Ed Bishop and Mike Billington have passed away this week. More info here:
http://www.fanderson.org.uk/news.html#EdandMike
Gutting.
AT

That's a real shame......

To me as a kid in the seventies, there was no more epitome of sophisticated cool than those two guys on UFO. They had cool jobs, cool cars, cool apartments, cool offices and of course, cool chicks. And their performances (especially Billington's) held up well when I watched the box set recently. I never knew Billington was a Bond contender, he would have been an interesting choice.

To me, Bishop will always be Klaus Hergersheimer, the guy checking radiation badges in Diamonds Are Forever.

Thats sucks! Mine was the first convention that Mike Billington ever attented. They both attended my convention and were really nice guys. After the con, Mike took me around and introduced me to some of the folks he knew in Hollywood. He would have made a great 007 too. Damn, this news is a real shocker.

Bummer! Two more great (if lesser known) actors gone

Sad news indeed.

And I had absolutely no idea that Ed Bishop, one of my childhood heros, spent a couple of years learning his craft here in my own home town many years ago.

Huzz

Damn that sucks. UFO was/is one of my favorites, loved it then, love it now. What a shame.

That's a real shame......

To me as a kid in the seventies, there was no more epitome of sophisticated cool than those two guys on UFO. They had cool jobs, cool cars, cool apartments, cool offices and of course, cool chicks. And their performances (especially Billington's) held up well when I watched the box set recently. I never knew Billington was a Bond contender, he would have been an interesting choice.
i m real sorry to hear that. billington would of made a cool bond. never missed an episode as kid. one of my favorite shows

I am so sorry to hear this. Two of my favorite actors from that series. Bishop especially with that distinctive voice. Even when he did voice-over work I knew it was him.
Both will be missed.
Thanks for the link Anthony. One Gerry Anderson fan who really appreciates it.

That is sad indeed. I just watched the DVDs this week. I really liked both. Ed was my favorite actor from the Gerry Anderson shows. Now SHADO is now gone.

Well this just sucks.

I just watched "2001" the other night; I'd forgotten Bishop played the Aries moon shuttle captain.

Sigh.

...and the voice of Captain Blue, as well.

Wow, both of them. Damn. :(

Yeah, it's really hard for me to wrap my head around both of them dying within 2 days of each other and them being totally unrelated incidents.
X15, I heard about that appearance and in fact, FAB Gear was contemplating bringing one or the other to San Diego next year. Do you have any photos of them from your show?

A Taylor,

I don't think there are any photos of either one of them (that I have anyway). I spent the whole convention running around "putting out fires" and didn't see any of it for myself! I did get the chance to talk to both of them however which was cool. Ed was a little dejected when he explained that no one recognized him, even when he was in the dealers room leaning on a TV which was playing an episode of UFO! That was an exaggeration though, I was there with him when some people did recognize him.

The last time Ed had been in LA was for the very first "Equicon" (1973) which was put on by John & Bjo Trimble. It was also my first convention (I believe it was also the first one in LA) and I remember seeing him there. He wore one of his suits from UFO and the blonde wig. He was ringed in by fans that time. So we came full circle to 1994 when I was the one putting on the convention and once again he was guest of honor.

I will be leaving for England next week and had often thought of getting together with either Ed or Mike but sadly that will now be impossible.

A Taylor,
Ed was a little dejected when he explained that no one recognized him, even when he was in the dealers room leaning on a TV which was playing an episode of UFO! That was an exaggeration though, I was there with him when some people did recognize him.


I don't think that was a reflection of peoples fondness for Ed Bishop, in one of the recent interviews on the Gerry Anderson DVD's I was kind of surprised at how different he looked, and even more surprised at how different his voice sounded. He didn't look unhealthy, but he sure didn't look or sound much like Ed Straker anymore. I'm not sure I would have recognized him either, and I've seen every episode of UFO at least twice, not mention watching Journey to the Far Side of the Sun a few dozen times!

Phil & Anthony, did he use a phoney accent on UFO? Or did he just pick up a different accent later in life?

Phoney accent? Mr Bishop was from Brooklyn NY, that is if by "phoney" you are referring to his "American" accent and his living in England? He was one of British films "canned Americans". Whenever they needed an "American" for many years there was a small list of actual American actors who lived in England that could be tapped. These days, actors have expert dialogue coaches who can make them sound like they are from any ethnic background. I've been impressed with the flawless "American" accents that some british stars have displayed in recent years. It use to be that you could always spot a Brit attempting to sound "American" because there was just "something" that they couldn't seem to get quite right. Those days are long gone now.

Phoney wasn't a good choice of words, but if you listen to the commentary on "Sub Smash" on the UFO DVD's he sounds almost like he picked up a drawl somewhere, he definately sounded different from his usual "movie" voice.

Sad Really and I'd JUST picked up the U.F.O. Boxed Set for $50.00 a few Weeks ago. Still IS THE BEST TV SERIES THEME EVER!!! and Bishops Car Second ONLY to the Adam West Batmobile for Cool!

JOHN/LONFAN

That's really really sad. Yeh, what a funky coincidence that both died almost at the same time. BTW, I'm watching the entire UFO series right now. I'm at Disc 4 (episode: Close up). Darn, it's gonna be a weird feeling when I'll continue watching it (in a couple minutes). Anyhow, life on this planet is only a short trip..............


Steph

It turns out Mike Billington died June 3rd, not the 6th as reported - still within a week of Ed, though.
The commentaries for the UFO sets were recorded in England for PAL version discs - at a different speed. When transferred to NTSC discs, they wind up sounding slowed down. Ed's voice hasn't changed very much since UFO, it just got a bit hoarser as he aged.
AT

It turns out Mike Billington died June 3rd, not the 6th as reported - still within a week of Ed, though.
The commentaries for the UFO sets were recorded in England for PAL version discs - at a different speed. When transferred to NTSC discs, they wind up sounding slowed down. Ed's voice hasn't changed very much since UFO, it just got a bit hoarser as he aged.
AT

Thanks for clearing that up, Anthony! I didn't think it was just my imagination!

This is quite sad. As a child I loved the series and was allowed to stay up late for that one programme. Both Straker and Foster were amongst my heroes, as were Kirk and crew.

On a whim I purchased the UFO 4 volume DVD boxed set not two weeks ago and was invoiced for them on June 6th. The set arrived last Friday and I watched Volume 1 last night. Absolutely excellent entertainment. Quite literally just as I remembered it and so refreshing without an F word anywhere in sight! And that intro theme - WOW!

I only saw this thread and hence the news half an hour ago. I'd like to pay a personal tribute to Ed Bishop and Mike Billington for adding so much more to my life than otherwise would have been. They will be sorely missed.

Shane Rimmer is in Batman Begins.