Monday, 7 February 2011

Mark Saber


I'd never heard of Mark Saber until very recently. Saber was a one armed private eye who spoke in that clipped English accent you always heard on the BBC during the post-war years and beyond. He was actually played by a South African actor by the name of Donald Gray (who had lost an arm during WW2) and Saber (later Saber of London) ran for 155 episodes in the UK from 1955-1961.



But it is for Captain Scarlet that Gray is probably best known - he was the voice of both Colonel White and Captain Black and The Mysterons. Like fellow actors Francis Matthews, Ed Bishop and Cy Grant (Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green respectively) two weeks of instantly forgettable voice-over work in 1967 for Gerry Anderson would live with them for the rest of their lives. Although Gray died in 1978, according to my Spectrum passport, Colonel White hasn't even been born yet! Charles Gray (coincidentally the name Donald Gray would adopt later in his acting career) will be born July 14 2017 in London!

Stick around.
on

3 comments:

  1. Löst Jimmy7 February 2011 at 21:24

    The show should have been called "Captain Black and the Mysterons", Scarlet should've been left languishing in some SPV wreckage as the Mysterons set about establishing their counterfeit kingdom on earth...or so I thought, aged 4.

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  2. Mondo8 February 2011 at 09:39

    I'd love to see a live action version of Captain Scarlet (done well not like that Thunderbirds mess of a meltdown)..

    Did you know one Captain was based on Sean Connery? And poor ol' Captain Brown - the Pete Best of Spectrum

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  3. Furtheron10 February 2011 at 07:51

    So he really was "the voice of the Mysterons" - great show that brings so many childhood memories

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