Biography
Even in the earliest days of his career, Colin Salmon never had to wait too long before finding his next acting job. Graced with obvious charm, talent, and good looks, the creatively gifted Salmon bounced easily from TV comedies to James Bond films, turning out reliable performances in the Bond films "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997), "The World Is Not Enough" (1999), and "Die Another Day" (2002), as well as his supporting role on the popular superhero TV series "Arrow" (The CW 2012-). Colin Salmon was born on December 6, 1962 in the Bethnal Green district in London, England. Following graduation of Ashcroft High School in the county of Bedfordshire, Salmon focused principally on his musical interests. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he formed and played the drums for a punk rock band called Friction and participated in the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, all before switching gears to focus on acting. The arrival of the '90s granted Salmon his first taste of screen success, seeing him make his TV debut on the second season of the anthology series "Prime Suspect" (ITV 1991-2006) and his film debut in the crime-romance film "Captives" (1994). It was not long before Salmon was landing roles of prominence. He joined the final season of the popular dramedy series "Shine on, Harvey Moon!" (ITV 1982-1995) as Noah Harker, a friend of the titular character. Not long after, Salmon incepted his recurring position as Chief of Staff Charles Robinson in the James Bond canon. He appeared first in "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997) and then in "The World Is Not Enough" (1999). He followed the latter with the comedy "Fanny and Elvis" (1999), the "King Lear" adaptation "My Kingdom" (2001), and the Paul W. S. Anderson zombie film "Resident Evil" (2002) before returning to the Bond universe in "Die Another Day" (2002). Salmon returned to the small screen for the action comedy series "Keen Eddie" (Fox 2003-04), playing New Scotland Yard Superintendant Nathanial Johnson. Next, he reunited with director Anderson to star in the sci-fi action film "AVP: Alien vs. Predator" (2004). Keeping in step with the fantastical, Salmon joined the witch-and-monster-laden high school series "Hex" (Sky One 2004-05), playing David Tyrel, headmaster of the focal school setting. During his tenure on the program, Salmon branched out to appear in the Woody Allen picture "Match Point" (2005). However, he stuck mostly to TV roles at this time, playing recurring parts on shows like "Bad Girls" (ITV 1999-2006) and "Party Animals" (BBC 2007). Over the next few years, Salmon collected a number of credits in sci-fi, fantasy, and horror projects, namely "Doctor Who" (BBC One 1962-1989; 2005-), "Credo" (2008), "Punisher: War Zone" (2008), "Blood: The Last Vampire" (2009), "Shank" (2010), and "Devil's Playground" (2010). Mixing comedy back into his repertoire, Salmon discovered recurring roles on David Cross's "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret" (IFC 2010-), "Single Ladies" (VH1/Centric 2011-), and "Some Girls" (BBC Three 2012-), before succumbing again to the otherworldly. He teamed with Anderson once more for "Resident Evil: Retribution" (2012) before taking a regular role on the superhero series "Arrow" (The CW 2012-), playing stepfather to series hero Oliver Queen. All the while, Salmon took roles on the miniseries "24: Live Another Day" (Fox 2014) as U.S. General Coburn, and on the satirical police procedural program "No Offence" (Channel 4 2015-) as tough guy Detective Superintendant Darren Maclaren.
