Ian Ogilvy

Ian Raymond Ogilvy born 30 September 1943 is an English film and television actor He is best known as the star of the TV series Return of the Saint 197879 in which he assumed the role of Simon Templar from Roger Moore 196269 The role led to his being considered a leading contender for the role of James Bond in the early 1980s when Moore announced his intention to leave the role He never played the part in part due to Moore reconsidering his resignation on several occasions although he did play a Bondlike character in a series of North American TV commercials broadcast in the early 1990s At least once in an episode of Kung Fu The Legend Continues Dragons Wing II he played a Bondlike British agent complete with white dinner jacket He was a friend of filmmaker Michael Reeves and starred in all three of Reevess films Revenge of the Blood Beast 1966 The Sorcerers 1967 and Witchfinder General also known as The Conqueror Worm 1968 He gueststarred in The Avengers in the 1968 episode They Keep Killing Steed as Baron Von Curt and on the BBC in Somerset Maughams The Door of Opportunity opposite Marianne Faithfull He appeared in the films Stranger in the House 1967 and The Day the Fish Came Out 1967 and had a major role in the epic film Waterloo 1970 In 1976 he featured in the pilot episode of the television comedy series Ripping Yarns He also appeared in I Claudius 1976 as Drusus and gueststarred in 6 episodes of Murder She Wrote and 4 episodes of Diagnosis Murder He appeared as Edgar Linton in a film version of Wuthering Heights 1970 and as Owen Gereth in BBC dramatization of The Spoils of Poynton also 1970 In the 1990s he gueststarred in the TV series Babylon 5 1998 The series star Bruce Boxleitner is the former husband of Ogilvys second wife actress Kathryn Holcomb He also had a role in the shortlived 1990s American soap opera Malibu Shores He appeared as Lawrence Kirbridge in the series Upstairs Downstairs Hes had roles in over 100 TV shows often appearing as a guest star He then costarred with Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn in Death Becomes Her 1992 and with Richard Dreyfuss and Nia Vardalos in My Life in Ruins 2009 among others He has had an extensive career in the theatre playing leading roles in many London West End productions including Design for Living Happy Family Three Sisters Rookery Nook by Ben Travers Run for Your Wife The Millionaires by Shaw The Waltz of the Toreadors and others He has also worked widely in the American theatre He is a playwright and novelist currently working on a series of childrens books Measle and the Wrathmonk Measle and the Dragodon Measle and the Mallockee Measle and the Slitherghoul and Measle and the Doompit He has written and published two novels  Loose Chippings and The Polkerton Giant  and two plays A Slight Hangover and Swap His memoir Once a Saint was published in May 2016 His book of film reviews Withering Slights based on his Facebook page was published in 2020