Trivia

His famous "The British Are Coming" cry at the 1982 Academy Awards was not an open display of jingoism or patriotic call to arms. He was at the time doing research in a small Washington state town in order to adapt his television play Kisses at Fifty (1973) to an American location (this would be the movie Twice in a Lifetime (1985)). Welland insists that "The British are Coming" is what several of the local barflies would shout at him when he would frequent the bar close to his hotel.

Before "Chariots of Fire," Colin Welland had only one feature film screenplay credit -- for co-writing with Walter Bernstein the film "Yanks" starring Richard Gere, Vanessa Redgrave and Lisa Eichborn. It was about the impact of American GIs on Britain during World War II and partly based on Welland's childhood experiences. Los Angeles Times critic Charles Champlin praised the writing in "Yanks," saying the film is "subtle and surprising, its emotions strong yet far removed from the tonight-we-love-tomorrow-we-die simplicities of the genre.".

Colin made his famous boast of "The British Are Coming" at the 1982 Academy Awards where he received the Best Writing award for Chariots of Fire (1981).

Won a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Best Single Television Play award in 1972 for Kisses at Fifty (1973).

Colin Welland was researching "Twice in a Lifetime" (1985) shortly before the Oscars ceremony. When he entered the bar in the Pennsylvania steel town where he was carrying out the research, the regulars would call, "Watch your wallets, the British are coming!" This partly inspired Colin Welland's remarks at the end of his Academy Award acceptance speech.

Producer David Puttnam was looking for a story in the mold of "A Man for All Seasons" (1966), regarding someone who follows their conscience; he felt sports provided clear situations in this sense, and happened upon the story by accident while thumbing through an Olympic reference book in a rented house in Los Angeles. "Chariots of Fire" producer David Puttnam asked Welland to look into the stories of two runners in the 1924 Olympics: Scottish missionary Eric Liddell, who refused to run in races on Sundays, and Jewish Cambridge student Harold Abrahams, who battled anti-Semitism. Screen-writer Colin Welland spent months researching their stories, even taking out news-paper advertisements in London seeking memories, people who had participated in the Olympic Games held in 1924 Paris. Many athletes were still living, he spoke to several athletes, but one of the most meaningful finds was a stack of letters written by an Olympian to his family; Aubrey Montague's son sent him copies of the letters his father had sent home - which gave Welland something to use as a narrative bridge in the film. The letters expressed an unabashed love of sports for sports alone. "I was absolutely amazed at the naiveté of them," Welland said in a 1981 New York Times interview. "A 21-year-old man, writing in terms that in today's world would be naive to the point of being ridiculous." The letters gave Welland the emotional tone for the screenplay. "Colin's writing has a great lack of embarrassment," the producer David Pittman told the L.A. Times in 1981. "English screen-writing is cool, it's blue if you like. Colin's writing isn't purple, but it has a lot of red and yellow." Having completed his first draft, screenwriter Colin Welland was unable to conceive a title for the film beyond the somewhat uninteresting "Runners". The inspiration came one Sunday evening when Welland turned on the television to the BBC's religious music series "Songs of Praise" (1961) - featuring the stirring hymn "Jerusalem" (written by William Blake and set to music by C.H.H. Parry), its chorus including the words "Bring me my chariot of fire"; the writer leapt up to his feet and shouted to his wife Patricia, "I've got it, Pat! 'Chariots of Fire'!".

Born "Colin Williams" on July 4, 1934, at Liverpool Maternity Hospital (the same hospital that John Lennon was born in 6 years later). Because Colin as a child showed early talent in drawing and painting, his father wanted him to become an art teacher. "I wanted to go on the stage, you see, but my dad had his feet firmly on the ground," Welland said on the BBC radio show "Desert Island Discs" in 1973. "He said, be an art teacher first ... and if you don't like that, then go on to the stage. So, that's what I did." Welland joined a theater company in Manchester, changed his last name Williams to Welland, and in the late 1960s appeared on British TV shows. His big break as a 'Colin Welland' film actor was playing the role of a teacher in the 1969 dramatic film "Kes" for which he won a British Academy Film Award. He went on to play a reverend in Sam Peckinpah's violent "Straw Dogs" (1971). Welland wrote stage plays and for several TV series in the late 1960s and 1970s. In his Oscar speech, he thanked "Briish television, where I learned my craft." Following "Chariots of Fire," he received writing credits on feature films "Twice in a Lifetime" (1985), "A Dry White Season" (1989) and "War of the Buttons" (19940. He had acting roles into the late 1990s. Colin (Williams) Welland, 81, died November 2, 2015, suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years. He is survived by his wife Patricia, four children and six grandchildren.

Children (with Patricia Sweeney): Genevieve, Catherine, Caroline and Christie.

Joined Manchester Library Theatre.

Spent 5 years as a secondary school teacher.

Turned down for an army commission because of his over developed sense of humour.

At the 1982 Academy Awards, British screen writer Colin Welland, who penned the hit film "Chariots of Fire," finished his short acceptance speech with the rallying cry, "The British are coming!" And so they were. "Chariots of Fire," about two British Olympic Games heroes, won four Oscars, including best picture. And the following year, "Gandhi," whose co-producers, director and stars were British, took best picture honors. But "Chariots of Fire" turned out to be the pinnacle of Welland's writing career. He had just three writing credits on films after that, and several of his proposed projects died in development. Welland, who was also an actor, was known for writing about real-life heroes. In a 1989 Sydney Morning Herald interview, Welland said the nature of heroism had changed in modern times, putting less emphasis on individuals. "It's all a bit complicated now," he said. "There's about 3,000 people putting men on the moon. You can't just do it anymore; it's all scientific".