Lewis Collins, one-time Bond auditionee and 'The Professionals' star, has died

Lewis Collins came to fame as Bodie in the cult TV series "The Professionals", which ran between 1977 – 1983. He also appeared on the big screen as Peter Skellen in "Who Dares Wins", which attracted a number of Bond alumni, including production designer Syd Cain, editor John Grover and artist Maurice Binder.

He also had a brief run-in with 007 when Cubby Broccoli granted him the chance to audition for the role of 007:

"I thought he would have made a marvellous Bond," Brian Clemens, creator of The Professionals told the BBC. "He was tough and he could fight, he looked good, he was handsome and he had this nice sense of humour.

"I knew he had auditioned [for James Bond] and I think they were wrong not to take him up."

Collins himself concluded that he didn't get any further with the audition because the roles he played, and his attitude in the audition was too "aggressive".

"I was in Albert R Broccoli's office for five minutes, but it was really over for me in seconds," he is reported to have said.

The actor passed away earlier this week, aged 67, his agent has told the media. His agent said: "He died peacefully at his LA home surrounded by his family. Privacy is asked for at this very sad time."

Thanks to @HMSSweblog for the alert.

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