John Colicos

Canadian actor (1928–2000)

John Colicos
Born	(1928-12-10)December 10, 1928 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died	March 6, 2000(2000-03-06) (aged 71) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1950–1999
Spouse	Mona McHenry ​ ​ (m. 1956; div. 1981)​
Children	2

John Colicos (December 10, 1928 – March 6, 2000) was a Canadian actor.^[1] He performed on stage and on television in the United States and Canada.

Early life

Colicos was born in Toronto, Ontario, to a Greek father and a Canadian mother.^[2]

Career

Jil Jarmyn and John Colicos in War Drums (1957)

Colicos began his acting career with the Canadian Art Theatre,^[3] before the Montreal Repertory Theatre, later winning a Dominion Drama Festival award.^[4]

Colicos was named best actor at the 1951 Dominion Drama Festival.^[4][5] Colicos worked briefly at the Old Vic company in England.^[4]

Colicos worked at CBC Radio, with Andrew Allen, and later appeared in CBC dramas.^[4]

In 1957 he appeared in Mary Stuart at the Phoenix Theatre in New York City and in 1963 he appeared in Troilus and Cressida at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada.^[4] His other New York theatre credits are King Lear (1956), The Devils (1965–1966), Serjeant Musgrave's Dance (1966), and Soldiers (1968).^[6][7] Colicos' skill in acting resulted in his being chosen to play the title role in a memorable and first-ever production of King Lear (1964) at the Stratford Festival.^[8]

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 Kor in the Original Series episode "Errand of Mercy" (1967).^[9] Colicos worked with Gene Roddenberry designing the look the Klingons have on Star Trek (1966). 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.^[10] 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.^[11]

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^[12] and appeared in seven episodes of Mannix. The last person shot and killed in the television series Gunsmoke (1955–1975) 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 (1993–1995) in the Fox Kids animated X-Men television series in the nineties, and twice played rogue alien Quinn in the first season (1988–1989) 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, Dr. 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 Count Baltar in the concept demonstration trailer Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming, exhibited at many science fiction conventions in 1999.^[13]

Personal life

Colicos wed Mona McHenry in 1956 and divorced in 1981. They had two sons, Nicolas (also an actor) and Edmund.^[13] Colicos died in Toronto on March 6, 2000, at the age of 71, after a series of heart attacks.^[14]

Filmography

Film

John Colicos film credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1950	Forbidden Journey	Student		[15]
1953	Appointment in London	Pip	Uncredited	[citation needed]
1955	Barbados Quest	Mustachioed Henchman	U.S. title: Murder On Approval	[16]
1956	Bond of Fear	Dewar		[17]
1956	Passport to Treason	Pietro		[17]
1956	Breakaway	First Kidnapper		[17][16]
1957	War Drums	Chino		[18]
1964	The Naked Flame	Blackmailer	Uncredited	[citation needed]
1969	Anne of the Thousand Days	Thomas Cromwell		[19]
1971	Doctors' Wives	Dr. Mort Dellman		[19]
1971	Raid on Rommel	Sgt. Allan MacKenzie		[19]
1971	Red Sky at Morning	Jimbob Buel		[18]
1972	The Wrath of God	Colonel Santilla		[18]
1973	Scorpio	McLeod		[18]
1976	Breaking Point	Vincent Karbone		[18]
1976	Drum	Bernard DeMarigny		[18]
1978	Battlestar Galatica	Count Baltar	125-minute Theatrical release	[18]
1979	King Solomon's Treasure	Allan Quatermain		[19]
1979	Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack	Lord Baltar	Theatrical release of a merger of 2 TV episodes	[19]
1980	Conquest of the Earth	Lord Baltar	Theatrical release of a merger of 2 TV episodes	[19]
1980	The Changeling	Captain DeWitt		[19]
1980	Phobia	Inspector Larry Barnes		[19]
1981	The Postman Always Rings Twice	Nick Papadakis		[18]
1986	The Last Season	Walter Batterinski	AKA L'Ultima Stagione	[17]
1987	Nowhere to Hide	General Clay Howard		[19]
1988	Shadow Dancing	Anthony Podopolis		[19]
1995	No Contest	Senator Donald Wilson		[19]
1999	Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming	Baltar	Short film (4-minute promotional for potential sequel film)

Television

John Colicos television credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1953	Captain Brassbound's Conversion	Sidi el Assif	Television film
1953	Sunday Night Theatre	Christopher 'Kit' Marlowe	Episode: "Will Shakespeare"
1953	Douglas Fairbanks Presents	Brown	Episode: "The Heel"	[17]
1953	Playbill	Unknown	Episode: "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime"
1953–1960	General Motors Theatre	Uturu / Luke Richardson / Kroll	4 episodes
1954	The Secret Storm	Matthew Devereaux
1955	London Playhouse	Charlie	Episode: "Adeline Girard"
1956	The Taming of the Shrew	Lucentio	Television film
1956	You Are There	Alexander Smith	Episode: "Mr. Christian Seizes the Bounty (April 28, 1789)"
1956	The Adventures of Hiram Holliday	Thief	Episode: "Lapidary Wheel"
1957	Studio One	Gold Root	Episode: "The Rice Sprout Song"
1958	DuPont Show of the Month	Hindley Earnshaw	Episode: "Wuthering Heights"	[16]
1958–1960	DuPont Show of the Month	Fernand Mondego / Monks / Mr. Arrow	Episodes: "The Count of Monte Cristo", "Olifer Twist", "Treasure Island"
1959	Folio	Unknown	Episode: "Ward No. Six"
1959	Berkeley Square	Tom Pettigrew	Television film	[19]
1959	The Unforeseen	Count Cagliostro	Episode: "Checkmate"
1959	Startime	Andy	Episode: "A Clearing in the Woods"
1960	The Play of the Week	Mortimer	Episode: "Mary Stuart"
1960	NBC Sunday Showcase	Aaron Burr	Episode: "Our American Heritage: Not Without Honor"
1960	Our American Heritage	Aaron Burr	2 episodes
1960	Omnibus	Gen. George McClellan	Episode: "He Shall Have Power"
1960	Family Classics: The Three Musketeers	Porthos	Television film
1960–1963	The United States Steel Hour	Dr. Steve Bruchesi / Edmund Hobert / Silvio	3 episodes
1961	Vanity Fair	Rawdon Crawley	Episode: "Part 1"
1961	The Man Born to Be King	Jesus Christ	Television film
1961	Festival	Lord Arthur Savile	Episode: "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime"	[20]
1962	John Brown's Body	Unknown	Television film
1962	Playdate	Puff / Ernst Herman / Dr. Bruchesi	3 episodes
1962	Cyrano De Bergerac	Comte de Guiche	Television film	[19]
1963	Festival	Poet	Episode: "Ivan"	[21]
1963	Festival	Gregers Werle	Episode: "The Wild Duck"	[22]
1963	Festival	Galileo Galilei	Episode: "Galileo"	[23]
1965	The Defenders	District Attorney / District Attorney Scott Turner	2 episodes
1965	Profiles in Courage	Sen. Davis / Patrick Henry	2 episodes
1965	Armchair Mystery Theatre	Ricardo	Episode: "Licence to Murder"
1967	T.H.E. Cat	King Delphine	Episode: "A Slight Family Trait"
1967	Star Trek: The Original Series	Kor	Episode: "Errand of Mercy"	[16]
1967	A Choice of Futures	Prime Minister Robert Ghiberti	Episode: "1999"
1967–1970	Mission: Impossible	Chief of Internal Security Manuel Ferrar / Milos Kuro / Commissioner Taal Jankowski	3 episodes
1967–1974	Mannix	Dr. Myles Considine / Lytell / Duke Benedict / Alton K. Moore / David Barker / Eddie Lee Prentiss	7 episodes (Including Pilot)	[17][16]
1969	Dulcima	Mr. Parker	Television film
1969	The Name of the Game	Rafael	Episode: "High Card"	[17]
1970	The High Chaparral	Matthew Kendall	Episode: "The Journal of Death"	[17]
1970	Then Came Bronson	Harve Traine	Episode: "Still Waters"
1970	It Takes a Thief	The Man	Episode: "Project "X""
1970	The Young Rebels	British Colonel	Episode: "The Blood of an Englishman"
1970, 1975	Hawaii Five-O	Lorenzo Corman / Mr. Thorncrest	2 episodes
1971	Night Gallery	Survivor	Segment: "Lone Survivor"	[17][16]
1971	Goodbye, Raggedy Ann	Paul Jamison	Television film	[19]
1972	Longstreet	Arnold Zaduck	Episode: "Sad Songs and Other Conversations"	[17]
1972	The F.B.I.	Logan	Episode: "The Test"
1972–1975	Dr. Simon Locke	Dekker / Police Sergeant	2 episodes
1973	Portrait: A Man Whose Name Was John	Numan Menemengioglu	Television film
1973	The Starlost	The Governor	Episode: "The Goddess Calabra"
1974	The Magician	Paul Gunther	2 episodes
1974	The Lives of Benjamin Franklin	Wentworth	Episode: "The Ambassador"	[19]
1974	Salty	Dobbs	Episode: "For the Price of Freedom"
1974	The National Dream	Cornelius Van Horne	Television miniseries
1974–1975	Performance	Smirnov	2 episodes
1974–1976	Medical Center	Tom Evans / Weldman	2 episodes
1975	Gunsmoke	Judge Flood	Episode: "Hard Labor"	[16]
1975	Insight	Gus Mangel	Episode: "The Pendulum"
1975	Bronk	Martin	Episode: "Terror"	[17]
1975	Petrocelli	Dimitri	Episode: "Terror on Wheels"
1975	Harry O	Walter Nesbitt	Episode: "The Madonna Legacy"	[17]
1976	The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper	Moroni	Television film
1976	The Wonderful World of Disney	Moroni	2 episodes
1976	A Matter of Wife... and Death	Joe Ruby	Television film	[19]
1977	The New Adventures of Wonder Woman	Ambassador Orrick	Episode: "The Queen and the Thief"	[17][16]
1978	Switch	Gilchrist	Episode: "Coronado Circle"
1978	Quincy, M.E.	Harlan Standish	Episode: "Gone But Not Forgotten"
1978	The Six Million Dollar Man	General Norbukov	Episode: "The Moving Mountain"	[17][16]
1978	The Bastard	Lord North	Television film	[19]
1978	W.E.B.	Harry Brooks	2 episodes	[17]
1978	The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries	Col. L. Morbius	Episode: "Search for Atlantis"	[17][16]
1978	Saga of a Star World (Battlestar Galactica)	Count Baltar	Television film (148-minute pilot)	[18]
1978–1979	Battlestar Galactica	Lord Baltar	21 episodes
1979	Sergeant T.K. Yu	Gangster	Television film
1979	Charlie's Angels	Anton Karazna	Episode: "Angel in a Box"	[17][16]
1979	The Paradise Connection	Major Barclay-Battles	Television film	[19]
1979	Vegas	Dr. Victor Durrand	Episode: "Dan Tanna Is Dead"
1981	General Hospital	Mikkos Cassadine	Episode: #1.4715
1984	The Yellow Rose	Nick Pappas	Episode: "Sport of Kings"
1984	Scarecrow and Mrs. King	Ilya Kreschenko	Episode: "Playing Possum"
1985	The Hitchhiker	Mr. Stregga	Episode: "Petty Thieves"
1987	Street Legal	Farraday	Episode: "A Little Knowledge"
1987	I'll Take Manhattan	banker, Lester Maypole	Television miniseries	[19]
1987–1988	Night Heat	Karakonis / Lech Koretski	2 episodes
1987–1989	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Lestrade / Moriarty / Carter Talbot	2 episodes	[17]
1989	War of the Worlds	Quinn	2 episodes
1989	Love and Hate: The Story of Colin and JoAnn Thatcher	Serge Kujawa	Television film	[19]
1990	In Defense of a Married Man	Charles Evers	Television film	[19]
1991	E.N.G.	Lionel Hirsch	Episode: "Smoke and Mirrors"
1992–1993	X-Men: The Animated Series	Apocalypse / En Sabah Nur (voice)	4 episodes	[24]
1993	Beyond Reality	Sinclair	Episode: "Bloodstone"
1993	Counterstrike	Vince Egan	Episode: "The Contender"
1994–1998	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Kor	3 episodes	[16]
1997	The Last Don	Eli Marrion	Television miniseries	[19]
1997	Fast Track	Dr. Wallace Beckett	Episode: "Fathers & Sons"
1997	Windsor Protocol	Gerhardt Heinzer / Albert Greenfield	Television film	[19]
1998	Thunder Point	Heinzer	Television film
1998	My Father's Shadow: The Sam Sheppard Story	Richard Eberling (in jail)	Television film	[19]

References

1. "John Colicos". BFI. Archived from the original on 2012-07-20.
2. Moskos, Charles C. (1989). Greek Americans: Struggle and Success. Transaction Publishers. p. 150. ISBN 9781412824835 – via Google Books.
3. "Colicos, John". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
4. "Actor noted for Stratford roles". The Globe and Mail. 7 March 2000. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
5. "John Colicos". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
6. "Theater: 'Lear,' as Colicos Sees Him; Portrait of Tragic King Given on Ontario Stage". The New York Times. June 19, 1964. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
7. Simonson, Robert (March 8, 2000). "Stage and Film Actor, John Colicos, Dead at 71". Playbill. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
8. "King Lear (1964, Stratford Festival of Canada)". Internet Shakespeare Editions. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
9. Laurie Ulster (March 11, 2021). "13 Original Series Actors Who Couldn't Get Enough Trek". StarTrek.com.
10. "John Colicos's Storied Life Is Full of Memories". The Toronto Star. Toronto, ON. September 26, 1993. p. 42. Retrieved July 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Spelling, Ian (September 8, 1995). "LOOKING BACK WITH A FORMIDABLE KLINGON". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
12. "History in the Remake". The Montreal Star. Montreal, QC. March 2, 1974. p. 99. Retrieved July 2, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "John Colicos, TV, Film and Stage Actor, 71". The New York Times. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. March 8, 2000. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
14. "John Colicos". The Guardian. March 7, 2000. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
15. Lentz (III), Harris M. (2000). Obituaries in the Performing Arts. McFarland & Company. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-7864-1024-8. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
16. "John Colicos". Apple TV+. Apple, Inc. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
17. "John Colicos". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media / NBCUniversal. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
18. "John Colicos". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
19. "John Colicos: Filmography". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
20. "Festival - 1961-01-16 - Lord Arthur Savile's Crime". CBC Archive Sales. CBC / Société Radio Canada. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
21. "Festival - 1963-02-11 - Ivan". CBC Archive Sales. CBC / Société Radio Canada. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
22. "Festival - 1963-02-25 - The Wild Duck". CBC Archive Sales. CBC / Société Radio Canada. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
23. "Festival - 1963-03-25 - Galileo". CBC Archive Sales. CBC / Société Radio Canada. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
24. "John Colicos". Behind The Voice Actors. Inyxception Enterprises. Retrieved 19 August 2025.

External links

• Biography portal
• Canada portal
• Film portal
• Television portal
• Theatre portal

• John Colicos at the Internet Broadway Database
• John Colicos at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• John Colicos at the American Film Institute Catalog
• ‹See Tfd›John Colicos at the TCM Movie Database
• John Colicos at Rotten Tomatoes
• John Colicos at Apple TV+
• John Colicos at Virtual History
• John Colicos at Memory Alpha
• John Colicos at IMDb

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