult series UFO, died just days after co-star Michael Billington. His character, the head of Shado, was popular and enduring. However, he appeared in hundreds of films and television series too. Like Billington, he turned up in the Bond series and had a role in the David Essex movie Silver Dream Racer (1980).
His distinguished American tones were in demand on radio. He featuredin a series of Radio 4 Raymond Chandler adaptations, was the American visitor, Al Clancy, on The Archers in 1996, and read Jay Williams's The Hawkstone on Jackanory.
George Victor Bishop was born in New York and studied business administration at Boston University, then switched to drama. He continued his studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
He appeared in two Stanley Kubrick films, Lolita (1962) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and in two James Bond films;You Only Live Twice (1967)and as the radiation safety expert James Bond impersonates in Diamonds areForever (1971).
Although not particularly a fan of science-fiction, he landed a string of roles in projects with a space or sci-fi theme. He voiced Captain Bluein Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967-68), and appeared in Doppelgänger (1969).
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