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divdiv class=story-body readability=56 span class=story-date#13; span class=date28 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time07:26 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; #13; p class=introductionThe Professionals star Lewis Collins has died aged 67, his agent has said./p#13; pThe actor, who played Bodie in the cult 1970s TV series, alongside Martin Shaw, died in Los Angeles after a five-year struggle with cancer./p#13; pHis agent said: He died peacefully at his LA home surrounded by his family. Privacy is asked for at this very sad time./p#13; pThe Professionals was based around the adventures of a fictional crime fighting unit called CI5./p#13; pThe ITV show became huge hit in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Collins's other notable roles included SAS captain Peter Skellen in 1982's Who Dares Wins. /p#13; #13; pShaw, currently appearing in a West End production of 12 Angry Men, said he was saddened by the news of his co-star's death. /p#13; pWe spent a very tough four years together in making the Professionals, and shared in the production of what has become an icon of British television, he said. /p#13; pHe will be remembered as part of the childhood of so many people, and mourned by his fans. I send my love and condolences to his family, and the great many who will miss him./p#13; pBrian Clemens, creator of The Professionals, said Collins brought a Bond-ian quality to the role of Bodie. /p#13; pI thought he would have made a marvellous Bond, he told the BBC. He was tough and he could fight, he looked good, he was handsome and he had this nice sense of humour./p#13; pI knew he had auditioned [for James Bond] and I think they were wrong not to take him up. /p#13; pMr Clemens recalled that Collins also undertook a lot of physical training for the role of Bodie./p#13; pHe took up parachute jumping soon after joining The Professionals. It was the sort of thing you would expect a Marine to indulge in. He was a method actor in a sense./p#13; span class=cross-headBond audition/span#13; pCollins was born in May 1946 in Cheshire, and worked as a drummer and a hairdresser before breaking into acting./p#13; pEarly work included roles in popular TV series such as Z Cars and The New Avengers, as well as a recurring role in The Cuckoo Waltz./p#13; pHowever, he became a household name with the debut of The Professionals in 1977, which ran for six years and won him a global following as hard man William Bodie./p#13; pTowards the end of The Professionals, Collins played the lead in the British thriller Who Dares Wins, as an SAS soldier who infiltrates a terrorist group./p#13; #13; pAround this time, he auditioned for the role of James Bond: 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./p#13; pHe's expecting another Connery to walk through the door and there are few of them around./p#13; pUnlike his co-star, Collins was never able to match his success in The Professionals./p#13; pHe continued working across the '80s and '90s and was last seen on screen in 2002 in The Bill./p#13; pFormer Doctor Who star Colin Baker a href=https://twitter.com/SawbonesHex/status/406029930544508928tweeted/a: Sad to hear that Lewis Collins has died. He was the year below me at drama school. Had style!/p#13; pa href=https://twitter.com/RealBrianConley/status/406027791423901696Brian Conley/a, who co-starred with Collins in the 1999 TV series The Grimleys, also paid his respects: God bless Lewis Collins, my dad in The Grimleys. A great actor and a lovely man./p#13; pThe man who should have been Bond, a href=https://twitter.com/garyjkemp/status/406018439862837248/photo/1tweeted/a Gary Kemp. RIP Lewis Collins. You were supercool./p#13; pCollins leaves his wife, Michelle - whom he married in 1992 - and three sons. /p#13; pThe Professionals is currently being re-run on ITV4./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center