Wikipedia

Bonar Colleano

Bonar William Sullivan (14 March 1924 – 17 August 1958), known professionally as Bonar Colleano, was an American actor, long based in the United Kingdom.[2]

Bonar Colleano
Born
Bonar William Sullivan

(1924-03-14)14 March 1924
New York City, U.S.
Died17 August 1958(1958-08-17) (aged 34)[1]
Birkenhead, Cheshire, England
OccupationActor
Years active1944–1958
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1946; div. 1951)​
​
(m. 1954)​
Children2, including Robbie McIntosh
RelativesCon Colleano (uncle)
Jack Stehlin (great-nephew)

Early life

edit

Colleano was born Bonar Sullivan in New York City. He was from a well-known Australian circus family and was a nephew of Con Colleano, the first tightrope walker to perform a forward somersault on the wire. He had childhood experiences with the Ringling Brothers Circus and in his family's circus.[3]

He moved to the United Kingdom when he was 12 so his family could appear at the London Palladium.[4] He spent several years performing in music halls. When war broke out in 1939, he began entertaining troops in Britain.[5] In 1941, he was in a revue titled Piccadixie.[6] As a US citizen residing overseas, he was not required to do military service by the US or UK.

Career

edit

Colleano's first important role came with the popular wartime drama The Way to the Stars (also known as Johnny in the Clouds, 1945), playing an American airman.

He played American servicemen in Wanted for Murder (1946), A Matter of Life and Death (1946), and While the Sun Shines (1947).

Colleano played an Italian in One Night with You (1948), and was in Good-Time Girl (1948) and Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948) and Broken Journey (1948). He worked regularly in radio, appearing in a revue Navy Mixture,[7] and had a lead part in Once a Jolly Swagman (1949).

Leading roles

edit

Colleano's reputation shot up when cast in the role of Stanley Kowalski in the original English stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire (1949) at the Aldwych Theatre, London, directed by Laurence Olivier and co-starring Vivien Leigh.[8][9]

His film parts got better. Give Us This Day (1949) was set in the U.S. but shot in England. He was a romantic lead in Dance Hall (1950).

It led to lead roles in films starting with Pool of London (1951) and A Tale of Five Cities (1952). The latter enabled him to display some of his circus skills.[10] He went to the US and starred in a Hollywood production, Stanley Kramer's Eight Iron Men (1952).[11]

He went back to Britain to play the lead in Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? (1953), a comedy with Diana Dors, and in Escape by Night (1953).

Support parts

edit

Colleano had another Hollywood role, a support, in Flame and the Flesh (1954), shot in England and Italy.

He went back to support parts in British films with Time Is My Enemy (1954) and The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1955).

Colleano had good support roles in the oddball Shakespeare derivation Joe MacBeth (1955) and Stars in Your Eyes (1956).

Warwick Productions

edit

Warwick Productions used him in Zarak (1956). They liked his work and kept him on for Interpol (1957), Fire Down Below (1957), No Time to Die (1958) and The Man Inside (1958).[12] He was also in Death Over My Shoulder (1958).

Personal life

edit

Colleano married actress Tamara Lees in 1946, but the couple divorced in 1951. His second wife was actress Susan Shaw, who descended into alcoholism after his death. Their son Mark Colleano is also an actor.[13]

In 1950, he fathered future Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh. Colleano was not married to McIntosh's mother.

Death

edit

Colleano died in 1958 at the age of 34, when he crashed his sports car (a Jaguar XK140) in Birkenhead shortly after leaving the Queensway Tunnel.[14] He was driving back from Liverpool's New Shakespeare Theatre, where he had been appearing in a stage production of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. His passenger, fellow actor and friend Michael Balfour, required 98 stitches,[14] but eventually recovered.[14][15]

Partial stage credits

edit
Year Title Role Venue Notes Ref.
1943–46 Sweet and Low Ambassadors Theatre, London [9]
While the Sun Shines Lt. Mulvaney UK tour Replacement
1944–46 Sweeter and Lower Ambassadors Theatre, London
1945 A Bell for Adano Sgt. Leonard Borth Phoenix Theatre, London
Manchester Opera House, Manchester
1947 Separate Rooms Taggert Strand Theatre, London
1948 Burlesque Skid UK tour
1949–50 A Streetcar Named Desire Stanley Kowalski Aldwych Theatre, London
Manchester Opera House, Manchester
1951–52 Jack and the Beanstalk Simple Simon UK tour
1952 The Blue Lamp Tom Riley
1957 A Hatful of Rain Johnny Pope
1958 Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? George MacCauley

Filmography

edit

Film

edit
Year Title Role Notes
1944 Starlight Serenade Himself
1945 The Way to the Stars Joe Friselli
1946 Wanted for Murder Cpl. Nick Mappolo
A Matter of Life and Death An American Pilot
1947 While the Sun Shines Joe Mulvaney
1948 One Night with You Piero Santellini
Good-Time Girl Micky Malone
Sleeping Car to Trieste Sergeant West
1949 Once a Jolly Swagman Tommy Possey
Give Us This Day Julio
1950 Dance Hall Alec
1951 Pool of London Dan MacDonald
A Tale of Five Cities Bob Mitchell
1952 Eight Iron Men Pvt. Collucci
1953 Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? Cmdr. Laurie Vining
Escape by Night Tom Buchan
1954 Flame and the Flesh Ciccio
Time Is My Enemy Harry Bond
The Sea Shall Not Have Them Sgt. Kirby
1955 Joe MacBeth Lennie
1956 Stars in Your Eyes David Laws
Zarak Biri
1957 Pickup Alley Amalio
Fire Down Below Lt. Sellars
1958 Them Nice Americans Joe
No Time to Die The Pole
Death Over My Shoulder Joe Longo
The Man Inside Martin Lomer

Television

edit
Year Title Role Notes
1946 In the Zone Davis TV film
1957 ITV Television Playhouse Sam Pickens Episode "The Confidence Man"
1958 East End, West End 1 episode
Doomsday for Dyson Jackston TV film
Sunday Night Theatre Guy Moore Episode: "Statue of David"

References

edit
  1. ↑ 'Colleano dies after party'. Daily Herald. 18 August 1958. p. 1.
  2. ↑ "BFI Screenonline: Colleano, Bonar (1923–1958) Biography". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  3. ↑ "STARS OF TIGHTROPE". Cairns Post. No. 13, 867. Queensland. 13 August 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 27 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "POOL OF LONDON". Western Herald. New South Wales. 10 April 1953. p. 10. Retrieved 27 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ Williams, Tony. "The Importance of Being Bonar". The November 3rd Club. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  6. ↑ EDINBURGH THEATRES: LYCEUM: "Smilin' Through", The Scotsman, 26 August 1941: 3.
  7. ↑ "No title". The National Advocate. New South Wales. 18 September 1947. p. 5. Retrieved 27 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "A Streetcar Named Desire". The Sun. No. 2430. New South Wales. 6 November 1949. p. 5. Retrieved 27 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. 1 2 "Bonar Colleano | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2025. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  10. ↑ "CIRCUS STAR IN FIRST FILM". Singleton Argus. New South Wales. 14 May 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 27 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ Over There Horton, Robert. Film Comment; New York Vol. 54, Iss. 5, (Sep/Oct 2018): 18–19.
  12. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (8 December 2025). "Forgotten British Film Moguls: Cubby Broccoli and Irving Allen". Filmink. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  13. ↑ "1958: Film stars raise cash for Colleano". BBC News. 15 December 1958. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 "Bonar Colleano". Entertainment Calendar. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  15. ↑ "The life and Wild times of Bonar Colleano". Cecil Wilson, 18 August 1958, Daily Mail (London, England) Issue: 19385 p3

Citations

edit
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bonar_Colleano&oldid=1364424479"