John Colicos facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Colicos
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| Born | December 10, 1928 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| Died | March 6, 2000 (aged 71) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1950–1999 |
| Spouse(s) |
Mona McHenry
(m. 1956; div. 1981) |
| Children | 2 |
John Colicos (born December 10, 1928 – died March 6, 2000) was a talented Canadian actor. He was well-known for his many roles on stage and in television shows. He worked in both the United States and Canada.
Early Life and Beginnings
John Colicos was born in Toronto, Ontario, in Canada. His father was from Greece, and his mother was Canadian.
John started his acting journey with the Canadian Art Theatre. Later, he joined the Montreal Repertory Theatre. He even won an award at the Dominion Drama Festival in 1951 for being the best actor. He also spent some time acting with the Old Vic company in England.
John Colicos worked on CBC Radio and later appeared in many CBC dramas.
A Career Full of Roles
John Colicos was a very skilled actor. He played the main role in a famous production of King Lear in 1964. This play was part of the Stratford Festival in Canada. He also acted in other plays in New York City. These included Mary Stuart and The Devils.
On American television, John Colicos became famous for playing villains in science fiction shows. He was the very first Klingon character ever seen in the Star Trek universe. He played Commander Kor in an episode called "Errand of Mercy" in 1967. John even helped design how the Klingons would look on the show. Because of a small budget, he suggested they have a tough, leathery look, like Genghis Khan, with dark skin and hair.
He also played Lord Baltar in the original Battlestar Galactica movie and TV series. Many years later, John Colicos returned to Star Trek. He played an older Kor, who was 140 years old, in three episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. These episodes aired between 1994 and 1998.
Besides his science fiction roles, John Colicos appeared in many other TV shows. He was a villain in three episodes of Mission: Impossible. He also played a "railway general" named William Cornelius Van Horne in the Canadian TV series The National Dream. He was even the last person shot and killed in the TV series Gunsmoke. He played Judge Flood in that episode.
In the 1980s, John Colicos returned to science fiction. He played Mikkos Cassadine on the soap opera General Hospital. This character was a powerful businessman who wanted to freeze the world. He also voiced the villain Apocalypse in the X-Men cartoon from 1993 to 1995. He also played an alien named Quinn in War of the Worlds.
In 1982, he worked on an educational TV show called Prophecy with John Colicos. The director said John was a joy to work with. He was very professional and helped the show win a Gold Medal at a film festival.
John Colicos's last acting role was playing Count Baltar again. This was for a short film called Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming in 1999.
Personal Life
John Colicos married Mona McHenry in 1956. They later divorced in 1981. They had two sons, Nicolas and Edmund. Nicolas also became an actor. John Colicos passed away in Toronto on March 6, 2000. He was 71 years old and died after having several heart attacks.
