Soon after the film was completed, copies of it were requested for viewing by the White House; it was seen by Ronald Reagan and his advisers at Camp David and they reportedly enjoyed the film. It was also enjoyed by Alexander Haig, Reagan's former Secretary of State, who had recently joined the board of MGM/UA. In an interview, Haig praised the film as a "terribly exciting drama... a realistic portrayal of the world in which we live." On his recommendation, MGM/UA bought the film for distribution in the U.S., retitling it The Final Option. [4] Controversy [ edit ] Collins was born in Bidston, Birkenhead, Merseyside. He struggled at school, but developed an interest in martial arts and shooting. He also learned to play the drums that his father, Bill, a jazz dance band leader, bought him, and by 13 was playing in the Renegades, who were occasionally on the same bill as the Beatles at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. It was even suggested that Collins should audition to replace Pete Best as the Beatles' drummer. In the 1980s, he auditioned for the role of 007 with Eon Productions, the producers of the James Bond cinema franchise, to succeed Roger Moore, but the audition with its producer Cubby Broccoli did not go well [23] and he was rejected as being "too aggressive". [6] Collins regarded this failure in retrospect as the key missed opportunity of his acting career. [1] [25] In 1982 he moved into cinema starring in the role of a British Army officer confronting terrorists in the film Who Dares Wins. I could go on writing forever but I will pass you over to the other team members, so they can share their memories of Lew with you too. Any questions we will be happy to answer if we can. Starting to sound like the old FC again!

In 2003, Collins left Britain and abandoned acting, and later in life had a business in the United States, selling computer equipment. [32] With Roy Budd's thunderous theme music, spot-on cinematography and action set pieces refreshingly absent of blue screen visual effects. "Who Dares Wins" is pure action movie through and through.> the funding for the terrorists was not too far from the real life truth,and it was a time of mercenaries,everybody was hiring everyone who was special op trained a b c Dawson, Andy (28 November 2013). "RIP Lewis Collins: Why Professionals star was a real, proper man". Daily Mirror . Retrieved 30 December 2021. The group overtakes the Residence and holds the persons inside hostage. Included in the hostages are the American Secretary of State (Richard Widmark) and a high ranking American General, Ira Potter (Robert Webber). Outside, Commander Powell (Edward Woodward) and SAS commander Col. Hadley (Tony Doyle) prepare to rescue the hostages. Negotiations between Powell and Frankie are initiated.

Hi to all the "Lew" fans reading this, ladies and gents!

His character was never troubled by self-doubt. When asked by a besotted, helpless woman (there were plenty of those in The Professionals) which is Bodie and which Doyle, Bodie replies insouciantly: "Bodie's the incredibly handsome one.""That still doesn't tell me which is which," she says. Malek is welcomed into the British establishment, not least by his egregious lawyer, who invites him to have dinner with his family. The film's final scene is more alarmist than triumphalist, showing Malek arriving at what appears to be a smart London club to meet a pillar of the British establishment (Paul Freeman) who abhors all this killing of terrorists. The two men link arms while Malek explains that the People's Lobby were just amateurs and that they have plenty of time to cause more chaos and destruction. "All the time in the world" he says, and the film climaxes with a rousing rendition of The Red Flag, followed by the end credits. After moving into film acting in the mid-1970s, he intermittently returned to the stage throughout his career. He performed in a pantomime of Babes in the Wood at the King's Theatre in Southsea in Christmas 1983. [16] In the mid-1990s he performed in an English provincial tour of the play Who killed Agatha Christie by Tudor Gates. [17] [18] His last performance in theatre was a 1999–2000 provincial tour in the English Midlands of J.B. Priestley's Dangerous Corner. [19] Move into television [ edit ]

According to the DVD commentary, the film was made with the help of the 22 SAS Regiment at Hereford, although their commanding officer, Peter de la Billière, had initially refused to help in a pre-production meeting with Euan Lloyd. Director Ian Sharp, who was hired due to Lloyd's liking of his direction in The Professionals, was invited to SAS headquarters at Stirling Lines where he met some of the troops who assaulted the Iranian embassy. With the cooperation of the SAS achieved, production moved ahead swiftly. a b c d e Stuart, Jeffries (28 November 2013). "Lewis Collins obituary: Actor who was both heart-throb and hardman as Bodie in The Professionals". The Guardian . Retrieved 30 June 2019. Having been accepted for training in acting by the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, which he attended between 1968 and 1971, [6] [13] he drew the notice of his fellow students for an "electrifying" performance in the lead role of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. [14] Theatre career [ edit ]

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Skellen attempts to work his way into the group's inner circle and find out what the target of their operation is. But Frankie's colleague Rod doesn't trust him and, while he's roped into the operation at the last minute as an adviser, his wife and child are taken hostage to make sure he plays along. After The Professionals concluded, Collins went on to play several relatively minor TV roles – including a sheriff of Nottingham in Robin of Sherwood (1986), and Colonel Mustard in six episodes of a British TV game-show adaptation of Cluedo (1991-92). But he was never able to match his success in The Professionals and in later years lived quietly with his family in Los Angeles.

The terrorists demand that an American nuclear missile be fired at the nuclear submarine base at Holy Loch in western Scotland, to demonstrate the terrible effects of nuclear weapons. If their demands are not met, they will start killing the hostages. the real hero in the film is the Scottish actor who plays a fellow solider (of Collins) in the film,who plays it straight and realistic throughoutThe story was turned into a screenplay by the American writer Reginald Rose. Rose had written the excellent TV play and film Twelve Angry Men (1957), but he's not exactly on form in Who Dares Wins. The script is not very plausible in its character scenes or in its general conception. The writer also lets a couple of very minor Americanisms slip into the script, but these are hardly worth criticising in the circumstances.

At the premiere people protested against the film because it allegedly painted the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament as terrorists. In a 2021 interview, director Ian Sharp said: "This is one of the confusing things (...) In the film the point is that the CND is infiltrated by the terrorists. They are using a legitimate cause for their terrorism. When they are doing their machine gunning practice, they’re using CND symbols to shoot at, to show their contempt. I don’t know how they missed all the signs." In the same interview he conceded: "It’s probably my own fault. It was clear to me, but I misjudged it." [11] Proposed follow-up [ edit ] The first scenes were shot in Portobello Road market in January 1982. The concert, speech and subsequent fight were staged at the Union Chapel in Islington, London. Skellen's house and the hostage taking was shot in Kynance Mews in South Kensington. [15] My first meeting with Lew was at his home in North London, when he walked through the room in his bikers leathers, took off his motorbike helmet and said "Alright girls?" Those eyelashes for a man were incredible, not to mention the leather! My first question to him was "ARE YOU AMBIDEXTROUS?" (As in the Profs he was seen holding a gun left- and then right-handed). The girls laughed and Lew said "Where did you get this one Chris?" That was the start of a lifelong friendship with the"LCFC" Team and a period of time with "Bodie" ofMeanwhile, two foreign officers—Captain Hagen of the United States Army Rangers and Captain Freund of GSG 9—arrive at SAS headquarters to take part in a training exercise. After overseeing an SAS close-quarters combat drill, Hadley introduces the officers to SAS Captain Peter Skellen and his troop consisting of Baker, Dennis, and Williamson. During an exercise in the Brecon Beacons, Hadley and Major Steele discover Skellen torturing Hagen and Freund, and dismiss him from the SAS. However, unbeknownst to the officers, the torture case is secretly a ruse to give Skellen a cover as a disgraced special forces soldier so he can infiltrate the terrorists.